Clinton Friend Trie Pleads Not Guilty in Fund-Raising Case
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges he obstructed a Senate campaign-finance investigation by ordering subpoenaed documents hidden.
The former Little Rock restaurateur and longtime friend of President Clinton had no comment outside court and responded to a federal magistrate by saying only, “Not guilty, sir.”
Trie is accused of instructing a longtime employee to get rid of documents sought by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Prosecutors say the documents may have been hidden under a bed in Trie’s Little Rock home in 1997. The magistrate set a trial date of Jan. 4.
After Clinton was elected president, Trie closed his restaurant and opened an international business consulting company, Daihatsu International Trading Co. Because of his fund-raising prowess, he frequently attended Democratic fund-raising dinners, lunches or coffees featuring Clinton or Vice President Al Gore.
Trie fled overseas when a congressional fund-raising probe began in 1997 and returned in February 1998 to face the charges.
Democrats returned $645,000 Trie either donated or raised after determining it came from questionable, possibly illegal sources.
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