>Bill Bennett Asks:

>"Why Wasn't Clinton White House Checking FBI File on Drug Kingpin they Invited to Dinner?"

Dole/Kemp '96 National Co-Chairman William J. Bennett, former

President Ronald Reagan's drug czar, raised two possible questions

today on the episode of the twice convicted drug smuggler, Jorge

Cabrera, to dinner at the White house in exchange for a $20,000

contribution.

* What should young people think when the president invites

convicted drug dealers to the white house and laughingly tells

them on MTV that if he had it to do over, he would inhale when he

"tried" marijuana.

* Why was the White House checking hundreds of FBI files of

Republicans who, under prior administrations, had access to the

White House, while, at the same time, not even checking the FBI

files of people given access to the White House, if they had

contributed large sums of money to the Democratic National

Committee. Could a terrorist or assassin gain access to the

President merely by contributing a large sum of money to the

Democrat National Committee?

Bennett stated:

"For some time, I and many others have been highly critical of Bill

Clinton's unwillingness to continue the successful Reagan/Bush

fight against drugs. Now comes further astounding evidence of the

Clinton administration's laxity.

"According to reports, the Clinton White House invited Jorge

Cabrera, a convicted big-time cocaine trafficker, into the White

House in return for a $20,000 payment to the Democratic National

Committee (DNC). Let me underscore this fact: Cabrera had been

indicted and convicted on two separate occasions prior to his

$20,000 payment to the DNC. Cabrera had his picture taken with the

First Lady and another picture taken with the Vice President, yet

barely a month after attending a White House pre-Christmas event,

Cabrera was arrested again in a drug bust that seized 6,000 pounds

of cocaine.

"This is outrageous; it is shameless; it is reprehensible; and when

it comes to the Clinton White House, it has become all too

predictable. A question: instead of spending so much time

improperly collecting hundreds of FBI files on former Republican

officials, why wasn't the Clinton White House checking the files on

the convicted drug kingpin they embraced in return for $20,000? The

scandals continue to pile up, one after another, as the Clinton

White House continues to define the presidency down."