WASHINGTON — Vice President Al Gore’s woes from the infamous Buddhist temple fund-raiser grew yesterday as two Buddhist nuns were indicted for fleeing the country to duck appearing as witnesses in the Maria Hsia trial.
Hsia is the Democratic fund-raiser who was convicted last month for collecting more than $100,000 in illegal donations during the 1996 campaign — including money from Buddhist nuns and monks at the temple event that featured Gore.
Two nuns at the California temple, Yi Chu and Man Ho, were subpoenaed to testify in the Hsia trial and received criminal immunity. But Justice officials said they fled the country for Taiwan, where the FBI could have a hard time arresting them.
Meanwhile yesterday, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman was cleared by independent counsel Ralph Lancaster of allegations that she solicited $250,000 in illegal campaign contributions.
President Clinton said Herman “did not deserve what she’s had to endure.”
Lancaster said he wouldn’t seek an indictment. Herman was accused by businessman Laurent Yene of having a deal to receive a 10-percent kickback for aiding clients of a firm co-owned by Vanessa Weaver, a close friend of Herman.
The nuns’ indictment on contempt-of-court charges is another reminder of Gore’s role in the Buddhist temple fund-raiser, which continues to nag at his campaign.
Gore recently embraced campaign-finance reform legislation as a way to mitigate his admitted mistake — but the temple event could further dog his campaign.
Hsia’s appeal is set for this summer, and the video of Gore wearing a saffron robe at the temple could wind up as TV fodder in the general election.
Gore initially said he didn’t know the temple event was a fund-raiser, but he later admitted he knew it was finance-related.
The DNC collected more than $100,000 from the temple event, and prosecutors say Hsia arranged to have the temple reimburse several nuns and monks for their contributions.