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Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

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Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Clinton's Money Mess

How much does it cost to run for office in the U.S.? Millions and millions of dollars. The cost of travel, TV commercials and campaign workers gets steeper with every election. For the 1996 races, President Bill Clinton's party, the Democrats, raised $332 million to help its candidates.

Politicians raise money in many ways. They ask for it. They give speeches and appear at dinners that people pay to attend. The President is very good at raising money, so good that his aides asked him to do more of it.

Now the President's desire to help his party may have landed him in trouble. The nation's top lawyer, Attorney General Janet Reno, is looking into how the President helped raise money for the 1996 campaign. He may have broken the law.

U.S. laws about campaign fund raising are tricky--even for politicians. Fund raising on government property is generally illegal. The President is not permitted to call potential donors and ask for money for his own campaign from the White House Oval Office. But he is allowed to ask for contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

Attorney General Reno's staff is trying to find out whether the President made calls from his office for money that ended up in his personal campaign account. Her team is studying Clinton's phone records.

If the investigation turns up any "specific and credible" information that Clinton broke the law, Reno will have to call for a more thorough investigation. The President could face a battle.

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