Dole Campaign Press Release - Bill Bennett Statement on Jorge Cabrera

Dole/Kemp '96 National Co-Chairman William J. Bennett today released the following statement on Jorge Cabrera.

"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."

-- Bill Bennett