Partner Says Ron Brown Took Money, Used Drugs

WASHINGTON (Reuter) : Commerce Secretary Ron Brown,
killed in a plane crash off Croatia in April 1996, allegedly used
illegal drugs and accepted contributions while in office, his
former business associate Nolanda Hill says.

Hill described herself as a close friend of Brown's, saying, ``We
loved each other.''

But in an interview with the ABCTV program ``Prime Time Live''
Wednesday, she revealed some potentially damaging information
about the first black American to become chairman of a major
political party.

Hill said she was going public with the allegations because, ``I
believe what he did was wrong.''

Attorney General Janet Reno requested the appointment of a
special counsel in May 1995 to look into Brown's financial affairs
after the Justice Department found evidence of possible
wrongdoing related to Brown's ties to Hill.

Brown and Hill had coowned an investment and consulting firm.
Brown did virtually no work for the company but Hill had paid him
more than $400,000 since 1993 to buy his share of the partnership.

The investigation against Brown was dropped on the day he was
killed, but Hill is still a subject of the probe.

Allegations against Brown have surfaced repeatedly since his
death, but the allegations have been strongly denied by his
private lawyer and the Clinton administration.

In the wideranging interview, Hill alleged that Brown smoked
marijuana and once inhaled a line of cocaine at her Washington
apartment while he was serving as Commerce Secretary.

Brown's private lawyer, Reid Weingarten, said the charges were
``preposterous''.

Hill also said Brown was considering a proposal from Vietnam to
pay him a considerable amount of money while he was
Commerce Secretary to get U.S. trade restrictions lifted, but
dropped the project after getting a tip that the FBI was
investigating the matter.

Brown denied the allegation and in February 1994 was cleared of
wrongdoing by the Justice Department.

Hill said at least $60,000 was passed to Brown from two
Democratic donors, Nora and Gene Lumm, who gave Brown's son
Michael a senior job at their company, Dynamic Energy
Resources.

She said Brown also told her that the White House ordered his
department to give a job to former DNC fundraiser John Huang,
who is at the heart of current congressional and Justice
Department investigations into alleged campaign finance abuses.
ABC said Weingarten and the White House denied the charges.

The White House also pushed Brown to make a 1994 trip to
China, pressing officials there to approve a billiondollar power
plant project involving the Indonesian financial conglomerate
Lippo Group, owned by the Riady family which has also been
linked to the campaign fundraising scandal.

The White House also denied this allegation, ABC said.

[Copyright 1997, Reuters]