Source: Reuter June 20, 1997

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]