Sen. Torricelli Is Targeted in Gift Inquiry

NEWARK, N.J. — Federal investigators are said to be looking into allegations that Sen. Robert Torricelli accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts--including at least 10 Italian-made suits and a Rolex watch--from a political donor.

David Chang, a New Jersey businessman who has pleaded guilty to making $53,700 in improper donations to Torricelli’s 1996 Senate campaign, claims he gave the Democrat the gifts and cash to get his help with international business deals.

Torricelli emphatically denied Wednesday that he had ever betrayed the people’s trust, and he portrayed Chang as “every elected official’s worst nightmare.”

“I do not deserve this treatment, and I will fight for my reputation,” the senator said.

Torricelli said he could not specifically address the allegations, reported in Wednesday’s New York Times, because his lawyers have “agreed to an open dialogue” with federal prosecutors.

“They will discuss this investigation and these issues directly with them and not with the news media,” he said.

But his attorney, Theodore V. Wells Jr., denied the allegations in a statement Tuesday.

“Sen. Torricelli has not engaged in any wrongdoing,” Wells said. “David Chang’s allegations are false.”

The Times, citing unidentified sources involved in the probe, said Chang’s gifts allegedly included suits, an $8,100 Rolex, bean-shaped cuff links from Tiffany & Co., $600 earrings for one of Torricelli’s former girlfriends and a 52-inch television.

Authorities have gathered corroborating evidence of at least some of the gifts and are continuing their investigation, the Times said.

Federal investigators have been looking into Torricelli’s personal and political finances since 1997. The senator has repeatedly said he had no knowledge of any illegal activities or campaign contributions.

Chang’s lawyer, Bradley D. Simon, and Marvin Smilon, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment.

Federal law and congressional ethics rules prohibit lawmakers from accepting gifts worth $50 or more, with a $100 annual limit from any one source. An exception is made for gifts from friends; Torricelli has said that he once considered Chang a friend.

But lawmakers must list all gifts exceeding $100 on their annual financial disclosure forms. The only gift Torricelli listed from Chang was a $5,000 donation to a legal defense fund Torricelli created for an unrelated case.

Torricelli, chairman of the Senate Democrats’ political and fund-raising arm for the 2000 election, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is trying to be cooperative with the investigation “in every way that is reasonable.”

Torricelli said an emphasis in politics on raising big sums of money has helped create an environment ripe for problems.

“These campaigns and the rush to raise so much money bring you in touch with so many people you don’t really know,” he said.

Seven people have pleaded guilty to making illegal donations to Torricelli’s 1996 campaign.