Paula Dwyer , Columnist

The Heat On Clinton's Moneyman

Controversy is swirling around fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe

December 22, 1997 at 5:00 AM UTC

Paula Dwyer is a senior editor with the New York editing hub, focusing on daily and long-form enterprise. She was London bureau chief for Businessweek and Washington economics editor for the New York Times, and is a co-author of “Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future.

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

At 40, the boyish-looking Terence R. McAuliffe is the reigning king of Democratic fund-raising. Says mentor Tony Coelho, a former Democratic lawmaker who gave McAuliffe his first big fund-raising job in 1982: "He's got the best Rolodex in America." No kidding. As finance chairman for the Clinton/Gore Reelection Committee, McAuliffe pulled in a staggering $43 million in eight months. That made him the front-runner to head the Democratic National Committee--a job he turned down. Instead, McAuliffe has turned his attention to his homebuilding, insurance, and marketing businesses.

But McAuliffe is finding that it's not easy putting politics behind him. His name has been linked to the fund-raising scandal that resulted in the disqualification of Teamsters President Ronald Carey. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington is trying to learn more about how McAuliffe earned a lucrative fee in helping Prudential Insurance Co. of America lease a downtown Washington building to the government. Prudential just settled a civil case involving that lease for over $300,000 without admitting any liability. And Labor Dept. probers are looking at possible conflicts of interest in at least two of McAuliffe's Florida real estate deals that were bankrolled by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers pension money. Investigators want to know why McAuliffe got what look like very sweet deals.