Panel Explores Torricelli Role in Oil-for-Food Program 
May 19, 2005
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/20/nyregion/20torricelli.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1148336766-TN2GCg35Uzs3Rnnve4ar5w
WASHINGTON, May 19 (AP) — The chairman of a Senate investigative panel said on Friday that it was looking into the actions of former Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey in connection with the United Nations oil-for-food program for Iraq.
We've received allegations about Torricelli and oil-for-food, said Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. We take this very seriously. We are pursuing the matter at this point. Mr. Coleman, in a telephone interview, declined to say what the allegations were. He said they had come from the United Nations' Independent Inquiry Committee.
Both Mr. Coleman's subcommittee and the United Nations committee are looking into corruption in the $64 billion oil-for-food program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil, provided that most of the money went to buy humanitarian goods. The program was aimed at easing Iraqi suffering under United Nations sanctions.
The Independent Inquiry Committee found that Mr. Hussein exploited the program by awarding contracts and taking kickbacks from hundreds of companies and individuals.
The investigation into Mr. Torricelli was first reported by The Financial Times. The newspaper reported that in the 1990's, Mr. Torricelli met several times with Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations at the time, Nizar Hamdoun. At those meetings, according to the newspaper, Mr. Torricelli, a Democrat who was then a House member, allegedly urged Iraq to help a campaign donor, David Chang, and Mr. Chang's company, Bright & Bright Corporation, get oil-for-food contracts.
In 2002, the Senate Ethics Committee severely admonished Mr. Torricelli for accepting improper gifts from Mr. Chang, and the senator decided not to seek re-election. Two years earlier, Mr. Chang pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and funneling $53,700 in illegal donations to Mr. Torricelli's 1996 Senate campaign.
A Torricelli spokesman, Sean Jackson, confirmed that Mr. Torricelli had conversations with the Iraq ambassador, but said the purpose was to argue that relations between the United States and Iraq would improve if American companies participated in the oil-for-food program.
Everyone associated with this matter acted appropriately and properly, Mr. Jackson said.