in our policy toward China, which is one of engagement." "I do not know whether it is true or not," President Clinton stated. "Therefore, since I don't know, it can't... and shouldn't affect the larger long-term strategic interests of the American people in our foreign policy." Members of Congress of both parties reached disparate conclusions. According to The Washington Post, Senator Fred Thompson (a Republican from Tennessee) and chairman of the committee investigating the fundraising controversy, said he believed the Chinese plan targeted presidential and congressional elections while Democratic Senators Joe Lieberman and John Glenn said they believed the evidence showed the Chinese targeted only congressional elections. Congressional investigations With regard to their overall efficacy, investigators are on record as having stated that the Congressional investigations were hamstrung due to lack of co-operation of witnesses. Ninety-four people either refused to be questioned, pled the Fifth Amendment, or left the country altogether. The U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs held public hearings into the campaign finance issues from July to October 1997. The Committee, chaired by Republican Fred Thompson, adopted a Republican-written final report (the Wikisource referenced and appearing herein) on a straight party-line vote, 8 in favor and 7 opposing, in March 1998. Thompson described the findings as "not any one real big thing" but "a lot of things strung together that paint a real ugly picture." The Democrats published a minority report dissenting with most of the conclusions of the final report, stating the evidence "does not support the conclusion that the China plan was aimed at, or affected, the 1996 presidential election." Considerable acrimony was displayed during the hearings between Thompson and the ranking minority member, Democrat John Glenn, with the public disagreements between the two leaders reaching a level seldom seen in recent years in Congressional committees. A House investigation, headed by Indiana Republican Dan Burton focused on allegations of campaign finance abuse, including the contributions channeled through Chung, Huang, and Trie. The investigation was lengthy, spanning both the 105th and 106th Congresses, and according to a Democratic report had cost over $7.4 million as of August 31, 1998, making it the most expensive Congressional investigation ever (the Senate Watergate investigation cost $7 million in 1998 dollars). Norman Ornstein, a Congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute said in May 1998, "Barring some dramatic change, I think the Burton investigation is going to be remembered as a