http://prospect.org/article/al-gore-and-temple-doom
' . . . In
April 1996, Gore attended a fundraising luncheon at the Hsi Lai Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, California. This event, which was organized by Maria Hsia and John Huang, raised $166,750 for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Much of this money was raised illegally; the laws broken were far from being trivial or outdated. There were $55,000 in contributions laundered through monks and nuns, who made the contributions in their own names and were then reimbursed by the temple from its general funds. At least three of the contributors were foreign nationals. In addition the temple, which enjoys tax-exempt status as a religious institution, was used illegally for partisan politics. Insofar as the monks were reimbursed with temple funds that came from tax-free donations, American taxpayers indirectly subsidized Gore's fundraising effort.
'There are two separate issues: whether Gore knew he was attending a fundraising lunch, and whether he knew that Hsia and Huang were raising some of the funds illegally. Afterward, Gore said the lunch was for "community outreach," then later that it was "finance related," and then later that it was devoted to "donor maintenance." . . . '