By WILLIAM GOLDSCHLAG
News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
A convicted stock manipulator who reportedly did business with a Mafia family, yesterday emerged as the latest in a line of embarrassing guests at President Clinton's private White House fund-raisers.Eric Wynn of New Jersey was among 16 guests who joined Clinton and senior administration and party officials at a White House coffee meeting organized by the Democratic National Committee in December 1995, said DNC spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe.
"We did no vetting of guests, and we certainly wish we had," Tobe said.
White House special counsel Lanny Davis said: "Based on the facts and circumstances as we understand them, it was not appropriate for Mr. Wynn to be included at this event."
Five months earlier, Wynn was convicted of stock manipulation in a scheme that benefited Frank Coppa, who is identified in federal documents as a captain in the Bonanno crime family, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Wynn was sentenced in September to 52 months in prison and a $5,000 fine, but is free on bail while appealing.
Previously, Wynn served two years on theft and tax charges, according to The Post.
The Post quoted unidentified associates of Wynn as saying he wanted to win a presidential pardon, but the Justice Department said there was no record of a pardon request.
Tobe said a DNC official at the coffee, who she declined to identify, "does not remember Mr. Wynn speaking." She said Clinton spoke to the group about the outlook for the economy.
Tobe said the DNC invited Wynn at the request of Richard Mays, an Arkansas lawyer and former Clinton judicial appointee who has represented Wynn. She said the invitation was cleared by then DNC finance chair Marvin Rosen and finance director Richard Sullivan.
Wynn is not listed on federal reports as donating money directly to the Democratic Party, but the Post said a Florida firm that he partially controlled, Wireless Advantage Inc., wrote a $25,000 check to the DNC two days before the coffee meeting. Tobe said an internal review is under way to determine whether the donation should be returned.
Clinton and party officials have blamed lax screening procedures for letting a series of unsavory guests meet Clinton at fund-raisers, including a Miami drug kingpin, a businessman whose company has been linked to Russian organized crime and a Chinese arms dealer.