1.   Among these funds were several questionable foreign donations to Democrats as well as Republicans, which promise to be the focus of new congressional hearings.

2.   And the pressure to reach that goal led to the string of questionable donations.

3.   But the delay drew loud protests from Republicans and independent watchdog groups, in part because it came amid revelations of questionable donations to the Democrats.

4.   DNC spokesman Steve Langdon said Democrats had gone to great lengths to uncover questionable donations and return them to the original donor.

5.   He pointed to what he called a questionable donation Ashcroft had received from a New Jersey drug manufacturer shortly after Ashcroft passed a bill helpful to the company.

6.   Lazio refused on Saturday and then again Sunday, saying the Clinton campaign was trying to deflect attention from questionable donations.

7.   More recently, he has been called upon to explain the questionable donations to his defense fund and to the Democratic campaign effort.

8.   Since then, congressional Republicans have begun investigations into a series of questionable donations raised by a prominent Indonesian family and their associates.

9.   Steve Langdon, a committee spokesman, said the money used to repay the questionable donations had come from recent contributions by mail and fund-raisers.

10.   The landmark hearing came less than two weeks before the presidential election and amid a storm of challenges over questionable donations.