Palin to Return Some Campaign Donations
*By STEVE QUINN and JUSTIN PRITCHARD*
, *AP*
posted: *ONE MINUTE AGO*
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JUNEAU, Alaska (Sept. 26) - Gov. Sarah Palin swept into office as an avowed
outsider, a claim that helped her land the GOP vice presidential nomination.
The woman touted by Republican nominee John McCain as a reformer said late
Thursday that she will donate to charity more than $1,000 in campaign
contributions from two Alaska politicians implicated in a sprawling federal
corruption probe. Palin is also giving back $1,000 from the wife of one of
the men.
Sarah Palin
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Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin, center, wife of
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Cindy McCain, left, and
foreign policy advisor Randall Scheunemann applaud during McCain s speech at
the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008. (AP
Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
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The move came a few hours after The Associated Press reported that Palin had
accepted the money during her successful 2006 run for governor. Two months
later, Palin was elected easily after she promised to rid Alaska's capital
of dirty politics.
"Governor Palin has made a career of holding herself to the highest
standards of ethics. As soon as the governor learned of the donations today,
she immediately decided to donate them to charity," campaign spokesman
Taylor Griffin said.
The money could be returned as early as Friday, Griffin said.
Over the years, McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama have both
returned campaign donations tied to corruption. Obama's campaign says he's
given to charity $159,000 tied to convicted Chicago real estate developer
Antoin "Tony" Rezko. In the early 1990s, McCain returned $112,000 from
Charles Keating, a central figure in the savings-and-loan crisis, after a
Senate ethics inquiry.
The two politicians in this case were snagged in a federal investigation
revolving around an oil field services company once known as VECO Corp.
Executives from the company are at the center of the trial of Sen. Ted
Stevens, R-Alaska, that began this week in Washington.
Palin felt so strongly about the indictment of once-powerful Sen. John
Cowdery that she urged him to resign. He was indicted in July on two federal
bribery counts; the other donor, former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, is awaiting
trial. Both are Republicans, and their contributions were to the joint
campaign of Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. Neither had any obvious
connection to the rising star before she took office.
In the Stevens case, prosecutors say he lied on his financial disclosure
forms about more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he
received from VECO. In Alaska, the government has leveled more serious
charges: That the company and its bosses tried to corrupt lawmakers by
plying them with money or gifts in exchange for their votes.
On Aug. 31, 2006, FBI agents searched the offices of six state lawmakers,
including Cowdery and Weyhrauch.
The government had secretly taped Cowdery in a conversation that prosecutors
say proved he conspired with VECO officials to bribe legislators to support
changes in Alaska's oil tax structure. Weyhrauch allegedly promised to
support VECO's position in exchange for consideration for future work as a
lawyer.
VECO quickly came to symbolize outsized corruption in Alaska and Palin was
able to capitalize: As the GOP nominee for governor, she campaigned as an
outsider and made a public point of saying she didn't want money from the
company or its employees.
By October 2006, Palin's campaign had received $30 from Weyhrauch in
addition to Cowdery's $1,000. Separately, Cowdery's wife, Juanita,
contributed $1,000; she is not accused of any wrongdoing, but Palin is
giving that money back, too.
The fact that Palin had kept Cowdery's donation was notable, given that on
July 10, the day after he was indicted, the governor issued a statement
asking him to "step down, for the good of the state."
--
"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over
their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."
- Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
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