-----Original Message-----
From: Larry C. Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 7:29 AM
And there was no coordination between the campaign and that 527 group?
larry
From this morning's Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29821-2004Aug24.html
Bush-Cheney Lawyer Advised Anti-Kerry Vets
...
Benjamin L. Ginsberg, the chief outside counsel to the Bush campaign
who also has advised Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, said in an
interview: "I've done some work for them. . . . The law lets lawyers
do that . . . and does not include lawyers among the coordinated
political activities" that are prohibited by federal election law. He
said two prominent Democratic lawyers are doing the same thing.
Other election lawyers agreed that the fact that Ginsberg, who also
was active in Bush's 2000 campaign, has been giving legal advice to
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth does not necessarily violate campaign
finance law prohibiting collusion between campaigns and independent
groups.
Asked about the Ginsberg matter Tuesday night, Bush campaign spokesman
Steve Schmidt said: "There has been no coordination at any time
between Bush-Cheney '04 and any 527 organization."
...
The type of work Ginsberg has done has not been deemed improper by
Kerry's campaign.
Ginsberg said that Joseph Sandler is a lawyer for both the Democratic
National Committee and for the independent group MoveOn.org, which has
run advertisements attacking Bush.
...
In the interview, he said he did not participate in strategy planning
or in the development of messages, and did not discuss Bush campaign
activities with the Swift boat veterans, or vice versa. His
relationship to the Swift boat group was first reported by the
Associated Press.
On Saturday, the Bush campaign dismissed from its veterans steering
committee a volunteer and Vietnam veteran, retired Col. Kenneth
Cordier, who appeared in a Swift boat veterans ad. The campaign said
Cordier had not previously disclosed his participation with the Swift
boat group.
Don Simon, an election-law expert with the campaign finance watchdog
group Democracy 21, said Ginsberg's dual role "is not per se
coordination" between the Bush campaign and the veterans group. That
would occur only if Ginsberg has been transferring information between
the two -- a question that likely would not be resolved before the
election even if the FEC chooses to investigate the matter.
...
Larry Noble, who runs the Center for Responsive Politics watchdog
group, said the Ginsberg situation is not by itself improper, but
"when you're looking at common lawyers, it adds another level to it."
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