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-Caveat Lector-
The Democratic National Committee took aim yesterday at the reputation of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a campaign-finance and ethics reformer, blasting the presidential hopeful for hiring a GOP operative linked to the criminal case against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC signed Terry Nelson, political director for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, as a senior adviser on Thursday, a move hailed by presidential prognosticators covering every detail of McCain’s early plans to seek the White House in 2008.
Democrats, always on the lookout for more evidence to fuel their criticism of the Republican majority’s “culture of corruption,” are playing up Nelson’s ties to the DeLay money-laundering case.
“We see this as another example of double talk from the Straight Talk Express,” said the DNC’s communications director, Karen Finney, riffing on the name of the bus McCain used in his failed 2000 presidential campaign and the name of his PAC. “[Nelson] has been hired by McCain, who has tried to position himself as Mr. Campaign Finance Reform, but he hires a guy who’s Mr. Scandal.”
Nelson was working as deputy chief of staff at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the fall of 2002 when, according to the September criminal indictment filed against DeLay in Travis County, Texas, DeLay employee Jim Ellis delivered a check to Nelson for $190,000 in corporate contributions.
The indictment alleges that Ellis provided Nelson with a list of seven candidates for the Texas state Legislature slated to receive the corporate money; under Texas state law, corporate funds cannot be used for political purposes. Less than one month later, a nonfederal arm of the RNC made contributions to the same seven candidates.
Nelson has testified before the grand jury convened by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle to investigate the money-laundering charge against DeLay, along with a related conspiracy charge that has since been thrown out. Nelson’s ongoing cooperation with the case reflects assurances from Earle’s office that he is not a target of the investigation, according to several media reports.
While it is highly unlikely that Nelson would be indicted or face any other legal problems stemming from the probe, Democrats have still tried to tar McCain for hiring him. McCain landed at No. 4 on the DNC’s “Un-Sweet Sixteen” yesterday. The “Un-Sweet” is a Democratic list, which plays off of the March Madness college basketball craze, of brewing ethical scandals in the congressional GOP and the Bush administration.
“A reputed champion of campaign finance reform, John McCain just hired the middleman in Tom DeLay’s money-laundering scheme,” the DNC wrote in its “bracket on the Republican culture of corruption.”
Occupying the three Senate slots above McCain are Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who remains under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his sale of stock in his family’s hospital corporation; Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who continues to weather blows from government-watchdog groups for his close ties to K Street; and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), whose office accepted contributions from and took action on behalf of several Jack Abramoff clients.
Delay is No. 1 on the DNC’s House bracket of its “Un-Sweet” list, thanks largely to the Travis County case against him.
Craig Goldman, executive director of Straight Talk America PAC, dismissed the Democratic charges that Nelson’s hiring reflects hypocrisy on the part of reform-minded McCain.
“There are absolutely no credible allegations to this [DeLay] case at all,” Goldman said. “[Nelson] is a great talent. He is going to be able to provide us with knowledge about races across the country that will help us as we focus on the ’06 cycle.”
Goldman avoided questions about a McCain presidential bid in 2008, adding, “I’m worried about the PAC.”
Nelson, in an interview, declined to comment on his status in the Travis County case, citing guidance from his lawyers. Meanwhile, Earle’s office and DeLay’s legal team will square off in court today over whether to reinstate the conspiracy charge that had been dropped from DeLay’s indictment.
Mike Casey, director of the watchdog group Campaign for a Cleaner Congress, raised pointed questions about McCain’s decision to hire Nelson.
“What’s a supposed reformer like John McCain doing hiring a former bagman for DeLay Inc?” Casey asked. “I think it’s pretty clear that McCain wants to be president, and to do that he’s willing to hire people who were in on the entire operation that got the House lobbying scandal going.”
Nelson also appeared on the government’s witness list in its case against James Tobin, a former regional aide to the National Republican Senatorial Committee who was convicted of illegal phone jamming during the 2002 senatorial election. But Nelson was never called to the stand.
Democracy 21 and Public Citizen, watchdog groups that worked closely with McCain on campaign-finance issues and lobbying reform, did not return calls for comment by press time.
Marshall Wittmann, a former senior aide to McCain now affiliated with the Democratic Leader Council, also did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
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March 23, 2006
GREAT MOMENTS IN EARMARKS
The Houston Chronicle reports this morning that the donation Barbara Bush made to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund was 'earmarked' for the educational software company Ignite!
As some of you probably know that's the junk company owned by her ne'er-do-well son Neil Bush.
Actually, though, it's way better, or worse, depending on your turn of mind.
Ignite!'s has a unique business model, which works like this. Neil goes around the world finding international statesmen, bigwigs and criminals who want to 'invest' in Ignite! as a way to curry favor with the brother in the White House.
A couple years ago when I was at Salon I wrote about the craze for investment in Ignite! then taking hold among Red Sea oil magnates and progeny of the rulers of the People's Republic of China. (See that article as well about the craze for investing in Ignite! in the United Arab Emirates and specifically in Dubai). Now, Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has awakened to the wonders of investing in Ignite!
-- Josh Marshall
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Open Secrets Watch:
Spuddy Buddy - the New Guy at Interior
March 17, 2006
![bushspuddy.jpg]()
Here is a picture of the President with people who have names like “Dirk” and “Butch Otter” and “Spuddy Buddy.”
Whoda thunk the Department of the Interior would be a hotbed of scandal? And not that lame, hard-to-follow “corruption” and “bribery” kind of scandal, but honest-to-god sex ‘n’ stuff!
Turns out, this new Dirk Kempthorne has:
* an illegitmate son
* a longtime mistress/aide
* a sham marriageHey! Not bad! We’re suddenly way excited about the Department of the Interior — has anyone bothered to point out how educational these sorts of things can be? We might even go find out what the Interior Secretary does.
So, does Kempthorne's mistress and 2nd family go, too?
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It is widely rumored that:
- Dirk Kempthorne has an 'illegitimate' child. I used quotes because I loathe that word-- the one person it hurts most is the kid, and they don't deserve it.
- When Dirk Kempthorne went to DC as a Senator, he took a special aide with him.
- While in DC, Dirk Kempthorne was known as the Kennedy of the Republican Party -- and not for his stance on civil rights.
- His exit from senatorial life was because Dirk's wife, Patricia Kempthorne, insisted that he end the affair and/or the philandering.
- In spite of that ultimatum, the mistress followed Dirk Kempthorne back to Idaho, and currently lives either in Boise or McCall.
The press has always shied away from this, and details have always been sparse, but maybe someone in Boise or McCall (rumored digs for the mistress and their child) would assemble the details needed to break this story out and put the Rovian spin-machine back off message for a few days. At the least, Kempthorne's nomination is an opportunity to videotape some obviously-lying non-denial-denials by key Idaho Republicans for use next fall during Idaho wingnuts' Bigotry against Gays Marriage mudfest.
Presuming Patricia won't get interviewed by Oprah or a cameo on Desperate Housewives, Kempthorne's nomination leaves so many unanswered questions:
- Are the former aide and Dirk Junior going to be packing for the trip, or will Patricia be Dirk's only companion this time?
- Will Kempthorne be like Steve Symms divorcing his seriously-ill wife, or does he prefer Patricia brush up on her Tammy Wynette singing while he enjoys a steady stream of minor dalliances, a la Butch Otter?
- With neocons and fundamentalists screaming about sanctity of marriage, why do Kempthorne, Otter, and other Idaho Republicans hate the noble institution of marriage?
- And the national question: Would a scandal like this shred another percentage point off Bush's approval rating? Admittedly, it's such poor taste to distract the president from his Two Priorities: Iraq and the November elections (a speech which immediately brought Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition sketch to mind). But I like to hope that each day the Cheney administration is off-message is another day alive for several Iraqi civilians (and Iranians). If so, that'd almost be enough to attone for Idaho wingnuts STILL mustering a 50% approval rating yesterday for Bush.
AT LAST, we'll have a cabinet member that unabashedly likes their pages bent over. And the left can argue that as a cabinet member, Dirk opens the chance that if someone has an affair we'll finally get an impeachment. Right?! (pause, listen for the DLC and the entire republican party... nothing but crickets).
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at:
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