-Caveat Lector- from - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011228/pl/bush_recount_fund_1.html
Friday December 28 2:54 AM ET Bush-Cheney Fund Shifts Money to GOP By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The Bush-Cheney Recount Fund, created to raise money to pay legal bills stemming from last year's post-election battle, is closing up shop and has handed a surplus $270,000 over to the Republican Party. The group's original plea for donations had promised contributors that "any monies not expended for this purpose will be returned on a pro rata basis." The transfer was recorded Nov. 30 - about a year after Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) conceded the race to George W. Bush - in a document that the Republican National Committee (news - web sites) files monthly with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites). "In the process of winding down and closing the Bush-Cheney recount committee, excess money was transferred to the RNC in accordance with the law," RNC spokesman Mark Miner said. Several White House officials declined to comment on the transfer, and Ben Ginsberg, a top Bush recount lawyer, did not return phone calls Thursday seeking comment. Bush was vacationing on his ranch in central Texas. The RNC was a natural recipient of the surplus. It worked closely with the recount fund from the fund's inception, providing e-mail lists of likely donors as Bush sought to pay lawyers fighting for him. Moreover, its mission is to bolster Republicans from the president on down. The RNC now runs the former Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign Internet site. The money that donors gave the recount fund was not subject to strict federal rules governing contributions to individual candidates. That meant the recount fund could not give it to Bush's re-election committee. Miner said he knew of no special project to which the RNC would dedicate the $270,000. Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said she believed the Gore-Lieberman Recount Fund is no longer operating. It has given no money to the DNC, she said. Palmieri said Democrats were troubled by the $270,000 transfer to the RNC because the Bush-Cheney recount organization did not reveal contributors to any government body. "It raises lot of questions about who donated that money," she said. The Gore-Lieberman fund disclosed its donors to the Internal Revenue Service (news - web sites), she said. The Bush-Cheney recount committee was not required by federal law to disclose its donors to the government, so there is no public record of the source of the money. The recount fund did post some, but not all, donors onto the Bush-Cheney Web site, but the site does not list the donors now. The RNC is required by law to reveal who gives it money. For the $270,000, it simply listed the recount committee as the donor. Ian Stirling, a spokesman for the FEC, said that was sufficient disclosure. There are no phone numbers listed for the Bush or Gore recount organizations. Bush and Gore advisers realized immediately after the November 2000 election that the legal battle for the presidency would be expensive. Both camps aimed to raise $3 million. Bush's fund raised $9 million, Gore far less. In an "urgent message" e-mailed to supporters just after the election, Bush campaign chairman Don Evans asked for contributions of up to $5,000 to the recount fund. - On the Net: Bush-Cheney campaign: http://www.georgewbush.com/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
