Culture of Corruption: A Week of GOP Scandals
August 22, 2005
The dog days of summer have been rough on the Republican Party. Many of their friends are either having their houses raided by federal investigators or spending their summer vacations making court appearances.
In just the past 10 days, four different Bush Pioneers or Rangers were involved in federal investigations or indicted. One Republican Governor was indicted and pled "no contest" to charges of accepting illegal gifts.
Another Republican Governor reportedly paid $20,000 in hush money to a paramour. Two GOP lobbyists were fined $40,000 by the FEC for channeling illegal contributions to Tom Delay. The GOP's culture of corruption has taken root and is thriving in Washington, DC's August heat and humidity.
JACK ABRAMOFF AND SUNCRUZ - OFF SHORE GAMBLING SCHEME
Former Washington Super Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Arrested on Fraud and Conspiracy Charges. "Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday as part of a wide-ranging fraud case stemming from the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line from a businessman later murdered in Fort Lauderdale, the U.S. attorney announced today. Abramoff, a key figure in ethics investigations into House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), was arrested in Los Angeles in late afternoon Eastern time and was expected to be taken to a U.S. magistrate there." Abramoff was indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy, each charge could cost Abramoff and his partner $250,000 and five years in jail. [Washington Post, 8/11/05]
Abramoff Used Congressional Connections to Seal Off Shore Gambling Deal. "Abramoff, and two business and political friends -- Adam Kidan and Ben Waldman of Springfield, Va. -- purchased SunCruz Casinos in September 2000 for $147.5 million from Konstantinos 'Gus' Boulis. Records and interviews show that Abramoff used his connections to members of Congress to help seal the purchase of the company." [Washington Post, 8/11/05]
Abramoff's Group Claimed To Make $23 Million Wire Transfer To An Account That Was Already Closed. "The heart of the alleged SunCruz fraud was a record of a $23 million payment to a Boulis holding company intended to persuade lenders to provide $60 million in financing to Abramoff's group toward the $147.5 million purchase of the fleet of floating gambling parlors. The record of the investment was a wire transfer, faxed by Kidan and Waldman to the partners' key lender -- Foothill Capital, a specialty lender now a division of Wells Fargo Bank, according to records reviewed by The Post in federal bankruptcy court in Fort Lauderdale. The money was never really sent. The account on the wire transfer had long been closed." [Washington Post, 8/11/05]
Abramoff Questioned About Murder Of The Previous Cruise Line Owner. "Police have also been questioning them about the gangland-style hit on Konstantinos 'Gus' Boulis, the rag-to-riches Greek immigrant who sold his fleet of casino ships to the Kidan-led group in September 2000. Boulis, 51, was gunned down in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, 2001. Police have not charged anybody in the homicide investigation.... Abramoff agreed with Kidan in e-mails that Boulis should be removed from SunCruz. In an e-mail to a SunCruz attorney, Abramoff said, 'It is my belief that Gus [Boulis] and Adam [Kidan] need to resolve the issue of what Gus is owed and Gus needs to move on out of the company.' Boulis was killed two months later." [Washington Post, 8/12/05]
BOB NEY GETS INVOLVED IN ABRAMOFF'S CROOKED DEAL
Ney Used Abramoff Skyboxes for Fundraisers. Ney used Abramoff's MCI Center box for fundraisers and his chief of staff was later hired by Abramoff. Abramoff's fundraising log shows an event for Ney at MCI Center on March 15, 2001. [Washington Post, 12/26/04]
Ney Helped Abramoff on SunCruz Cruise Line. "FEC records show that Abramoff and three men associated with him in a Florida-based casino cruise line called SunCruz each donated $1,000 to Ney on March 15, 2001, the same day he used the Abramoff skybox. Ney had been helpful to them the year before, when Abramoff and a partner, Adam Kidan, were embroiled in acrimonious efforts to buy SunCruz. In an unusual step, Ney criticized the cruise line's owner, Gus Boulis, in statements placed in the March 30, 2000, Congressional Record, putting pressure on Boulis to sell; he then praised Kidan as SunCruz's new owner when the sale went through." [Washington Post, 12/26/04]
GOP GOVERNOR INDICTED FOR ACCEPTING ILLEGAL GIFTS
Republican Governor of Ohio, Bob Taft, Pled No Contest To Charges of Accepting Illegal Gifts, Fined $4,000. Republican Governor of Ohio Bob Taft, was indicted on charges of accepting $5,800 in illegal gifts and failing to report them. These gifts include two golf trips with Thomas Noe, the Toledo area business man who was accused of bilking the State pension fund of $13 million dollars, and funneling illegal campaign contributions to Republican politicians including Bush. Taft pleaded no contest to the charges, and was fined $4,000. [Washington Post, 8/19/05; New York Times, 5/28/05]
WESTAR CUTS DEAL FOR ILLEGAL DONATIONS TO DELAY
Westar Fined for Making Illegal Donations to Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay. "The Federal Election Commission yesterday fined Westar Energy Inc., two former corporate officers and the firm's lobbyist a total of $40,500 for their roles in channeling contributions to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) and other Republicans. Westar, a Kansas energy company, was fined $20,000; it admitted in a conciliation agreement that it violated campaign laws by engaging 'on two separate occasions in the practice of facilitating corporate contributions to candidates for federal office.' Corporations are barred from contributing to federal campaigns." [Washington Post, 8/19/05]
Westar Donations Made To Curry Favor With DeLay For Upcoming Energy Legislation. "At the time, energy legislation critically important to the company was about to go to a House-Senate conference committee. Language was inserted protecting Westar from financial damage that might be caused by other provisions of the bill.... Lobbyist Richard Bornemann of Governmental Strategies Inc., who was fined $5,000, wrote an April 23, 2002, memo to the company calling for it and its officers to give $56,5000 to members of Congress, including $25,000 to a committee run by DeLay, 'to develop a significant and positive profile for the Company's federal presence.'" [Washington Post, 8/19/05]
HOME OF BUSH PIONEER BRENT WILKES RAIDED BY FBI, IRS, DOD
Federal Authorities Raid Home of Defense Contractor and Bush Pioneer in Corruption Probe. Agents from the FBI, IRS, and Defense department raided the home of ADCS Inc. Chief Executive Brent Wilkes in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation of a Republican Member of Congress. "Neither law enforcement officials nor the company would comment on the reason for the search. Wilkes is a former business associate of Mitchell J. Wade, the head of MZM Inc., a defense contractor under investigation by a San Diego grand jury. That inquiry was prompted by newspaper reports in June suggesting that Wade had done financial favors for [Representative Duke] Cunningham (R-CA)." According to FEC filings, Wilkes and his wife have donated $139,806 to politicians since 2001, not including the $100,000 Wilkes raised as an elite fundraising Pioneer for Bush in 2004. [Washington Post, 8/18/05]
ADSC Investigated By Defense Department Inspector General In Late 90's. "The Pentagon's inspector general previously investigated several ADCS contracts because of complaints 'alleging favoritism and inappropriate actions,' and he concluded in 1999 that they were awarded as the result of irregular procedures. Louis A. Kratz, an assistant deputy undersecretary of defense, said in a recent interview that he had requested the IG probe. Both Cunningham and Wilkes had called him seeking the release of funds for ADCS, he said. Kratz said he had never before experienced anything close to their 'meddling' and 'arrogance.' Wilkes 'implied that it was his money,' Kratz said, though the funding was earmarked for a program, not a company." [Washington Post, 8/18/05]
BUSH RANGER INDICTED FOR ELECTION FRAUD; RNC FOOTS THE BILL
James Tobin, Political Consultant and Bush Ranger Indicted For Phone Jamming Conspiracy. Bush Ranger and former RNC and NRSC official James Tobin has been indicted on four counts of conspiracy. The charges stem from Tobin's work in the 2002 Senate race between former NH Governor Jean Shaheen (D) and John E. Sunnunu (R). Tobin was accused of conspiring to jam the phone banks of the Democratic Party and labor organizations on Election Day. [Manchester Union Leader, 8/13/05]
Accused Phone Bank Jammer, Tobin, Raised $200,000 For Bush's Reelection. James Tobin, currently under investigation for election tampering, joined the elite fundraising corps of the Bush reelection campaign. In 2004, Tobin was made a Bush Ranger when he raised at least $200,000 for the Bush Cheney reelection campaign. [whitehouseforsale.org]
RNC Paid Tobin's Legal Bills For His Election Fraud Trial. After stonewalling for over a month, the RNC finally admitted to paying the legal bills for its former employee who was charged with conspiracy to commit election fraud. According to FEC filings, the RNC has paid the Washington law firm Williams and Connolly $722,382 to defend Tobin against the four charges of conspiracy that he has been charged with. [Manchester Union Leader, 8/13/05]
RNC TREASURER INVOVLED IN FEDERAL CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION
New RNC Treasurer's Records Subpoenaed in Corruption Investigation. Robert Kjellander was named RNC treasurer in early August of 2005, soon after it was reported that a federal prosecutor investigating corruption at the Illinois Teacher's Retirement Systems, a state run teacher's pension fund. The subpoena specifically sought records relating to Kjellander receipt of $4.5 million in fees from the Carlyle group, for helping to land the business with the pension fund. [AP, 8/10/05]
RNC Treasurer Involved In Corruption Investigation Was Bush Pioneer (2000) and Bush Campaign Official (2004). Newly elected RNC Treasurer Robert Kjellander was a member of the elite fundraising group of Bush Pioneers during the 2000 election, raising at least $100,000 for Bush. During the 2004 election, Kjellander ran three states for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign. Kjellander recently was subpoenaed by a federal prosecutor in connection with a corruption investigation. [AP, 8/10/05; WhiteHouseforsale.org]
TABLOID PAID SCHWARZENEGGER "PARAMOUR" HUSH MONEY
Tabloid Publisher Paid Schwarzenegger "Paramour" Hush Money, Same Company That Owned Schwarzenegger Edited Bodybuilding Mags. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, already facing plummeting approval ratings and questions about his business dealings, took another hit Friday with a report that a tabloid publisher with close ties to the former movie star paid an alleged paramour of his $20,000 not to discuss their relationship. The August 2003 confidentiality agreement between American Media Inc. -- publisher of the National Enquirer, Globe and Star -- and bit-part actress Gigi Goyette was reached two days after Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy for governor, and seven months before he signed on as an editor for two bodybuilding magazines owned by the company" [Washington Post, 8/13/05]
