AP: DeLay, Successor Blunt Swapped Donations (Must Read)

[RSchewe]

Oct 5, 4:54 PM EDT

DeLay, Successor Blunt Swapped Donations

By JOHN SOLOMON and SHARON THEIMER
Associated Press Writers

(...)

DeLay's convention fundraising arm, part of his Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC), collected large corporate donations to help wine and dine Republican VIPs during the presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in late summer 2000. DeLay's group has declined to identify any of the donors.

Blunt's group, a nonfederal wing of his Rely on Your Beliefs Fund, eventually registered its activities in Missouri but paid a $3,000 fine for improperly concealing its fundraising in 1999 and spring 2000, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.

Both groups - DeLay's and Blunt's - were simultaneously paying Ellis, the longtime DeLay fundraiser who was indicted along with his boss in Texas in the alleged money laundering scheme.

The DeLay group began transferring money to Blunt's group in two checks totaling $150,000 in the spring of 2000, well before Republicans actually met in Philadelphia for the convention. The transfers accounted for most of money Blunt's group received during that period.

DeLay's convention arm sent $50,000 on March 31, 2000. Eight days later, the Blunt group made a $10,000 donation to DeLay's private charity for children on April 7, 2000, and began the first of several payments totaling $40,000 to a northern Virginia-based political consulting firm formed by DeLay's former chief of staff, Ed Buckham.

That consulting firm at the time also employed DeLay's wife, Christine, according to DeLay's ethics disclosure report to Congress.

Hartley said Blunt was unaware that Mrs. DeLay worked at the firm when he made the payments, and that she had nothing to do with Blunt's group.

On April 14, 2000, Concorde Garment Manufacturing, based in the Northern Marianas Islands that was part of Abramoff's lobbying coalition, contributed $3,000 to Blunt's group.

Hartley said the donation was delivered during a weekend of fundraising activities by Blunt and DeLay but his boss did not know who solicited it.

Concorde, derided for years in lawsuits as a Pacific island sweatshop, paid a $9 million penalty to the U.S. government in the 1990s for failing to pay workers' overtime. The company was visited by DeLay.

more...


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DELAY_MONEY_CAROUSEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-10-05-16-54-19

(edited to trim down the quoted text)

[texpatriot2004]

1. GOP replaces thief # 1 with another crooked GOP thief. n/t

[mcg]

18. On Yahoo News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051006/ap_on_go_co/delay_money_carousel

[rainbow4321]

19. Abramoff's $$ to Blunt's group

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00344648/A-E

Jack Abramoff:
3/18/03 $1000
10/24/01 $1000
2/25/2000 $1500
6/1/1999 $5000

----------------

Webpage that lists the other 900+ donors who gave to Blunt's "Rely on your Beliefs" group

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00344648/

[williesgirl]

22. recommended n/t

[mcg]

24. Thanks, everyone please recommend and email

Let's get this visible as possible.

[loudsue]

2. OBVIOUSLY crooked. This whole thing stinks to high ....well,

to low hell. :evilgrin:

:kick:

[Rose Siding]

3. RSchewe, please edit your post

Per DU forum rules...

Copyrights: Do not copy-and-paste entire articles onto this discussion forum. When referencing copyrighted work, post a short excerpt (not exceeding 4 paragraphs) with a link back to the original.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html

Thank you

[RSchewe]

6. Sorry about that. Hopefully it is fine now.

[mestup]

4. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. n/t

[Historic NY]

5. Its like 3 card monty...........

money, money who's got the money. They are so embolden that they can't even cover the trail. Pure stupidity and arrogance.

[redacted]

7. Key Events in DeLay-Blunt Donation Swaps (AP Breaking/Guardian UK)

Wednesday October 5, 2005 11:01 PM

By The Associated Press

Key events in the exchange of donations in 2000 between Tom DeLay's political groups and a group belonging to Roy Blunt, the new House majority leader.

- March 31: DeLay's unregulated ARMPAC convention fund donates $50,000 to the Missouri arm of Blunt's ROYB Fund.

- April 7: Blunt's ROYB Fund donates $10,000 to the DeLay Foundation.

- April 7 - May 1: Blunt's ROYBPAC pays $40,000 to Alexander Strategy Group Inc., run by DeLay's former chief of staff Ed Buckham and employing DeLay's wife, Christine.

more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5324013,00.html

[RSchewe]

9. Wow. You gotta hand it to the AP on this one. n/t

[cal04]

8. Key Events in DeLay-Blunt Donation Swaps

Key events in the exchange of donations in 2000 between Tom DeLay's political groups and a group belonging to Roy Blunt, the new House majority leader.

- March 31: DeLay's unregulated ARMPAC convention fund donates $50,000 to the Missouri arm of Blunt's ROYB Fund.

- April 7: Blunt's ROYB Fund donates $10,000 to the DeLay Foundation.

- April 7 - May 1: Blunt's ROYBPAC pays $40,000 to Alexander Strategy Group Inc., run by DeLay's former chief of staff Ed Buckham and employing DeLay's wife, Christine.

- April 14: Northern Mariana Islands-based Concorde Garment Manufacturing, part of the island coalition that hired Jack Abramoff as a lobbyist, contributes $3,000 to Blunt's ROYB Fund. Concorde was sued and fined in the 1990s for alleged sweatshop practices.

- May 9:Blunt's ROYB Fund donates $1,000 to the Cancer Research Foundation of America through Jim Ellis, a DeLay fundraiser.

rest here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5324013,00.html

[central scrutinizer]

10. you launder my money, and I'll launder yours

what a bunch of crooks.

[saigon68]

25. With this THUG calling the "SHOTS"

[redacted]

11. See the Documents (AP Breaking)

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas diverted excess cash raised for the 2000 Republican national political convention to his longtime ally Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., documents reviewed by The Associated Press show. The series of donations benefitted both politicians' causes - including DeLay's charity, a consulting firm employing DeLay's wife, and the political campaign of Blunt's son.

DeLay, recently indicted by a Texas grand jury, has stepped down as House Majority Leader, and Blunt has taken his place in the leadership.

Examples of key documents showing transactions between the two are below. All are in PDF format.

http://wid.ap.org/documents/delay/index.html

[progressoid]

12. Happy but apprehensive

I hope this brings a bunch of crooked people down but I suspect there are a few cards up a few sleeves. Some people are going to walk away from this without even a slap on the wrist.

[0007]

13. If we keep digging it may be able to get something on the Pope

[Tight_rope]

35. Oh...I wouldn't doubt that the old Pope launder money too...

The catholic church is like a big religious Mafia.

[pinerow]

14. Is that like swapping spit...?

nt

[despairing optimist]

15. These guys should run the laundry when they get to prison

They have the experience.

[rsmith6621]

16. Can You Smell A Party That is Eating itself????

I Love watching every minute of this........disaster.

[rainbow4321]

17. Blunt and donations to his son's campaign

http://www.beyonddelay.org/beyond_delay/rep_roy_blunt_r_mo


Matt Blunt’s Political Campaigns

Family connections have also helped Rep. Blunt’s son, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who received campaign contributions from nearly three dozen influential Missouri lobbyists and lawyers when he ran for governor of Missouri in 2004, half of whom had provided financial support to his father.

In 2000, when Matt Blunt was running for Secretary of State, Rep. Blunt was involved in an apparent scheme to funnel money through a local party committee into Matt Blunt’s campaign committee. Committees tied to Rep. Blunt contributed $90,000 to the 7th District Congressional Republican Committee which, in turn, contributed $76,000 to Matt Blunt’s campaign committee. In addition, Altria – the company for which Blunt’s wife is the top lobbyist – made a $24,000 contribution to Matt Blunt’s campaign, and a $100,000 contribution to the 7th District Congressional Republican Committee.

The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct should investigate these campaign funding schemes to determine whether Rep. Blunt violated the law by improperly using his political connections to fill the coffers of his son’s campaign chest.

Moreover, Rule 23 of the House Ethics Manual requires all members of the House to conduct themselves "at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House." The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct should investigate the various schemes used by Rep. Blunt and his son to fund his son’s campaign to determine whether or not they reflect creditably on his position in the House.



Legislative Assistance for Jack Abramoff’s Client

Rep. Blunt and his staff have close connections to uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is the subject of criminal and congressional probes. In June 2003, Mr. Abramoff persuaded Majority Leader Tom DeLay to organize a letter, co-signed by Speaker Hastert, Whip Roy Blunt, and Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, that endorsed a view of gambling law benefitting Mr. Abramoff’s client, the Louisiana Coushatta, by blocking gambling competition by another tribe. Mr. Abramoff has donated $8,500 to Rep. Blunt’s leadership PAC, Rely on Your Beliefs.

If, as it appears, Rep. Blunt was accepting campaign contributions from Mr. Abramoff in exchange for using his official position so support a view of gambling law that would benefit Mr. Abramoff’s client, he would be in violation of the law.

[Eurobabe]

20. Shell game anyone?

eom

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. Geez

They're all corrupt.

Not that anyone on this board thought otherwise. I just thought DeLay's successor wouldn't be caught with his hand in the cookie jar so soon.

[journalist3072]

23. DeLay, Successor Blunt Swapped Donations

By JOHN SOLOMON and SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writers
7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations that benefited both men's causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay's private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay's wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt's son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist recently charged in an ongoing federal corruption and fraud investigation, and Jim Ellis, the DeLay fundraiser indicted with his boss last week in Texas, also came into the picture.

The complicated transactions are drawing scrutiny in legal and political circles after a grand jury indicted DeLay on charges of violating Texas law with a scheme to launder illegal corporate donations to state candidates.

Blunt last week temporarily replaced DeLay as House majority leader, and Blunt's son, Matt, has now risen to Missouri's governor.

The government's former chief election enforcement lawyer said the Blunt and DeLay transactions are similar to the Texas case and raise questions that should be investigated regarding whether donors were deceived or the true destination of their money was concealed.

"These people clearly like using middlemen for their transactions," said Lawrence Noble. "It seems to be a pattern with DeLay funneling money to different groups, at least to obscure, if not cover, the original source," said Noble, who was the Federal Election Commission's chief lawyer for 13 years, including in 2000 when the transactions occurred.

Rest of article can be found at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051006/ap_on_go_co/delay_money_carousel

[Judi Lynn]

26. Group wants DeLay donations returned

Group wants DeLay donations returned
Thursday, October 6, 2005 By Paul M. Krawzak Copley WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON A group calling itself “We the People” has been delivering recorded phone messages to homes in Reps. Ralph Regula’s and Bob Ney’s congressional districts, urging residents to tell their Republican congressman to return any donations received from indicted House Republican leader Tom DeLay.

GOP officials are trying to track down the elusive group. Democratic Party operatives deny any knowledge of the campaign.

Regula, R-Bethlehem Township, has no plans to return the $533 that campaign records show he received in 1998.

“Why would I return it?” said Regula, who himself received one of the phone calls Sunday. “It was perfectly legal. He wasn’t in trouble in 1998.”
(snip)

“I think it’s a desperation act. They can’t deal with the issues, so they’re trying to link us to Tom DeLay. That’s like linking every Democrat to Bill Clinton, who had a lot more serious charge,” he said of the former president who was impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
(snip/...)

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=245669&r=0

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/Pictures/Persons/010011/010011-185737.jpg

[Vinca]

27. Are there ANY honest Republicans???? nt

[tex-wyo-dem]

28. Some of them may have been at one time, but once they got caught up...

in the GOP crime family, their hands were dirty and there was no turning back.

It's like the mafia, don't ya know.

[Tight_rope]

36. Now that's the Billion dollar question!

A million just doesn't go a long way anymore. Got to up the stakes if you want people to respond.:headbang:

[EC]

29. This, plus a flow chart showing the money exchanges

was on my hometown's FRONT PAGE today. (Kenosha, WI.)

[Tight_rope]

37. Send us a link of your hometown's front page for today...Please!

I want to take a look at that chart myself...:wow:

[EC]

43. I don't think you can see it too well

it's that swirling thing....

http://www.kenoshanews.com/

[catmandu57]

30. Be still my heart

Being from missouri and stuck with baby blunt for three more years anyway, we don't have the recall option for governor here. I can only hope the trail leads from the bugman to daddy blunt to baby blunt, then to long long prison terms.

[rainbow4321]

31. Key events in the donation swaps between Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt

Don't know if this layout of dates has been posted before..LONG list of dates and money changing hands. Can't list all the dates cuz of the copyright rules but here is a snippit, with the link.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8D2D2MO0.html

March 31: DeLay's unregulated ARMPAC convention fund donates $50,000 to the Missouri arm of Blunt's ROYB Fund.

_ April 7: Blunt's ROYB Fund donates $10,000 to the DeLay Foundation.

_ April 7-May 1: Blunt's ROYBPAC pays $40,000 to Alexander Strategy Group Inc., run by DeLay's former chief of staff Ed Buckham and employing DeLay's wife, Christine.

_ April 14: Northern Mariana Islands-based Concorde Garment Manufacturing, part of the island coalition that hired Jack Abramoff as a lobbyist, contributes $3,000 to Blunt's ROYB Fund. Concorde was sued and fined in the 1990s for alleged sweatshop practices.

[zonkra]

32. Betcha they've swapped

more than campaign donations. *yurk* Toupee, spit, Gannon/Guckert? Who knows. They should lay offa the eyeliner and relese their gerbils.

[zonkra]

33. Oh

and sending them to the laundry room of a women's prison would be like sending Courtney Love to Bogota.

[zonkra]

34. Whoa

I meant "released" and "men's prison". Pardon my protocol.

[superconnected]

38. there was a song about his in the '80's

it went "lies, lies, lies yeah!"

[GrantDem]

39. AP: DeLay, Blunt Traded Secret Donations

WASHINGTON - Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess funds to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations that benefited both men's causes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051006/ap_on_go_co/delay_money_carousel

[merwin]

40. Duplicate thread

[usregimechange]

41. kick

[MellowOne]

42. I can't wait to see Delay in an orange suit

Rove,Bush and Cheney will look good in orange as well.