Congressman Says Home Purchase Was 'Pretty Much Aboveboard'(Gillmor R-OH)

[maddezmom]

Congressman Says Home Purchase Was 'Pretty Much Aboveboard'

By Al Kamen
Friday, May 11, 2007; Page A17

Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) has a nifty new 3,751-square-foot, four-bedroom house in suburban Columbus, Ohio, next to a golf course designed by the great Arnold Palmer.

The $1 million house has some unusual characteristics. It's not in his congressional district, but sits about 90 minutes away from the condo that he uses as his official residence.

Even more curious is that Gillmor's name appears nowhere on the property records. The Toledo Blade, after some fine digging by reporter Joshua Boak, found that the owner is Zenith Holding & Trading Corp.

That, in turn, is a subsidiary of a Columbus law and lobbying firm -- Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease -- whose PAC has contributed $6,500 to Gillmor's campaigns since 1997.

The firm sent the paper a letter saying that Zenith has the property in trust "at the request of, and for the benefit of" Gillmor, who paid the mortgage and taxes.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002397.html


Gillmor: absentee arrogance


WE THINK we detected a Freudian slip on the part of U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor as he explained why he bought a million-dollar home — still not in his 5th District — and tried to hide the transaction behind a subsidiary of a politically friendly Columbus law firm.

The arrangement, the 10-term Republican lawmaker declared, constitutes “nothing unethical or unusual. It’s all pretty much above-board.”

“Pretty much”? Hello? Dr. Freud?

Mr. Gillmor claims that he was advised by the Capitol Police to shield his new residence behind an elaborate legal veil for “security” reasons? That sounds preposterous. Are the Capitol Police similarly schooling all 435 House members and all 100 senators in the art of public deception?

Of course, nothing in the Constitution or federal law requires members of Congress to live in their districts. If that were the case, Mr. Gillmor would have been in dutch 11 years ago when he gave up the family homestead in Seneca County for a stylish abode in the Columbus suburb of Dublin.

more:http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070504/OPINION02/70504022/-1/OPINION

[Lasher]

1. Reminds me of the old thing about being slightly pregnant

No such thing as being slightly pregnant or pretty much above board. You either are or you aren't.

[bluerum]

2. Zactly - thats like saying - It was all legal, except for the parts that weren't. oem

[Merlot]

3. I "pretty much" paid all my taxes

[yellowcanine]

4. To be fair, SOME of what he did is legal. Just like the left to focus on the illegalities.

:sarcasm: "Pretty much above board"? No way you can make up shit like that. These Republicans are the gift that keeps on giving.

[struggle4progress]

5. "I call myself a businessman" -- Al Capone

[maddezmom]

6. Questions about Gillmor’s $1 million residence linger

~snip~

Revised explanation
Brad Mascho, a spokesman for Mr. Gillmor, said the ownership structure conforms to the regulations that supervise members of the House of Representatives, overturning statements made by the congressman in a letter to The Blade published two weeks ago. Mr. Gillmor wrote that the Columbus-based law firm and lobbyist Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease has the property for him in a trust, a vehicle that ensures moneyed public officials a degree of privacy from public disclosures.

All congressmen must notify the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct before transferring assets into a trust.

The House Legislative Resource Center contains no record of notification by Mr. Gillmor. And the past 10 years of financial disclosures by the Republican congressman indicate that no such trust exists.

His spokesman, Mr. Mascho, said Friday that a trustlike entity that is “not a trust” controls the house, so there is no need to provide notification to Congress.

more: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070513/NEWS09/70513002

[Broadslidin]

7. Putting a Tail on 'Aboveboard' Gillmor Would Likely Prove Very Fruitful....!

Could there be other Slick Property Deals Tucked Away....?