Mitt Romney Tells RGA To Donate $500 Thousand in Abramoff Cash

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AP Newsbreak: GOP group to give up $500,000 in Abramoff-related donations donations

By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | January 12, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/01/12/ap_newsbreak_gop_group_to_give_up_500000_in_abramoff_related_donations_donations/

BOSTON --Days after calling on his party to exhibit higher ethical standards, Gov. Mitt Romney said the Republican Governors Association would donate to charity $500,000 in contributions it received from a donor entwined in the investigation of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff..

>>>>And while the divestiture will take at least $250,000 out of RGA coffers this year in the run-up to those elections, Romney refused to swear off future contributions from lobbyists or their corporations to replace the lost funds.

He also said he would continue to travel occasionally on corporate aircraft, as he did in December when he flew to an RGA meeting in California on a Gulfstream jet owned by Pfizer Inc., the New York-based pharmaceutical firm. Massachusetts is currently debating a health care overhaul, although Romney said Pfizer is not a party to the deliberations.

>>>>Romney said groups like the RGA and its equivalent, the Democratic Governors Association, are designed to be funded by corporations. He also noted the aircraft travel is reported to the IRS, as are cash and other in-kind donations.

"It's not a form of corporate largesse," he said. "It's a form of corporate contribution."



silly me, I thought it was a form of corporate bribe.