Local D.C. corruption has ties to federal politicians

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The man who pled guilty on Monday to violating campaign finance laws in 2010 by funneling more than $600,000 to then Washington D.C. mayoral-candidate Vincent Gray has also had questionable financial dealings on the federal level with at least one very high-profile candidate.

Contributions from employees of Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates, now known as Bazilio Cobb Associates accessed via data.influenceexplorer.com
Gray won the contest in 2010, and it’s well known, at least on the local D.C.scene, that Jeffrey Thompson not only set up a shadow campaign and a network of straw donors to help Mayor Gray take office, but also set up shadow operations to help Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid.

According to court documents, Thompson spent nearly as much money helping Clinton’s campaign as he did helping D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. While he’s now admitting to spending more than $600,000 to boost Clinton’s campaign, he originally reported contributing only $5,900 to help her campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

However, based on that presidential race’s outcome, it appears Thompson didn’t wield the same influence on the federal level. Nonetheless, he has made a number of campaign contributions on the federal level that were in fact reported to the FEC to a number of political campaigns, including Clinton’s.

All told, Thompson has reported giving more than $137,000 to federal candidates over the last three decades. Of the 61 campaigns and politicians he’s given to, mostly were Democrats, although a few Republicans received contributions too. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona received money from Thompson for his 2008 presidential bid, for instance. Thompson has also given to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Part of Thompson’s guilty plea included creating a network of straw donors made up at least partly of employees of his accounting firm to make contributions on his behalf. FEC records show contributions from employees of his accounting firm (including Thompson) dating back to the 2000 presidential election total $321,500. The amount of that money that was illegally funneled is unclear.