There’s an unwritten rule in the world of money and politics: the smaller the audience, the bigger the role of money in determining the outcome. This works both in elections and in legislation. Not many people pay attention to a humdrum House reelection contest, so the challenger can’t get traction and the incumbent’s war chest is usually sufficient to stave off anything but a renegade millionaire.
In legislation, the more attention a bill gathers, the more opponents it tends to pick up and the more expensive its passage is likely to be. Earmarks are the perfect example of stealth legislation – the items are buried in bigger bills and hardly anyone knows about them.
Continue readingReverse California Gold Rush:
What we are seeing here is a reverse California Gold Rush. We have politicians who are from California coming back east to Washington, DC to find gold. These politicians discovered that they didn't need to find gold, they could create it. They could hide their gold inside of cavernous Appropriations legislation or in Armed Services bills, where nobody would dare look -- the site of thousand page bills can turn-off the most daring spelunker. And thus we have come to the point where almost an entire party's delegation from one state, the great state of California, is tied up in scandal. From [sw: John Doolittle] to [sw: Duke Cunningham], from [sw: Jerry Lewis] to [sw: Richard Pombo], and now we have [sw: Ken Calvert] and [sw: Duncan Hunter]. CongressDailyAM provides the goodies on Hunter, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee:
Despite strong objections from the Navy, House Armed Services Chairman Hunter added $25.7 million to the FY07 defense authorization bill to upgrade an experimental high-speed vessel based in San Diego and developed by one of his biggest political donors. ... From 1998 to 2003, Hunter received $47,200 in campaign donations from Titan Corp., more than any other lawmaker, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Cunningham, whose district adjoined Hunter's, came in third -- just behind another Southern Californian, House Appropriations Chairman Lewis -- with $43,050 in Titan donations.Titan was bought up by L-3 Communications last year. L-3 Communications has contributed a total of $34,350 to Hunter's campaign committee and his political action committee in this cycle alone. Calvert turned up in the Roll Call article that contained information on the investigation into [sw: Jerry Lewis]. It turns out that investigators are also looking at Calvert's earmarking practices:
In Calvert’s case, the search of his financial disclosures came eight days after the Los Angeles Times reported on earmarks that went to redevelopment of land around an airfield near where he had invested in a parcel of land. The paper reported that in one instance, after a $1.5 million earmark for fixing up the closed air base, Calvert and a partner sold the land for a nearly 100 percent profit a year after its purchase.Looks like these reverse gold rushers had their day in the sun, but now the party's over. I think I found a motto for these California Reps. to live by. From Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre's song "California Love": It's all good, from Diego to tha Bay Your city is tha bomb if your city makin pay I'm sure that Hunter and Calvert could agree. No doubt. Continue reading
Perils of Reporting
I'm not sure what to make of NBC's story about Tom Casey, the former CEO of Audre Inc., a bankrupt company that apparently sought a federal earmark from Rep. Jerry Lewis, among others. Casey alleges that in exchange for his campaign contributions (or those made in 1993), Lewis (who would have been in the minority at the time, although of course that hardly matters when it comes to the House Appropriations Committee) offered him a $14 million earmark, which Casey could write into the bill himself:
Continue readingScared Stiff
If I was Rep. [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-CA) that's what I'd be. Today the Lewis case has officially became a serious matter. After the revelations of Lewis' step-daughter's work for the Small Biz Tech PAC, whose offices reside in a house co-owned by a recipient of Lewis' earmarks and a former aide to Lewis turned lobbyist, and the NBC News revelations about Audre, Inc. Lewis looks set for a busy summer of fundraising, not for an election, but for a legal expense fund. Now Roll Call, the San Diego Union Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times bring us new information about the Lewis case. First let's start with the Roll Call piece:
In one of the clearest signs yet that Lewis is himself under the investigative microscope, the FBI retrieved the chairman’s financial records late last month even as federal prosecutors in Southern California were issuing a series of subpoenas to towns and counties in his Congressional district, all of which were represented at one time or another in lobbying activities by a current or former Lewis staffer. ... The investigators are in particular examining the relationship between Lewis and a lobbying firm he enjoys a very close relationship with, Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton and White. The records search in the Legislative Resources Center in Cannon was the latest sign of that, as the FBI examined the records of Jeff Shockey and Letitia White.The FBI is also searching through the financial disclosure forms of Lewis' wife, Arlene Willis, who works as his chief of staff in his personal office. The Los Angeles Times tells us that Letitia White is at the center of the allegations made by Tom Casey, the head of Audre, Inc.
Casey said he had told investigators that in 1993, Lewis' top appropriations aide, White, escorted him and Wilkes to a basement room in the Capitol where House Appropriations Committee staffers drafted legislation. There, according to Casey, he was seated in front of a word processor and was asked to type a paragraph into the defense bill that would be so specific that it would limit competition. ... The final bill included much of the language Casey wrote, although the earmark was slashed to $14 million, he said.And the kicker to the Audre earmark deal comes at the end of the Times piece:
The obscure trade journal also uncovered in financial disclosure reports that White, then Lewis' aide, had bought stock in Audre on Nov. 3, 1993, one week before the passage of the final bill.Lewis is another example of the power of K Street melded into Congress. Just like Jack Abramoff, Mitchell Wade, and Brent Wilkes the Bill Lowery-Letitia White-Jerry Lewis connection showcases how Congress and K Street have corrupted each other by combining their operations. When lobbyists and defense contractors are writing language into bills the public interest is not being served. When a member of Congress receives over ONE THIRD of his campaign contributions from one lobbying firm and their clients, as Lewis has, then that member will not be serving the public interest. What we have here is a system that has been created by certain members and certain lobbyists that subverts democracy and public participation in government while abusing institutions and the First Amendment rights to give money to a candidate and to lobby Congress. Continue reading
Lewis Is In a Heap of Trouble:
Last night NBC News reported that the CEO of Audre, Inc. was told by Rep. [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-CA) that he needed to pony up campaign contributions to members and that he hire Lewis' friend Bill Lowery as a lobbyist and provide Lowery with stock options before he could get federally earmarked money for his business.
In an exclusive interview, Casey tells NBC News that after he made campaign contributions to House members of both parties, Lewis informed him the Pentagon would get $14 million for the testing, and that Casey even could write the language. Lisa Myers: You were allowed to write language for an appropriations bill yourself? Casey: Yes, I did. That was Congressman Lewis' suggestion. Casey says Lewis repeatedly urged him to hire a lobbyist, former U.S. Rep. Bill Lowery, Lewis' close friend, and when that didn't happen, pressed for another favor. Casey: Congressman Lewis asked me to set up stock options for Bill Lowery in our company. Casey says Lewis suggested he issue the stock options in Canada — in someone else's name. Myers: Did you view it as an effort to hide what was really going on? Casey: It was intended to conceal his participation, yes.As Justin Rood notes, Casey started the contracting career of Brent Wilkes at Audre, Inc. Wilkes is said to have aggressively urged Casey to spend more money on lobbying and campaign contributions as a means to gain the support of members. Wilkes eventually became fed up with Casey and jumped ship to start his own contracting business, ADCS, Inc. Continue reading
Lewis Case Becomes Family Affair Thanks to Shady House Deal:
What is it with investigations into Southern California Representatives and house deals? Yesterday Harper's Ken Silverstein and TPM Muckraker both ran stories on the former aide to Rep. [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-CA) and current "Queen of Earmarks" Letitia White's Capitol Hill townhouse that she purchased with the owner of Trident Systems. White is said to have advocated aggressively for Trident while she worked for Lewis and, as soon as she left to become a lobbyist at the firm of Lewis' buddy Bill Lowery, she not only jointly purchased the townhouse with Nicholas E. Karangelen, an owner of Trident, but she also took Trident on as a client.
So Letitia White, a former staffer for Jerry Lewis, now a lobbyist, is the co-owner of a home with Nicholas Karengelen, a client of her lobbying firm. Karengelen's firm is the recipient of $2 million (and likely more) disbursed by a committee headed by Lewis. Surely these connections merit the attention of those looking into the Lewis case.
One of the tenants of the townhouse is a technology PAC named Small Biz Tech PAC, which is chaired by Karengelen and run by a woman named Julia Willis-Leon. According to TPM Muckraker, the PAC has taken in $100,000 while only disbursing $6,000 to candidates and members of Congress. The PAC has, however, paid Willis-Leon $40,000 for fundraising, "retainers", "commissions", and so on. Who is Willis-Leon? Well she is Lewis' step-daughter! And to make matters worse the Small Biz Tech PAC retained the services of the same lawyer as Lewis, Barbara Bonfiglio. Bonfiglio is infamous for also working for [sw: Tom DeLay]'s ARMPAC and [sw: Duke Cunningham]'s American Prosperity PAC.
Today Justin Rood went down to the townhouse and found that the door bell line was cut and that there are few signs that anyone lives or works there. What is with these Congressmen and politicians getting their families involved in strange corrupt schemes. There's Julie Doolittle, Christine DeLay, Lisa Rudy, [sw: William Jefferson]'s daughters, and now Lewis' step-daughter.
QUICK UPDATE: Laura Rozen points out that Jerry Lewis secured a $2 million earmark for Trident Systems despite the fact that Trident does no business in his district. "If a member of Congress is giving an earmark, it is almost always in his district." Not this time. Continue readingQuote of the Day:
"When all is said and done, you will see that there is an honorable explanation for everything you are reading about." --Rep. [sw: William Jefferson] (D-LA) in today's New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Continue readingDeLay’s Wife Received Retirement from Lobbyist:
The Wahsington Post reports this morning that [sw: Tom DeLay]'s wife received a $25,000 retirement account from lobbyist and ex-DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham for paid work she was doing for his firm. Buckham and DeLay have come under increased scrutiny for their connections to the swindling lobbyist Jack Abramoff. DeLay's wife has previously been mentioned as being looked at by investigators trying to determine if DeLay did anything in his official capacity in exchange for the money his wife received. Christine DeLay's take from Buckham, when including the $25,000 retirement package, exceeded $490,300. The Post notes, "Before being paid by ARMPAC for political consulting, Christine DeLay, a homemaker and advocate for foster care, had not done paid work of that type. That circumstance has figured in government investigations of payments to other lawmakers' spouses, on the grounds that, if the compensation began after a lawmaker's election, it might have been meant to influence official acts."
Continue readingMorning News:
- Yet another local government has been issued a subpoena in the federal investigation into Rep. [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-CA). According to the San Bernardino Sun, the "clerk of Yucca Valley confirmed Tuesday her office has been subpoenaed for records pertaining to Copeland Lowery and Lewis in connection with a criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI, the federal Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the IRS."
- The Los Angeles Times reports on the details of Rep. [sw: William Jefferson]'s (D-LA) deals with the Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Jefferson, in a meeting with the FBI informant Lori Mody, provides this classic quote about Abubakar: "He's a very, well, the word might be … corrupt." The new affidavit also reveals that on one trip to Abubakar's home Jefferson's driver was actually an undercover FBI agent.
- The House Minority Leadership of [sw: Nancy Pelosi] (D-CA) and [sw: Steny Hoyer] (D-MD) invited Jefferson to make his case to the Democratic Steering Committee on why he should remain on the Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi and Hoyer have both publicly stated that Jefferson should be removed from the committee with Hoyer stating "he had $90,000 found in his freezer ... I think he's got a tax problem". The main support for Jefferson comes from the Congressional Black Caucus who have nine members on the Steering Committee. Roll Call reports that a vote on Jefferson's committee seat will show whether the CBC is in open revolt against the leadership or is split itself.
- The Houston Chronicle reports on the end-of-week exit of [sw: Tom DeLay] (R-TX) from Congress. DeLay says that he has no regrets and that he "fight[s] for what I believe in". We'll have more on what DeLay believes in at the end of the week.
- According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, more items that belonged to [sw: Duke Cunningham] will be up for sale tomorrow. If you are around Los Angeles why not go buy a piece of history.
- And finally, The Hill reports that defense lobbyists are rethinking how they do business in Washington in the wake of Cunningham's perp-walk and imminent earmark reform. You see, they need to find a way to get appropriations that doesn't involve bribing members of Congress with hookers. But seriously, this shows that sunlight, and even the threat of more sunlight, causes these guys to, like vampires, alter their behaviors.
Like Blaming the Bank
The Examiner editorializes about the congressional travel study released by the Center for Public Integrity yesterday, which found special interests lavishing tens of millions of dollars to fly members and their staff on junkets all over the world...and argues that the problem lies in too much government:
The solution is not more regulations and rules that require teams of lawyers to understand and which crafty lobbyists, congressional aides and other Washington insiders eventually find new ways to evade. The solution is to reduce the size and scope of government. Only then will there be significantly fewer special interests buying plane and hotel tickets for members of Congress and their staffs.Continue reading
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