More on that culture of corruption
Betsy's Page
Woe betide any political party that campaigns on cleaning up the corruption in government. Because once they get into office, it won't be long before the corruption of individual members of the new majority party begins to surface. And soon the party that swept into office pledging to clean out all the old corruption is left having to explain away the corruption of their own folk. The Republicans experienced this after taking over Congress in the 1994 election and finally were thrown out in 2006 by Democrats pledging to clean out the stables. Since then we've had the stories of William Jefferson, John Murtha, Jim Moran, Roland Burris, and, of course, Chris Dodd. They are the gifts that keep on giving to Republicans who will try to regain some lost seats in 2010 by running against the Democratic culture of corruption.
Stories like these will be fodder in the Republican arsenal.
The Chicago Sun Times reports on the suspicious timing of Senator Dick Durbin's having sold about $116,000 worth of stock the day after a private briefing.
<<< The Illinois senator's 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway's Class B stock, the disclosure shows.
Altogether, Durbin sold investments worth $116,000 in September. By Oct. 2, he had invested $98,046 in Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, the form shows. >>>
His spokesman claims that Durbin didn't learn anything that wasn't soon public information in that closed briefing and that Durbin was just making canny and timely investments. As Ed Morrissey writes,
<<< I wonder if the SEC would consider that a compelling alibi if it had been a Wall Street regulator who met with Paulson and traded like this the next day. The Democrats in Congress would be screaming for his head in the latter example, but will surely remain silent as the graveyard about Durbin’s suspicious trading. >>>
(H/t Hot Air)
Then there is the curious story of the abrupt firing of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of AmeriCorps, apparently for investigating a misuse of funs by a prominent Obama supporter. As Byron York writes, this is in direct violation of a law that Barack Obama himself co-sponsored to require at least 30 days notice in the firing of any government inspector general.
<<< Last year, Walpin began an investigation of how Johnson's group spent the money. According to the Associated Press, "[Walpin] found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car." Walpin asked federal prosecutors to investigate. In April, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, a Bush holdover, declined to file any criminal charges in the matter and also criticized Walpin's investigation.
That might suggest that St. HOPE was OK, and it was Walpin who was in the wrong. But at the same time prosecutors decided not to file any charges against St. HOPE, the U.S. attorney's office also entered into a settlement with St. HOPE in which the group also agreed to pay back about half of the $850,000 it had received from AmeriCorps.
In his letter to the president, Grassley defended Walpin's performance. "There have been no negative findings against Mr. Walpin by the Integrity Committee of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), and he has identified millions of dollars in AmeriCorps funds either wasted outright or spent in violation of established guidelines," Grassley wrote. "In other words, it appears he has been doing his job. "
The bottom line is that the AmeriCorps IG accused a prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money. After an investigation, the prominent Obama supporter had to pay back more than $400,000 of that grant money. And Obama fired the AmeriCorps IG. >>>
I'm sure that all those Democrats who were moaning in distress over Bush's firing of US federal prosecutors will be equally up in arms over the mere appearance of a connection between firing a supposedly independent inspector general who was investigating charges against an Obama financial supporter.
Michelle Malkin points to yet another story about how Chris Dodd just happened to benefit from an undervaluation of his "cottage" in Ireland.
<<< A new appraisal more than doubles the value of U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd’s Irish cottage, a vacation home that is the subject of an ethics complaint by a conservative group that questions if it was really a gift.
The property is valued at 470,000 euros, or about $660,000, on a financial disclosure report provided to The Associated Press on Friday by Dodd’s office. The previous year’s report valued the seaside home, located in County Galway, at between $100,001 and $250,000. >>>
Oh, yes - I'm sure that Irish properties are tripling in value in this economy over the past year. Oh, what's that? Ireland has been experiencing the deepest housing bust in Europe? Yup. As the New York Times reported this January,
<<< Everything, it seems, has grown worse here. The recession started earlier and its bite has been deeper. Housing prices have fallen by as much as 50 percent. Bank shares have plummeted by more than 90 percent. Unemployment is approaching 10 percent. >>>
Not quite the market where you would expect a property to have increased over the past year as Senator Dodd's new appraisal would have us believe.
Perhaps a more likely explanation comes from Judicial Watch's complaint against Senator Dodd.
<<< Judicial Watch’s complaint alleges that Senator Dodd appeared at a hearing on behalf of Edward Downe, Jr. in 1993 to help Downe obtain a reduced sentence for violations involving tax and securities laws. In 2001, Dodd ultimately helped Downe secure a full presidential pardon for his crimes on President Clinton’s last day in office bypassing the normal pardon vetting process. In 2002, Dodd allegedly received a significantly reduced, below-market sales price, for a two-thirds interest in a property located in County Galway, Ireland, from Downe’s associate, William Kessinger. (Dodd already owned a one-third interest in the property.) Downe’s signature appears on the property transfer documents. He is listed as a witness.
(Judicial Watch has sought additional documents about this property from government authorities in Ireland.)
According to the complaint, Senator Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, allegedly failed to report the gift in 2002 and may have filed inaccurate Senate Financial Disclosure forms related to the property ever since, in violation of the 1978 Ethics in Government Act. The penalty for filing false financial disclosure forms is $50,000 and up to one year in prison. >>>
Lovely. And this is the man who is spearheading health care reforms through the Senate in light of Senator Kennedy's illness.
Once again. Close your eyes and imagine how the Democrats would be howling about that ol' culture of corruption if the Republicans had assigned a major legislative effort to a guy with such a sticky past of receiving suspicious financial favors from political supporters.
Republicans are surely keeping a file on all these stories. And since Chris Dodd faces reelection next year, expect to see all this reappear in campaign ads. Connecticut voters will have to decide if they like Dodd enough to continue his whole culture of corruption in Washington. And just as Republicans had to run campaigns trying to evade stories about some of their corrupt fellow politicians, the Democrats will have to answer for their excusing and protection of guys like John Murtha and Chris Dodd.
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