as. You said..."There are no current Democractic fundraising scandals at all. Going back to 1999 and citing a minor case does not count."....
Sure it counts....corruption is corruption no matter when it happens.
How about this one. >>>
ANOTHER SMELLY DEMOCRAT VOTE SCANDAL
By Michelle Malkin · January 27, 2005 12:09 AM
Voter fraud fiascos in Wisconsin and East St. Louis are now on top bloggers' radar screen.
michellemalkin.com
Now, it's time to turn the spotlight on the stink in Sacramento. California-based watchdogs have been hot on the littered trail of embattled Democratic Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In a nutshell:
Besides allegations that he used millions of dollars in federal Help America Vote Act funds to boost his political profile and reward Democratic allies, [Shelley] also faces two state investigations and a federal probe into accusations he accepted campaign contributions from a political ally that had been laundered through a state grant. He's also been accused of accepting political donations in his state office.
A bombshell investigative report from the California State Personnel Board released today blasted Shelley's hiring practices:
The son of a woman who allegedly funneled questionable donations to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was promoted in Shelley's office after someone in the office altered the grade on his civil service examination, a top state personnel official said Tuesday.
Floyd Shimomura, executive director of the State Personnel Board, said it appeared Andrew Lee was promoted after his score on the exam was changed from a 23 or 24 out of 60, which does not meet the minimum 70 percent required for passage. He said Lee's hiring is being referred to Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office for further investigation.
Shimomura said the hiring and promotion of Lee and other political supporters appeared to be part of a "spoils system" Shelley's office used to reward his backers. Lee's mother, Julie, is the target of an FBI investigation into whether part of a $500,000 state grant Shelley helped arrange was funneled into his 2002 campaign for secretary of state...
Lee is the son of Julie Lee, a power broker in San Francisco's Chinese community who was a large contributor to Shelley's campaign. Shelley has been under growing scrutiny since August, when The Chronicle reported that Lee was the founder of a nonprofit group that apparently diverted $125,000 from a taxpayer-funded grant it received into Shelley's campaign fund. Shelley had helped secure the $500,000 grant for the group while serving in the state Assembly.
Federal and state authorities are investigating the transactions.
Shelley refused to attend a public hearing on his alleged abuse of federal voter funds:
The hearing was the first of what [Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford] said would be an attempt to get to the bottom of how federal funds intended for voting machine modernization and voter education ended up being paid to a number of Democratic consultants, many of whom had strong personal and political ties to Shelley.
In testimony largely based on her audit report released last month, state Auditor Elaine Howle said Shelley and his deputies at the secretary of state's office suffered from insufficient planning and poor management, disregarded financial controls and exercised little oversight of staff and contractors, and repeatedly avoided competitive bidding requirements and spending authority approvals in giving contracts to consultants who were close to Shelley.
In her strongest remarks, Howle testified that officials in the "executive office" ordered the secretary of state's accounting department to speed up payments to favored consultants, even as counties that needed the money for poll worker training and voting machine modernization were made to wait for their funds. She also said "executive staff" had created the contracts and improperly used an exemption from bidding requirements to let them.
Shelley has come under intense scrutiny from law enforcement and legislative authorities since last August, when questions were first raised in a Chronicle report about $125,000 in campaign donations to his successful 2002 race to become secretary of state that appear to have originated from a taxpayer grant for a San Francisco nonprofit group. Shelley has said he had no reason to suspect the campaign funds were tainted.
Since then, further questions have been raised about his handling of the federal Help America Vote Act funds, and about his personal treatment of employees.
California was awarded roughly $180 million of the funds from the federal government, as part of a sweeping plan after the 2000 presidential election debacle to modernize America's voting systems. But of the $46.6 million spent so far by the secretary of state, more than $1 million has been called into question for being paid to consultants who attended Democratic Party fund- raisers and convention meetings on Shelley's behalf, and who engaged in voter registration drives -- at times in competitive legislative districts...
The Whittier Daily News points out that Democratic pols have been slow to hold Shelley accountable:
The current Democratic legislative leadership...has been dragging its feet on Shelley, despite well-documented newspaper reports about his questionable receipt of campaign funds and his mistreatment of underlings, and a state auditor's report that excoriates his handling of federal voting funds.
Democratic leaders finally scheduled a hearing of the Legislature's audit committee on the report, but excused Shelley from making a personal appearance and slated it for the same day this week that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was to release his budget giving the appearance, at least, of wanting to bury it.
The latest word is that Shelley is refusing to resign. Meanwhile, California bloggers are keeping watch:
Xrlq documents Shelley's initiative shenanigans.
California Insider and BoiFromTroy speculate about Shelley's replacement. BoiFromTroy also has a little scandal quiz.
Election Law Blog mulls whether the term limit rules would rule out Jones.
Roseville Conservative comments on Shelley digging in.
And California Mafia marvels at the lack of coverage of the Shelley scandal in the Los Angeles Times.
We're shocked, shocked! |
