Judicial Watch Statement Regarding the Senate Ethics Committee’s Refusal to Punish Hillary Clinton for Campaign Finance Fraud
Jun 12, 2006 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5188
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton offered the following statement today regarding the Senate Ethics Committee’s recent decision to dismiss Judicial Watch’s ethics complaint against Hillary Rodham Clinton for her personal role in a campaign finance scandal.
“Hillary Clinton’s friends in the Senate decided to give her a free pass in the run up to 2006 and 2008 elections. They first tried to ignore the issue, and then failed to undertake any serious investigation of the matter. The evidence is clear. Hillary Clinton knew her 2000 campaign failed to report more than $700,000 in contributions. She never corrected the record. Senator Clinton should at least be reprimanded for violating campaign finance law and for bringing shame on the United States Senate. Instead, the Senate Ethics Committee shirked its duty rather than hold to account one of its own.
“As political corruption scandals continue to dominate the headlines, how much longer can Members of Congress ignore rampant corruption among their ranks? The American people are fed up with politicians who look the other way while their colleagues violate the law.”
In January, the Federal Election Commission, in response to a Judicial Watch complaint, fined New York Senate 2000 $35,000 for failing to accurately report $721,895 in contributions from former Judicial Watch client Peter Paul. (New York Senate 2000 is a joint fundraising committee consisting of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the New York State Democratic Committee.) Last year, the Department of Justice attempted to convict David Rosen, Hillary Clinton’s top fundraising aide, for his role in the scandal.
Judicial Watch filed its Senate Ethics Complaint to hold Hillary Clinton personally responsible for her role in the scandal. Judicial Watch also cooperated with the Justice Department in its investigation – leading to the criminal indictment and trial of Rosen. Over 42,000 Judicial Watch supporters petitioned the Senate Ethics Committee earlier this year to investigate the Clinton campaign finance scandal.
Click here to review the Senate Ethics Committee’s May 26th letter(http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/hw06/hrc-sce.pdf). Click here to view other documents pertaining to the Clinton campaign finance scandal(http://www.judicialwatch.org/hrccomplaint.shtml).
Judicial Watch is a non-partisan, educational foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Judicial Watch is dedicated to fighting government and judicial corruption and promoting a return to ethics and morality in our nation's public life.
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