Kerry's record on campaign finance is mixed
By Greg Gordon -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, January 24, 2004
First in a series examining the campaign finances of the presidential candidates.
WASHINGTON -- The subject of campaign finance has been a double-edged sword for Democratic Sen. John Kerry. He has criticized the system and supported reforms, but he also has faced questions about his ties to some of his donors.
Kerry, the winner of the Democratic caucuses in Iowa, has accepted money from two figures who later were prosecuted for election violations. He also has received substantial donations from telecommunications, media and steel companies overseen by committees on which he sits.
Kerry has raised $3.2 million in large donations -- those of at least $200 -- in California through Dec. 31, second only to his home state of Massachusetts, where he collected slightly more, his Federal Election Commission reports show.
In 1985, his first year in the Senate, Kerry proposed the public financing of federal campaigns, a change that advocates said would limit the influence of well-financed special interests. In early 2002, he voted for a campaign overhaul that banned six-figure "soft money" donations to the parties. His presidential campaign spurns contributions from political action committees.
But while raising $34 million for four Senate races and $23 million in donations through Dec. 31 for his presidential run, he has drawn scrutiny multiple times for his ties to corporate interests.
In 1998, Taiwanese American businessman Johnny Chung pleaded guilty to using "straw donors" to funnel $8,000 to Kerry and $20,000 to President Clinton's re-election campaign. Kerry denied knowledge of the scheme and returned the money, as did Clinton.
In 2002, a conspiracy indictment against a California military contractor included similar charges relating to $13,000 of more than $26,000 that company executives gave Kerry in 1996 and 1998.
Kerry serves on the Senate Commerce, Finance and Small Business committees, all fertile turf for raising campaign cash. In its newly published book, "The Buying of the President 2004," the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity says companies with a direct interest in Kerry's committee work "have pumped millions of dollars into his campaigns."
The center cited Kerry's receipt over his career of:
* $230,000 from Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, a Boston-based law firm where his brother, Cameron, works. The center said Kerry has sided with Mintz, Levin's long list of telecommunications and cable television lobbying clients on numerous occasions.
* $182,387 from FleetBoston Financial Corp., a Boston-based banking colossus formed in the 1999 merger of Fleet Financial Corp. and BankBoston. The merger, which Kerry supported over the objections of Boston's mayor, led to the layoffs of 3,000 workers.
* $140,710 from Time Warner, the giant media concern that owns Internet giant America Online.
The Boston Globe reported that when Kerry bought a Washington townhouse in 1986, a subsidiary of Fleet Financial gave him a $473,000 mortgage, more than double the home's value.
Should he win the Democratic nomination, those and other appearances of cozy connections could make it hard for Kerry to paint President Bush as the candidate of special interests.
Kerry campaign spokesman David DiMartino declined to discuss specifics about the senator's relationships with donors. Kerry's office has said in the past that he always acts in the public's interest. DiMartino said Kerry "has dedicated his career to standing up for those who don't have a voice in politics, whether it's veterans, children or working families."
"He believes that their interests will only be better represented by strong campaign finance and ethics laws, which is why he wrote and sponsored the strongest campaign reform proposals, rejects contributions from PACs and goes beyond what the law requires in personal disclosure," DiMartino said.
Born into affluence, Kerry was a divorcé with modest assets in 1995 when he married Teresa Heinz; she had inherited a fortune from the Heinz food empire after her husband, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. John Heinz, died in a plane crash in 1991.
Like rival Howard Dean, Kerry forswore the use of federal matching funds so he could raise unlimited sums of cash in the primaries.
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