Al Gore's Skeleton Closet
Two years ago, the conventional wisdom was that Al Gore was a squeaky clean, if dull policy wonk who would be a breath of fresh air after Clinton (and a shoo-in to succeed him). Now, after 2 years of almost continuous scandals -- most concerning his relentless fundraising activities -- it was a major break for Prince Albert when his own party's Attorney General decided not to sic a special prosecutor on him. Here's the real question: is Al Gore corrupt compared to other politicians? Or just compared to his previous boy scout image?
Click on the allegation of your choice:
-- Money Money Money
-- --- A Nasty Bunch of Characters
-- --- Illegal fundraising in a Buddhist temple (and weaseling about it afterwards)
-- ---Illegal fundraising phone calls from his office
-- Hypocrisy on tobacco
-- Cheap With Charity?
-- Environmental Trendiness (and Hypocrisy)
-- Quotes
-- Sources
Quotes
"The Pacific Yew can be cut down and processed to produce a potent chemical, taxol, which offers some promise of curing certain forms of lung, breast and ovarian cancer in patients who would otherwise quicky die. It seems an easy choice -- sacrifice the tree for a human life -- until one learns that three trees must be destroyed for each patient treated." - Gore, in "Earth in the Balance"
"He goes 'I'm a really big fan.' And I was like 'Yeah, right. Name a song, Al.' The answer came limply back: 'I can't name a
song, I'm just a really big fan.'" - Courtney Love of the rock band "Hole"
"Throughout most of my life, I raised tobacco. I want you to know that with my own hands, all of my life, I put it in the plant
beds and transferred it. I've hoed it. I've chopped it. I've shredded it, spiked it, put it in the barn and stripped it and sold it." --
Al Gore, 1988
"Sometimes, you never fully face up to things that you ought to face up to." -- Al Gore, discussing tobacco
-- Quote Sources
Tobacco Hypocrisy
At the Democratic national convention in 1996, Gore gaving a moving speech about his only sister's painful death from lung
cancer. And since then he has pushed the administration's aggressive anti-smoking campaign.
What Gore didn't mention is that he grew up on a tobacco farm, worked on it, and continued to accept checks from that farm
for years after his sister died. In 1988, while running for president, he defended tobacco farmers while campaigning in Southern
tobacco states (and made the quote up above: 'I've raised tobacco ... I've shredded it, spiked it,... and sold it.') He accepted
contributions from tobacco companies as late as 1990.
In his defense, Gore said that "emotional numbness" led him to defend and profit from the tobacco industry. "Sometimes, you
never fully face up to things that you ought to face up to."
Gore himself smoked during college. "Peer pressure played a factor," he said, "stress in college." We should have guessed that
the guy who said "Tobacco addiction ... is just as powerful of an addiction as heroin or crack addiction" was an ex-smoker.
-- Tobacco Sources
Cheap With Charity?
In 1997, Al Gore and his wife made $197,729 but donated only $353 to charity. The average American family (which only
makes around $35,000) gave $696, and families making over $100,000 averaged $2,994 in donations. (Gore, like all other
vice presidents and presidents since Nixon, voluntarily makes his returns public, which is how these figures came out.)
The Republican National Committee and various talk show hosts blasted Gore as a "scrooge" who didn't practice the charitable
responsibility that his administration preached. Actually, though, the attack backfired.
First, it turned out that the Gores had donated more than $85,000 over the previous 5 years -- $17,000 a year -- Then, several
of Gore's opponents in both parties -- including Dick Gephardt, Newt Gingrich, Steve Forbes, Dan Quayle, John Ashcroft and
William Bennett -- would not reveal their income or donations when reporters asked them the obvious followup question. By
the end of this story, Republicans were probably wishing they had never brought it up.
-- Cheapness Sources
Money, Money, Money
Fundraising Cronies: A Nasty Bunch of Characters
Bill Clinton and Al Gore have done a remarkable job of catching up (almost) to their Republican opponents in the fundraising
competition. In one memo, Gore bragged "I did three events this week which were projected to raise $650,000 and ... actually
raised $800,00. Tipper and I were supposed to do $1.1 million, and it looks like we will be closer to $1.3 million." Washington
Post reporter Bob Woodward estiamtes that Gore and his network raised fully $40 million of the Democratic National
Committee's $180 million total in 1995 and 1996.
But in the process, Gore has been kissing up to a lot of characters with checkered pasts (and/or convictions.) Frankly, whether
Gore made phone calls from his office is piddly business. But spending time with accused or convicted criminals if they have
money to give is a much more serious concern for a potential president.
Here are some of Al's business associates:
convicted cocaine smuggler Jose Cabrera
Howard Glicken, who admitted soliciting and laundering foreign campaign contributions
Franklin Haney, indicted for illegal campaign contributions
Jose Cabrera, convicted cocaine smuggler
Jose "Gordito" Cabrera is serving 19 years in prison for smuggling cocaine; he was caught in January 1996 with 3 tons of Cali
cartel cocaine and (maybe worse from Gore's point of view) boxes of smuggled Cuban cigars. Earlier, he pled guilty to
conspiracy to bribe a witness in a drug investigation (in 1983) and to income tax evasion in connection with another drug
investigation (in 1988). He served 3 and a half years in prison on the first charge, just a year on the second.
In 1995, in between these convictions and guilty pleas, Cabrera was getting his picture taken with Al Gore at a Florida
campaign event, and posing with Hillary Clinton in front of the White House Christmas tree. White House visitors routinely get a
background check, which should have turned up his record. When the Miami Herald broke the story of Cabrera's convictions,
the Democratic National Committee returned Cabrera's $20,000 donation (made in 1995), but the Justice Department resisted
releasing the photos of Gordito with Gore and Hillary -- found in the drug raid that yielded the coke and cigars -- until
pressured by Republicans.
Howard Glicken, illegal campaign fundraiser
Howard Glicken, a long-time fundraiser for Al Gore, is awaiting sentencing on his negotiated plea bargain for illegal fund raising.
He raised $2 million for Clinton-Gore and the DNC in 1996, and owns 2 Jaguars with the vanity plates "Gore1" and "Gore2."
Glicken owns a company that brokers deals between U.S. and Latin American companies, and is not shy to use his political
connections to help his work. In 1996, Glicken showed up at a Florida fundraiser, muscled 4 South American clients into it and
introduced them to President Clinton and Mack McLarty, Clinton's top adviser on Latin America. Party officials tried to keep
them out, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Glicken "raised a stink", saying "I raised all this money; I can bring in
anybody I want." Glicken was given a coveted seat on a Commerce Department trade mission to South America in 1994. He
has been hosted by the U.S. ambassadors in Argentina and Chile, and received help from the Argentine Embassy even after he
pled guilty to soliciting foreign campaign contributions.
Glicken had some rough patches in his pre-Gore career. He headed the precious-metals trading division of Capital Bank in
Miami, but was forced to leave in 1983 after splitting a $90,000 commission that the bank considered a kickback with his
friend, Harry Falk. The commission was for helping arrange Capital Bank financing of the sale of $900,000 in Piaget watches.
Glicken then founded his own precious-metals trading company in Miami with Falk. Falk and the 6-man company itself were
indicted in 1991 for laundering drug money. Glicken was not charged, but his company agreed to pay $375,000 to settle the
charges, and Glicken testified against Falk in 1995 under a grant of limited immunity.
Franklin Haney, indicted for illegal campaign contributions
This Tennessee real estate developer and longtime Gore fundraiser was trying to get the FCC to move its headquarters to a
development of his called "The Portals." He was also a guest on Air Force One during 1995-6.
Haney was a generous donor. He was indicted in November 1998 for 42 counts of illegal campaign contributions to the
Clinton-Gore campaign between 1992 and late 1995. More strikingly, he paid a $1 million fee to Peter Knight right before he
became the Clinton-Gore campaign manager. Knight also ran Gore's House and Senate offices for years and helped finance his
campaigns; Time calls him "the hub of Gore's political circle." Haney claims that the million bucks was a fee for "advice" on
attracting the FCC to the Portals; Republicans charge it was a contingency fee for delivering the FCC deal.
-- Fundraising Cronies Sources
Illegal Fundraising At a Buddhist Temple (and Weaseling About It Afterwards)
UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- details to follow. We're still assembling all of this material, and there's a lot of it. But here are
some of our sources in case you want to look them up yourselves. Many are available online.
-- Buddhist Temple Sources
Illegal Fundraising Phone Calls
UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- details to follow. We're still assembling all of this material, and there's a lot of it. But here are
some of our sources in case you want to look them up yourselves. Many are available online.
-- Illegal Phone Calls Sources
Environmental Trendiness (and Hypocrisy)
In the past, Al Gore has made his environmental positions a big part of his message, notably in his book "Earth in the Balance",
which sold well. We don't critique candidates' policy positions, but some of that may come back to haunt him by making him
look extreme, trendy or hypocritical. The quote about Yew trees above is a good example. though frankly none of us has made
it through the book so we can't verify the quote.
He also runs the risk of being shown up as a hypocrite, the way Mike Dukakis was in 1998 after Boston Harbor's pollution
problem was exposed.
One example is the Pigeon River in North Carolina and east Tennesee. The Champion International paper mill has pumped tons
of chemicals and byproducts into it for years, turning it the color of cofee and adding a sulfurish smell. Gore campaigned hard
against this pollution and lobbied the EPA to crack down. But in 1987, as Gore started running for president the first time, he
was pressured by 2 politicians whose support he craved for the North Carolina Super Tuesday primary. Terry Sanford (then a
Senator) and Jamie Clarke (North Carolina congressmen) lobbied him hard to ease up on Champion. Gore did, writing to the
EPA again and now asking for a more permissive water pollution standard. Sanford and Clarke endorsed him, and Gore won
the state handily.
Another possible example is mentioned in an Austin Texas newspaper editorial, but our information is still pretty sketchy. The
editorial, by David Ridenour, describes a 1992 report by Nashville TV station WTVF. He says they obtained footage showing
a garbage dump on land owned by Gore's father that was filled with old tires, aluminum cans, old oil filters and containers for a
pesticide called MH-30 -- and it was alongside a river. Furthermore, Ridenour said, Gore had insisted that this dump did not
exist. He does not give any other details, however.
-- Environmental Sources
Sources
"The Trouble With Al," by Daniel Klaidman and Karen Breslau, Newsweek, September 22, 1997 p39
"Gore Faces More Revelations About His Fundraising Involvement," Wall Street Journal, September 5, 1997 pA1 Washington
Wire column
"Gore is Linked to John Huang on 1989 Trip," by Glenn Simpson, Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1996 pA16
"The Golden Gore Touch Turns to Velcro," Albert Hunt's editorial column, Wall Street Journal, March 13, 1997 pA15
"Gore Put at Center of Demos Soliciting,", by Bob Woodward, Washington Post News Service, in San Francisco Examiner,
March 2, 1997 p A-7
Tobacco Hypocrisy
"Gore talks smoking with Sealth students", by Gloria Kruzner, West Seattle Herald, December 24, 1997
"'Numbness' Let Gore Accept Tobacco Help," San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 1996
Pollution
"Gore's Pollution Problem", Newsweek, November 24, 1997
"How Would Gore fare if he were called on to serve?," by David Ridenour, Austin American-Statesman, August 16, 1998
Scrooge
"GOP Labels Al Gore a 'Scrooge'", by Judith Havemann, Washington Post, April 17, 1998 p A04
DeadHead
Quote Sources
--- Tobacco and Facing Up: "'Numbness' Let Gore Accept Tobacco Help", San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 1996
--- Yew trees: "How would Gore fare if he were called on to serve?", David Ridenour editorial, Austin Statesman-American,
August 16, 1998 quoting Gore's book "Earth in the Balance". Al Gore -- Stupid Statements Web Site, for these quotes:
--- Pacific Yew quote --- Chopping, etc. tobacco quote --- Courtney Love: From Damian Whitworth in Washington, whoever
that is.
Fundraising: Cronies
"Donor to Clinton, Gore Indicted", Dallas Morning News, November 5, 1998
"Gore's Ties to Hsia Cast Shadow on 2000 Race", by Judith Havemann, Washington Post, February 23, 1998 p A01
"Al Gore Money Man's Unsavory Past", Robert Novak's syndicated editorial column, San Francisco Chronicle,December 1,
1998 pA23
"Justice bares photo of felon with Gore, first lady", (Scripps Howard News Service), Houston Chronicle, October 25, 1996
"The Veep Treatment," by Michael Weisskopf, Time Magazine, June 9, 1997 p32
"A Fund-Raiser for Gore Retools His Career With an Aura of Clout," by Phil Kuntz and Jill Abramson, Wall Street Journal,
April 29, 1997 pA1
"The President's Air Force One Guests, 1995-96", CNN/Time AllPolitics Web Site, April 15, 1997
Fundraising: Illegal Phone Calls
"Fund Pleas By Gore From White House", San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 1997 pA9
"Reno won't Order Probe of Gore", LA Times News Service, November 25, 1998
"Al Gore Made Fund-Raising Calls," Knoxville News-Sentinel quoted by Associated Press on America Online, March 11,
1997
"Gore Made 48 Illegal Calls From Office," San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1997
"The Pendleton Act (what say?): How Al Gore Broke the Law," editorial by Michael Kelly, San Francisco Examiner, March 9,
1997 p C-17
Fundraising: Buddhist Temple
"Gore Says He Erred Attending Fund-Raiser," (from AP), San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 1997 pA6
"Gore Says he Realized Gathering at Temple Was 'Finance-Related'", Boston Globe news service, San Francisco
Chronicle,January 15, 1997 pA2
"Gore Saw Sect Leader, Memo Says," (from AP), San Francisco Chronicle, December 24, 1996
"Donors: Warnings", Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1997 pA19
"Former Top Aide Defends Gore,", by Los Angeles Times News Service, San Francisco Chronicle, September 6, 1997 pA4
"Was Gore an Innocent Victim in Temple Affair?" Robert Novak's syndicated editorial column, San Francisco Chronicle,
August 13, 1997 pA21 |
