Subject: [big campaign] Whose help will McCain look for next? Tom DeLay's?
From: David Donnelly <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:25:57 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Sorry for the multiple press releases today, but we couldn¹t let McCain¹s
fundraiser hosted by Ralph Reed go by without a comment.

Release below. (Yes, Ralph Reed can be called a lobbyist, but that¹s
probably the nicest thing I can think of to call him.)

DD

McCain To Accept Reed¹s Fundraising Help?
Watchdog Group Calls On McCain To Cancel Event With Abramoff Associate
 
            Washington, D.C.  Campaign Money Watch, a nonpartisan campaign
finance watchdog group, today called on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to cancel
plans to attend an August 18th fundraiser for his presidential campaign  an
event hosted by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition who
went on to be a key associate of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist now
in federal prison for influence-peddling.
 
            ³Will the real John McCain stand up, already?² asked David
Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch. ³Sen. McCain knows exactly how
Ralph Reed helped Jack Abramoff defraud Indian tribes out of tens of
millions of dollars, and how Reed lobbied on Abramoff¹s behalf to protect
sweatshop owners in the Northern Mariana Islands. Sen. McCain should spare
himself any further embarrassment by canceling this event immediately. Whose
help will he accept next? Tom DeLay¹s?²           
 
            Reed was a key figure in the scandal that resulted in his
longtime friend Jack Abramoff being sent to prison in 2006. After stepping
down as head of the Christian Coalition, Reed and Abramoff, along with
others, participated in an elaborate scheme that involved Reed taking
laundered money from one of Abramoff¹s Indian tribe clients to fund
religious opposition to the efforts of other tribes to open casinos that
would offer competition. In the process, Abramoff overcharged his clients by
millions of dollars. Reed¹s consulting buisness received $5.3 million from
his involvement in the plot.
 
            While Reed was never charged with wrongdoing in the scandal, his
ties to Abramoff played a significant role in his defeat in the 2006
Republican primary for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Campaign Money Watch
aired ads ahead of that contest that mentioned his involvement with casinos
as well as his efforts opposing legislation to protect workers in the
Northern Marianas Islands, some of whom were forced to have abortions or
engage in prostitution to keep their jobs.
 
            Campaign Money Watch is a project of the nonpartisan Public
Campaign Action Fund. The organization works to hold politicians who are
against comprehensive campaign finance reform accountable for where they get
their political donations.
 
###

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