Subject: [big campaign] Calling on Justice to investigate McCain's bundlers, like they did with Hsu
From: David Donnelly <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:29:05 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

http://www.campaignmoney.org/pressroom/2008/08/11/watchdog-group-calls-for-f
ederal-investigation-into-presidential-campaign-fundraising

Watchdog Group Calls For Federal Investigation Into Presidential Campaign
Fundraising

Washington, D.C.  In a letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey,
Campaign Money Watch urged the Justice Department to investigate potential
criminal fundraising activities regarding bundlers for Sen. John McCain¹s
presidential campaign.

³Media reports over the past week have brought to public attention the
possibility that supporters of Sen. McCain¹s presidential campaign have used
Œstraw¹ donors as a means to circumvent federal campaign contribution
limits,² wrote the group¹s director, David Donnelly, in the six-page letter.
³We urge you to investigate two distinct cases where violations may have
occurred  violations like those committed by Norman Hsu, who was swiftly
indicted by the Justice Department earlier this election cycle after news
accounts brought similar violations to light.²

The letter was hand-delivered today with more than 12,000 petition
signatures and comments collected over the weekend by MoveOn.org Political
Action urging the Justice Department to investigate. In addition, the letter
was faxed to U.S. Attorneys in three separate jurisdictions: Southern
District of New York, Southern District of Florida, and the Central District
of California.

A copy of the letter can be found at
http://www.campaignmoney.org/doj-letter.

The cases, which both emerged in news coverage last week, include two
high-profile connections to oil executives and companies:

    * The letter urges a full examination of a series of unlikely donations
from California that were bundled by a foreign national on behalf of a
McCain bundler from Florida, Harry Sargeant III. While $50,000 of the
Sargeant fundraising haul has been returned, he raised more than $500,000 in
total. Sargeant and the foreign national, Mustafa Abu Naba¹a, are owners of
International Oil Trading Company, which holds a controversial contract
worth roughly $1 billion to deliver fuel oil to U.S. military bases in Iraq.

    * The letter also encourages Justice to investigate two $28,500
donations made by a Hess Corporation office manager and her husband, an
Amtrak foreman, to the McCain Victory 2008 committee. The individuals, Alice
and Pasquale Rocchio, have no federal campaign contribution history before
giving to McCain. Hess Corporation CEO, John Hess, is a McCain bundler, and
the company would likely profit immensely if McCain¹s proposal to expand
offshore drilling, an idea he opposed until June, becomes law. Hess
employees and family members donated more than $300,000 in June to the joint
fundraising committee.

In the group¹s letter to the Attorney General, Donnelly argues that only an
official investigation will get to the bottom of the matters.

³Campaign Money Watch is concerned the McCain campaign¹s approach is in
effect a Œdon¹t ask, don¹t tell¹ policy that seeks to limit political damage
rather than to turn over to authorities those who may be violating the law,²
Donnelly writes in the letter. ³These are not trivial matters. Individuals
who are found guilty of making donations in the names of others face up to
five years imprisonment for each violation.²

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.

###

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group.

To post to this group, send to [email-masked]

To unsubscribe, send email to [email-masked]

E-mail [email-masked] with questions or concerns
 
This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization.
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---