McClatchy: Did New York couple give $61,600 to McCain, GOP?

[babylonsister]

Did New York couple give $61,600 to McCain, GOP?


By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Alice Rocchio is an office manager at the New York headquarters of the Hess Corp., drives a 1993 Chevy Cavalier and lives in an apartment in Queens, N.Y., with her husband, Pasquale, an Amtrak foreman.

Despite what appears to be a middle-class lifestyle, the couple has written $61,600 in checks to John McCain's presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee, most of it within days of McCain's decision to endorse offshore oil drilling.

At a June fundraiser, the Rocchios joined top executives at Hess Corp. — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hess, his wife, Susan, his mother, Norma Hess, and six other officials in giving a total of $313,500 to a joint McCain-RNC fundraising committee, Federal Election Commission records show.

The donations, first traced by Campaign Money Watch last week, were part of $1.2 million in oil industry contributions to McCain's Victory '08 Committee, 73 percent coming after McCain reversed his long-held opposition to offshore oil drilling. The non-partisan watchdog group said oil executives and their spouses from Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana, California, Indiana, New Jersey and Florida also donated.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/46533.html

[liberal N proud]

1. Same old Republicon politics

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Teaser]

2. If you look at what this family owns and where

you have an idea what might be going on here. I would wager it's not just about politics.

[Historic NY]

3. Its called putting one over on the system......

I'd bet its corporate cash given in their name.

[fasttense]

4. Money laundering no doubt.

John Hess: "Hey Alice, I'll give you $67,600 for you to put in your account. After about 30 days, you write a couple of checks to the McSame campaign and the RNC for $61,600. You keep the extra $5,000."

Alice: "Gee, that sounds great. I do love the corrupt government we have and want more of my Tax dollars to paid out to the idle rich. But isn't there a limit on the amount of contributions I can make to a candidate?"

John Hess: "See, that's the beauty of this, you make a check for the max contribution of $4,600 (for your husband and you) to McSame and then you give the rest to the RNC, which has no limit."

Alice: "But, what if some liberal reporter calls me and starts asking questions?"

John Hess: "Well, you just say absolutely, I used my own money to make the donations. They can't prove it one way or the other, without getting your bank records. And they can't get your records. They are protected by the privacy act."

Alice: "Gee that sounds great, maybe then I can pay off my 1993 Chevy Cavalier."

[catgirl]

5. K & R

[davidpdx]

6. Here's another related article

Something smells FISHY:

Bundler Collects From Unlikely Donors

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 6, 2008; A01

The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton.

But the man who gathered checks from them is no stranger to McCain -- he shuttled the Republican on his private plane and held a fundraising event for the candidate at his house in Delray Beach, Fla.

Harry Sargeant III, a former naval officer and the owner of an oil-trading company that recently inked defense contracts potentially worth more than $1 billion, is the archetype of a modern presidential money man. The law forbids high-level supporters from writing huge checks, but with help from friends in the Middle East and the former chief of the CIA's bin Laden unit -- who now serves as a consultant to his company -- Sargeant has raised more than $100,000 for three presidential candidates from a collection of ordinary people, several of whom professed little interest in the outcome of the election.

After initially helping to raise money for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sargeant, 50, has emerged as a major player in Florida fundraising for McCain. He has also become a conduit between McCain and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who was Sargeant's college fraternity brother and remains a close friend.

Crist, a beneficiary of Sargeant's fundraising network, said he saw nothing unusual in its breadth. "I was not surprised, but I certainly was grateful for his and his family's efforts," he said, adding that he anticipates Sargeant assisting McCain not only with fundraising but also with advice on military affairs and the economy. "He's been enormously helpful . . . already," Crist said.

The 2008 presidential campaign, which could see each side spend close to $500 million, has heightened the importance of "bundlers" such as Sargeant, who not only write checks themselves but also recruit scores of other donors to give the legal limit of $2,300. Questions about such donor networks have repeatedly emerged as points of stress for the campaigns.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080503502_pf.html

[Enrique]

7. kudos to TPM for catching this

first to Campaign Money Watch for doing the tracking, and then to TPM for taking their research and publicizing it.

:toast:

Now it's up to the FEC...

[Coexist]

8. .

[DFW]

9. I know a Republican now doing hard time for this

In Ohio a guy named Tom Noe gave money to many people so they could
make "personal" contributions to Republican campaigns and he could
be a big "bundler." Tom was always happy to have the limelight, and
probably was thrilled to have Karl Rove's number at the White House,
which, indeed, he did.

I hope the FEC acts with the same efficiency as the Ohio authorities
did to Tom. Tom wasn't an evil guy per se, but he did have his head
screwed on backwards about a lot of things, and he got involved with
some evil people. It put him in the slammer and ruined his life. I hope
Rocchios either talk and put the people behind their sudden (temporary)
wealth in with Tom, or go there themselves if they refuse to sing.

[Mabus]

10. They used to let them off much lighter

Dole calls for investigation of alleged money laundering

By JOE STEPHENS Staff Writer
Date: 04/21/96 22:26

Related stories:
# Workers say they were reimbursed for Dole donations
# Pool-toy entrepreneur has history of fund-raising for GOP

***

The Kansas City Star reported Sunday that three Dole contributors claimed that the company's executive assistant handed some workers stacks of $100 bills last year. Then they were told to return with checks made out to "Dole for President."

***
The contributors said they personally received $4,000. Federal records show that last year Fireman, his workers and their families sent Dole's campaign 40 checks totaling $40,000.

The gifts came not only from top managers, but also from secretaries, a bookkeeper and a warehouse manager.

On Sunday, a fourth contributor charged that Fireman's executive assistant asked her to give $1,000 to Dole's campaign. She said the assistant gave her ten $100 bills before she wrote the check.

more at: http://www.realchange.org/kcstar1.htm

And, to his credit, Dole asked for an investigation.

edited to change quoted material.

Edited again to add that the guy was fined about a $1 million and given less than a year of house arrest. The company got fined too.

[DFW]

11. Noe was involved in other funny stuff as well, not connected to election fraud

He got nailed for more that just that, and went down on many counts.

He not only got dropped like a hot potato not by Karl Rove and friends,
but got involved with some unsavory characters in his line of business,
and made some advances to himself of profit sharing not yet realized.
The ironic part was that if he had done what he was supposed to and not
gotten involved with all the bad guys, then he would have been a hero, and
Ohio might have remained Republican, and he would have been rich instead
of in jail.

[Mabus]

12. I remember Noe as the Coin guy.

I thought he also cost Ohio some bucks because of some coin investments.

[DFW]

13. I never heard the final outcome

The idea of coin investments was, ironically enough, very sound.
His thing with the Ohio fund was started in 1998, and in the 8 years
between 1998 and 2006, a well thought-out rare coin investment would
have tripled in value, and Noe knew the field. He lent money out of the
fund to bad apples (not too swift) and took advances against profits
that he was not due. I don't know how the Ohio fund came out when all
was liquidated, but I'll bet they didn't lose too much, if anything after
full liquidation. But if Noe had done his job thoroughly and conscientiously
instead of being flash, he would have made that Ohio fund very wealthy,
and himself as well in the process.

I know the field somewhat, and I did OK with my limited funds for that kind
of thing. Back in 1973, I bought a coin at about double "market" value because
I thought it would increase in collector value. It cost me $1600 back when I
was in college in 1973. I finally gave in to temptation and sold it in 2004
for $150,000. Even after the 28% tax, I did OK.

Of course, I never did make Karl Rove's rolodex, but that will just have to remain
one of life's little disappointments............

[Mabus]

14. I wish I could say the same

I've got a bunch of old coins but I've never really checked out their value. Few are in mint condition but I do have coins from the Third Reich, some Indian heads, a Walking Liberty and a frosted Benjamin Franklin fifty cent piece. I've got a bunch (between 50 and 70) clad half dollars. fwiw, I used to work with vending machines and you'd be surprised what coins turn up in them (like the Third Reich coins).