Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS)-Sweet Real Estate Deal from DeLay Front Group

[LiviaOlivia]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000197.php

Congressman Got Sweet Real Estate Deal from DeLay-Buckham Front Group
By Paul Kiel - March 27, 2006, 5:43 PM

Recently, the Washington Post and TPMmuckraker.com have been reporting on the DeLay-Buckham front group, U.S. Family Network. Ed Buckham, you'll remember, was Tom DeLay's Chief of Staff until he left the Hill to open up his lobby shop, Alexander Strategy Group. USFN purported to be a grassroots activist group pushing causes dear to social conservatives. In fact, it functioned as a slush fund and all-purpose political favor mill through which Jack Abramoff clients (Russian tycoons, Marianas sweatshop owners and the Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe) funneled money to Buckham, his lobbying shop and other DeLay causes.

One thread of the USFN story was the townhouse it bought near Capitol Hill. Called the "Safe House" by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay's aides, it was the headquarters for DeLay's ARMPAC, Buckham's lobby shop, Alexander Strategy Group, and of course it even had a little office for the USFN itself.

By 2000 the FEC was starting to look into the USFN, and the USFN's Capitol Hill neighbors had begun to complain that it was a business operating in a residential area in violation of local zoning laws. In their big piece on the U.S. Family Network yesterday, the Washington Post reported that when Buckham's USFN had to part with the beloved "Safe House" in late 2000 it took a $19,000 loss.

Now, that got us to wondering. A loss of that scale is far from Duke Cunningham territory. But the DC housing market was pretty hot back then and the USFN held the property for just about 2 years.

So who got such a good deal? The buyer was Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS).

~snip~

[Mabus]

1. Ryun buys house from Abramoff-client front group

Property sold to a member of Congress at substantially under market value can, in some instances, be construed as a de facto gift. In this case, that would be from the Buckham-controlled and Abramoff-client-funded front group USFN to Rep. Ryun.

Naomi Seligman of CREW told TPMmuckraker.com that Ryun's house deal should prompt a House Ethics Committee investigation. "Who else in America has lost money on a real estate transaction except Mitchell Wade?"

I'm helping to plan a fundraiser for Ryun's opponent, Nancy Boyda, later this week. I'm sure the people I'm working with will be interested in this information. Thanks, big time. :hi:

[Big Unit]

5. Boyda Event Successful?

How did your event for Nancy Boyda go? Have a good turnout?

[LiviaOlivia]

2. Update from TPMmuckracker on Ryun DC real estate deal

Just How Sweet Was Ryun's Townhouse Deal?
By Paul Kiel - March 28, 2006, 5:45 PM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000207.php

Here's an update on our report on Rep. Jim Ryun's (R-KS) sweetheart real estate deal.

Yesterday we reported that the U.S. Family Network, a sham nonprofit controlled by former DeLay Chief of Staff Ed Buckham and funded by Jack Abramoff's lobbying clients, sold a Capitol Hill townhouse to Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS) at a $19,000 loss. Given the hot real estate market in Washington, D.C. at that time, the low sale price raised the question of whether transaction was a de facto gift to Rep. Ryun.

To refresh everyone's memory, the USFN bought the house in January of 1999 for $429,000. Almost two years later, they sold it to Ryun for $410,000.

That sounded low to us -- and legions of TPM readers, a number of whom work in real estate, wrote in to agree. So today we spoke to two real estate appraisers who work in the Capitol Hill area to get a sense of just how low that sounded to them.

Don Boucher, an appraiser who focuses on residential properties in the D.C. area, said that the property should have appreciated ...about 15% or more...� during that time period, meaning that it would have sold around $500,000.

~snip~

[Mabus]

3. Thanks for the update

Let's hope this is just the beginning. The more the taint of corruption raises its head with Ryun and other Kansas Republicans the better.

[kayice]

4. Ryun was on WIBW claiming he got the deal because of structural

problems. ha! You should see the email reply I've received by this arse when I asked him about Bush's actions. He carried on about Bush like he was his long lost brother and could no wrong. Damn crooks!

I hope someone is looking into Rep. Ryun's sweetheart deal; Ryun is a FRAUD.

[MissMarple]

6. Ryun's claim of structural defects should be easy enough to verify.

If repairs were made, there should be records, if not, the defects are still existing. Uh oh....