Pioneering Corruption

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Bush Pioneers: Fundraisers who were each responsible for bundling at least $100,000 in amounts of $1,000 or less.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060206/pioneering_corruption.php

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Jack Abramoff, the black-hatted Pioneer most frequently in the news lately, has pleaded guilty to, among other things, bribing a member of Congress. The White House is now scrambling to prevent photos of Abramoff and Bush from being circulated, while the president is claiming he can't recall meeting the man. The administration is also stonewalling inquiries about whether Abramoff met with Karl Rove in the White House.

Thomas Noe, a rare-coin dealer from Ohio, is under federal indictment on charges that, as part of his successful effort to reach Pioneer status, he illegally reimbursed people for making contributions to
Bush's campaign. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest last spring to failing to report gifts from Noe. Taft entrusted Noe with some $50 million in investments for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, from which some $12 million is now missing.

Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor from southern California, has been named by ex-congressman Duke Cunningham as one of the men who bribed him to the tune of at least $700,000. Wilkes, not only a Pioneer, but also a southern California chair of Bush's fundraising committee, has a history of bundling contributions from his employees, family and associates; this suggests that he, too, may have been involved in making contributions to Bush in the name of other people, circumventing federal campaign finance law.

The president's Northeast Chairman for his 2004 campaign, also a Pioneer, was James Tobin. Tobin was recently convicted of illegally tampering with the Democratic Party's phone lines on Election Day to prevent them from contacting potential voters.

President Bush has failed to sufficiently denounce these supporters or distance himself from their activities. While Bush's re-election campaign has given away the contributions it received directly from Jack Abramoff, it has not dispersed money that Abramoff bundled as a Pioneer, nor returned contributions raised by these other ethically questionable Pioneers. The Bush campaign has also steadfastly refused to reveal which contributions were made by which Pioneers, making it impossible to investigate whether any Pioneers besides Noe were engaged in illegal money laundering.

full article: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060206/pioneering_corruption.php

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