Political Cortex

An Associated Press story appearing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer October 25 headlined this re-run scare...

URL: Political Cortex

   more »

Political Cortex

The above headline was taken from a quote by the philosopher George Santayana.  How its...

URL: Political Cortex

   more »

Bad Attitudes

This is from Robert Novak’s weekly Evans-Novak Political Report . “Caused by Hurricane Katrina” seems a little imprecise here. How about “caused by White House efforts to profit politically from Hurricane Katrina?”

Republican anxiety over runaway losses in the Senate next year was eased by two developments. First, the decision by former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) not to run in Nebraska for an open seat (see below) turns a probable Republican loss into a probable retention. Second, the landslide win for governor of Louisiana by Rep. Bobby Jindal (R) reflects the loss from the state of up to 200,000 black voters caused by Hurricane Katrina and puts Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) in jeopardy next year.

Remember all those African-Americans evacuated to Houston and elsewhere while their ruined homes rotted and FEMA fiddles? Only the blind or the Bush-besotted could fail to see Rove’s hand in this.

URL: Bad Attitudes

   more »

Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

In June of 2005, CREW filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) "alleging serious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by MZM, Inc. and its president, Mitchell Wade. CREW filed its complaint in response to a San Diego Union-Tribune article in which three former employees of MZM, Inc. alleged that Wade forced the employees to make contributions to MZM’s political action committee and to specific candidates or risk losing their jobs.

Specifically, CREW’s complaint alleges that MZM and Wade violated the FECA by 1) forcing them to contribute to MZM’s PAC and to specific candidates; 2) by making illegal corporate conduit contributions to the PAC and to candidates."

Today, more than two years later, the FEC announced the resolution of our complaint -- and it was a very big decision indeed:

The Federal Election Commission (FEC/Commission) announced today that Mitchell Wade and MZM, Inc. will pay a $1,000,000 civil penalty, the second largest penalty ever paid in the 32-year history of the FEC. The FEC has accepted a conciliation agreement in which Mr. Wade admits to knowingly and willfully violating the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) ...   more »

Political Cortex

It has come to my attention that some people on certain blogs and venues on...

URL: Political Cortex

   more »

Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Yet another development in the on-going federal investigation of Alaska's senior Senator, Ted Stevens (R).  The Associated Press is reporting that the investigation now includes the fishing industry:

Federal authorities investigating Sen. Ted Stevens are trolling the Alaska fishing industry for evidence of whether the powerful Republican pushed seafood legislation that benefited his lobbyist son.

So far, the most public aspect of the investigation was the FBI raid on Stevens' home in July, with agents seeking evidence of the senator's relationship with a corrupt Alaska oil contractor.

But authorities have also quietly amassed evidence about fishing.

After serving subpoenas throughout the industry last year, investigators recently returned to Seattle, home to many of the boats and processors that bring Alaska's seafood to market.

Industry officials and attorneys involved in the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because authorities have told them not to discuss the probe, said investigators are asking about federal legislation that directly or indirectly aided the senator's son, Ben, who is a state lobbyist and politician.

 

URL: Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

   more »