Frogger
10-22-2007, 08:54 AM
IN MY OPINION
The allure of stinking campaign cash
Posted on Sun, Oct. 21, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
By CARL HIAASEN
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is raking in so much dough that it's hard for her staff to keep tabs on all the donors. Consequently, some embarrassing checks have been cashed.
A bunch of them came courtesy of Norman Hsu, the natty schmoozer of high-level Democrats who was recently busted on fraud charges. Hsu raised about $800,000 for Mrs. Clinton, who has said she'll give back that money to the individual donors.
Now comes the revelation that Mrs. Clinton and several other Democrats, including presidential candidates John Edwards and Joe Biden, accepted contributions from trial lawyers implicated in a sleazy kickback scheme.
The facts, as reported in The New York Times, make it difficult to believe that taking money from these characters was an innocent oversight. The scandal was already in full bloom, and well publicized, when the candidates banked the donations.
At the center of the case is the New York law firm of Milberg Weiss, which made billions in legal fees by initiating class-action suits against large, publicly traded corporations.
The firm's approach was aggressive and effective. When a company's stock dropped significantly, Milberg Weiss would quickly sue, having recruited a shareholder as a plaintiff.
Typically, the lawsuit accused executives of misleading or defrauding investors. More often than not, the company would settle the case for big bucks in order to avoid a trial.
Milberg Weiss soon became the leading class-action firm in the country, though its activities drew the scrutiny of federal investigators. In May 2006, the firm was indicted for fraud and bribery.
Prosecutors called it a ''racketeering enterprise,'' and alleged that Milberg Weiss paid people kickbacks to act as plaintiffs in 250 cases. The law firm has denied all charges, but at least three former partners have pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
One of the lavishly bribed was Howard J. Vogel, 61, of Aventura. Prosecutors say he got $2.5 million under the table for acting as lead plaintiff in several Milberg Weiss class-action suits. Vogel and former Milberg partner Steven G. Schulman have pleaded guilty.
So has ex-Milberg partner William S. Lerach, a former fundraiser for Edwards, who is himself a trial lawyer. Lerach is also a buddy of Bill Clinton dating back to his White House days, and donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton presidential library.
The odor of the criminal probe has been hovering around Milberg Weiss for some time, but apparently many top Democrats don't mind the stink. Twenty-six candidates, including Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, have accepted campaign checks from donors connected to Milberg Weiss since the 2006 indictments.
Edwards took $4,600 from Lerach this year. Biden collected $2,700. Hillary Clinton grabbed $3,000 from Lerach, and a total of $4,600 from two other former Milberg Weiss lawyers.
She has also accepted $4,600 from the firm's co-founder, Melvyn I. Weiss, who stands charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Surprisingly, a Clinton spokesman told The Times last week that Clinton doesn't intend to return Weiss' money. We'll see.
Trial lawyers have traditionally supported Democrats with the same gusto with which oil companies and defense contractors have backed Republicans. Every party has its fat-cat interest groups who believe, quite correctly, that hefty political donations buy influence.
In this instance, the mystery is why Clinton and the other Democrats would take a nickel from anyone so prominently linked to such slimy allegations. There are plenty of reputable (and affluent) trial lawyers who've never been indicted for anything.
One possible excuse is that the candidates didn't know about the Milberg Weiss scandal, which would mean they'd been living in a subterranean cave without the benefit of newspapers, TV or the Internet.
Another defense would be that they didn't know about the Milberg Weiss donations, which seems farfetched considering the firm's heavy connections to the party. After all, its lawyers kicked in $500,000 toward the construction of a new headquarters for the Democratic National Committee.
The final possibility -- and the only believable one -- is that the candidates knew all about the indictments and accepted the money anyway, hoping nobody would notice.
It's not illegal for a politician to accept campaign contributions from a defendant in a pending bribery case, or from somebody who's copped a guilty plea.
But it sure looks bad, not to mention hypocritical.
It also becomes extremely hard to position yourself credibly on the side of ethical reform, and to attack your GOP opponents for fostering a ''culture of corruption'' in Washington, D.C.
There's nothing worse than corrupting the justice system for profit, which is what Milberg Weiss is accused of doing. With the trials pending, the Democrats should have treated those campaign checks like an anthrax valentine.
Now it's too late. All that is left to do is plead ignorance and sheepishly give back the money.
Especially if you're Hillary.
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/277443.html
Couple this with Hillary Clinton's acceptance of bundled funds from Hsu and her acceptance of over $388,000 in money from poor China town residents, people like dish washers and waiters, people who could not be found using the addresses given, phone numbers given or places of employment given, people who denied giving the money or who said they were reimbursed for the check they wrote and you have a continuation of the campaign money scadals of the last election cycle. It seems the Democrats simply can't stay away from dirty campain contributions.
The allure of stinking campaign cash
Posted on Sun, Oct. 21, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
By CARL HIAASEN
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is raking in so much dough that it's hard for her staff to keep tabs on all the donors. Consequently, some embarrassing checks have been cashed.
A bunch of them came courtesy of Norman Hsu, the natty schmoozer of high-level Democrats who was recently busted on fraud charges. Hsu raised about $800,000 for Mrs. Clinton, who has said she'll give back that money to the individual donors.
Now comes the revelation that Mrs. Clinton and several other Democrats, including presidential candidates John Edwards and Joe Biden, accepted contributions from trial lawyers implicated in a sleazy kickback scheme.
The facts, as reported in The New York Times, make it difficult to believe that taking money from these characters was an innocent oversight. The scandal was already in full bloom, and well publicized, when the candidates banked the donations.
At the center of the case is the New York law firm of Milberg Weiss, which made billions in legal fees by initiating class-action suits against large, publicly traded corporations.
The firm's approach was aggressive and effective. When a company's stock dropped significantly, Milberg Weiss would quickly sue, having recruited a shareholder as a plaintiff.
Typically, the lawsuit accused executives of misleading or defrauding investors. More often than not, the company would settle the case for big bucks in order to avoid a trial.
Milberg Weiss soon became the leading class-action firm in the country, though its activities drew the scrutiny of federal investigators. In May 2006, the firm was indicted for fraud and bribery.
Prosecutors called it a ''racketeering enterprise,'' and alleged that Milberg Weiss paid people kickbacks to act as plaintiffs in 250 cases. The law firm has denied all charges, but at least three former partners have pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
One of the lavishly bribed was Howard J. Vogel, 61, of Aventura. Prosecutors say he got $2.5 million under the table for acting as lead plaintiff in several Milberg Weiss class-action suits. Vogel and former Milberg partner Steven G. Schulman have pleaded guilty.
So has ex-Milberg partner William S. Lerach, a former fundraiser for Edwards, who is himself a trial lawyer. Lerach is also a buddy of Bill Clinton dating back to his White House days, and donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton presidential library.
The odor of the criminal probe has been hovering around Milberg Weiss for some time, but apparently many top Democrats don't mind the stink. Twenty-six candidates, including Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, have accepted campaign checks from donors connected to Milberg Weiss since the 2006 indictments.
Edwards took $4,600 from Lerach this year. Biden collected $2,700. Hillary Clinton grabbed $3,000 from Lerach, and a total of $4,600 from two other former Milberg Weiss lawyers.
She has also accepted $4,600 from the firm's co-founder, Melvyn I. Weiss, who stands charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Surprisingly, a Clinton spokesman told The Times last week that Clinton doesn't intend to return Weiss' money. We'll see.
Trial lawyers have traditionally supported Democrats with the same gusto with which oil companies and defense contractors have backed Republicans. Every party has its fat-cat interest groups who believe, quite correctly, that hefty political donations buy influence.
In this instance, the mystery is why Clinton and the other Democrats would take a nickel from anyone so prominently linked to such slimy allegations. There are plenty of reputable (and affluent) trial lawyers who've never been indicted for anything.
One possible excuse is that the candidates didn't know about the Milberg Weiss scandal, which would mean they'd been living in a subterranean cave without the benefit of newspapers, TV or the Internet.
Another defense would be that they didn't know about the Milberg Weiss donations, which seems farfetched considering the firm's heavy connections to the party. After all, its lawyers kicked in $500,000 toward the construction of a new headquarters for the Democratic National Committee.
The final possibility -- and the only believable one -- is that the candidates knew all about the indictments and accepted the money anyway, hoping nobody would notice.
It's not illegal for a politician to accept campaign contributions from a defendant in a pending bribery case, or from somebody who's copped a guilty plea.
But it sure looks bad, not to mention hypocritical.
It also becomes extremely hard to position yourself credibly on the side of ethical reform, and to attack your GOP opponents for fostering a ''culture of corruption'' in Washington, D.C.
There's nothing worse than corrupting the justice system for profit, which is what Milberg Weiss is accused of doing. With the trials pending, the Democrats should have treated those campaign checks like an anthrax valentine.
Now it's too late. All that is left to do is plead ignorance and sheepishly give back the money.
Especially if you're Hillary.
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/277443.html
Couple this with Hillary Clinton's acceptance of bundled funds from Hsu and her acceptance of over $388,000 in money from poor China town residents, people like dish washers and waiters, people who could not be found using the addresses given, phone numbers given or places of employment given, people who denied giving the money or who said they were reimbursed for the check they wrote and you have a continuation of the campaign money scadals of the last election cycle. It seems the Democrats simply can't stay away from dirty campain contributions.