Wednesday, February 27, 2008

O, the scent of clean money in the morning

The Politico has another story on the National Republican Congressional Committee with more details and none of them reflect well on the Republicans involved.
Under Virginia Rep. Tom Davis and New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who chaired the committee from 1999 until the end of 2006, the NRCC waived rules requiring the executive committee — made up of elected leaders and rank-and-file Republican lawmakers — to sign off on expenditures exceeding $10,000, merged the various department budgets into a single account and rolled back a prohibition on committee staff earning an income from outside companies...

...A pivotal moment for the NRCC occurred in spring 2003, shortly after Reynolds took over the panel, when he ousted Donna Anderson, a longtime committee staffer who oversaw the NRCC’s accounting.

Ward then moved up to the top accounting position within the committee, making him responsible for tracking tens of millions of dollars in political contributions and expenditures each cycle....

....Vendors who have done business with the NRCC, former committee aides and Republicans on Capitol Hill have argued that lax committee operations paved the way for the current trouble. For instance, the committee has failed to conduct an independent internal audit since 2003.
We have already seen major players like Jack Abramoff and his crew taken down for money laundering around this time. And to prove it was not an isolated incident, a minor league operation in Ohio, run by Tom Noe, has also been exposed. How can we not believe that the Kings of the Hill didn't have their own variation running at this time. Why else would Tom Reynolds cease audits at a time when loosened controls were begging for oversight? Hopefully, this should break right after the conventions this summer.

// posted by montag @ 9:48 PM
Comments:
Tom Davis (R-VA) has been profiteering from Abramoff, distracting voters by planting stories of poor Teri Schiavo and steroids in baseball, "redistricting" with Tom Delay, and laundering money through the NRCC for years. Keep the spotlight on him till Abramoff finishes sqealing and Davis joins him in jail along with Bob Ney.
See the expose here and here on DKos.
# posted by Blogger Beltway Progressive : 5:52 AM
 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]