bobbyw24
07-26-2010, 11:39 AM
Rep. Charles Rangel may be weeks away from escaping the most corrupt members of Congress list compiled by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). He might have to resign.
Rangel received a House ethics charge on Thursday based on allegations including acceptance of four-rent stabilized apartments in NYC, creation of a tax loophole for an oil exec who gave money to City College, and failure to pay taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.
But he's not alone! CREW names 14 politicians as comparably corrupt. At least 11 of them are also under investigation.
Maybe, just maybe Americans will have less tolerance these days for political corruption.
The following pages contain excerpts of the full report, courtesy of CREW.
Click here to see the most corrupt Congressmen >
View As One Page
View As Slideshow »
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is a two-term member of Congress representing Florida’s 13th district. His ethics issues stem from pressuring his employees to make contributions to his campaign committee and improper use of corporate resources for campaign purposes. Rep. Buchanan was included in CREW’s 2008 report on congressional corruption.
Conduit Contributions
Rep. Buchanan owns several car dealerships in Florida and after he began his congressional campaign in 2005, in one seven-day period, he raised $110,000 from employees of his numerous car dealerships. Several employees have since alleged that Rep. Buchanan pressured them to make contributions to his campaign committee.
According to the sworn affidavits of Carlo A. Bell and David J. Padilla, employees of Rep. Buchanan's automobile dealerships, including employees of Venice Nissan Dodge and Sarasota Ford, were either reimbursed with corporate funds for making $1,000 contributions to Rep. Buchanan’s 2006 congressional campaign, or were coerced into making contributions.
Joe Kezer, an employee of Sarasota Ford, also alleges that he was pressured to make a contribution and that as a further reward, Rep. Buchanan offered him the use of his vacation house in Vail, Colorado. Aware that it might not be legal, but fearing for his job, Mr. Kezer made a contribution of $2,000 to Rep. Buchanan’s campaign committee.
Terry Keith Howell, a registered Democrat, claims he too was reimbursed for donations he had made to Rep. Buchanan. According to a deposition he gave in a lawsuit, Mr. Howell claimed the $8,800 contribution he made to Rep. Buchanan and the $10,000 he gave to the Republican Party of Florida were paid by his business partner, Timothy Mobley, “a Tampa developer whose relatives and employees were the single largest group of contributors to Buchanan.”
The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits corporations from making threats of reprisal to force employees to make political contributions.
Additionally, FECA prohibits making a contribution in the name of a person other than the true source of the contribution.
CREW has a pending FEC complaint against Rep. Buchanan.
Corporate Donations
Another former employee, Richard Thomas, who was the director of fixed operations for one of Rep. Buchanan’s dealerships, claims that Rep. Buchanan repeatedly used dealership cars for campaign purposes. Mr. Thomas has alleged that vehicles were taken out of inventory for use by the campaign and when returned, would frequently contain campaign materials such as literature and posters, which would be cleaned out, and the cars detailed by dealership staff before the cars were made available to customers. The dealership may not have been paid fair market value for the use of the vehicles. Rep. Buchanan also stored campaign materials at the dealership.
Using corporate vehicles for campaign purposes without paying fair market value may violate federal elections law.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON REP. VERN BUCHANAN (R-FL) >>
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) is a first-term senator from Illinois, appointed to the U.S. Senate in December 2008 by former Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of then President-elect Barack Obama. Sen. Burris’ ethics issues stem from the circumstances surrounding his appointment.
Conflicting Statements on Senate Appointment
On December 9, 2008, former Gov. Blagojevich was arrested by federal agents for what was described at the time as a “political corruption crime spree.” One of the central allegations against the governor was that he attempted to sell an appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama.
Sen. Burris was elevated to the Senate seat by the governor on December 30, 2008. When questions were raised about the appointment, Sen. Burris proclaimed, “I don’t have any taint from Gov. Blagojevich.” Over the next several months, Sen. Burris offered at least three different explanations under oath of how he came to be appointed to the Senate.
The Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Sen. Burris on February 17, 2009, for repeatedly altering his statements regarding his appointment to the Senate and his contacts with Gov. Blagojevich and the governor’s associates.
On May 26, 2009, transcripts of a conversation between Sen. Burris and the former governor’s brother Rob Blagojevich, captured on a federal wiretap related to the corruption probe of Gov. Blagojevich, were released. In the transcripts, Sen. Burris mentioned his interest in the Senate seat and potentially raising money for the governor. Sen. Burris offered to “give him [Gov. Blagojevich] a check” and “do something at the [Burris’] law firm.” Later in the conversation he pledged to “personally do something.” Sen. Burris also discussed having his attorney make a donation – potentially in violation of Illinois elections law – but the attorney later advised against it.
In the first half of 2009, Sen. Burris did not report paying legal fees. His campaign reported raising $41,230, but carried $138,085 in debt. On April 9, 2009, Sen. Burris revealed that he had “rung up” $500,000 in legal expenses resulting from the investigation into his ties with the indicted governor. According to a spokesperson, Sen. Burris began setting up a legal defense fund, but is awaiting Senate approval.
Although a prosecutor found insufficient evidence to file state charges against Sen. Burris for perjury, federal perjury charges may still lie. Under federal law, anyone who takes an oath that he will testify, declare or offer written testimony that he subscribes to be true, but deliberately offers untrue statements about a material matter, is guilty of perjury.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON SEN. ROLAND BURRIS (D-IL) >>
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-who-arent-charles-rangel-2010-7#ixzz0uoMu2CHx
more
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-who-arent-charles-rangel-2010-7
Rangel received a House ethics charge on Thursday based on allegations including acceptance of four-rent stabilized apartments in NYC, creation of a tax loophole for an oil exec who gave money to City College, and failure to pay taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.
But he's not alone! CREW names 14 politicians as comparably corrupt. At least 11 of them are also under investigation.
Maybe, just maybe Americans will have less tolerance these days for political corruption.
The following pages contain excerpts of the full report, courtesy of CREW.
Click here to see the most corrupt Congressmen >
View As One Page
View As Slideshow »
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is a two-term member of Congress representing Florida’s 13th district. His ethics issues stem from pressuring his employees to make contributions to his campaign committee and improper use of corporate resources for campaign purposes. Rep. Buchanan was included in CREW’s 2008 report on congressional corruption.
Conduit Contributions
Rep. Buchanan owns several car dealerships in Florida and after he began his congressional campaign in 2005, in one seven-day period, he raised $110,000 from employees of his numerous car dealerships. Several employees have since alleged that Rep. Buchanan pressured them to make contributions to his campaign committee.
According to the sworn affidavits of Carlo A. Bell and David J. Padilla, employees of Rep. Buchanan's automobile dealerships, including employees of Venice Nissan Dodge and Sarasota Ford, were either reimbursed with corporate funds for making $1,000 contributions to Rep. Buchanan’s 2006 congressional campaign, or were coerced into making contributions.
Joe Kezer, an employee of Sarasota Ford, also alleges that he was pressured to make a contribution and that as a further reward, Rep. Buchanan offered him the use of his vacation house in Vail, Colorado. Aware that it might not be legal, but fearing for his job, Mr. Kezer made a contribution of $2,000 to Rep. Buchanan’s campaign committee.
Terry Keith Howell, a registered Democrat, claims he too was reimbursed for donations he had made to Rep. Buchanan. According to a deposition he gave in a lawsuit, Mr. Howell claimed the $8,800 contribution he made to Rep. Buchanan and the $10,000 he gave to the Republican Party of Florida were paid by his business partner, Timothy Mobley, “a Tampa developer whose relatives and employees were the single largest group of contributors to Buchanan.”
The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits corporations from making threats of reprisal to force employees to make political contributions.
Additionally, FECA prohibits making a contribution in the name of a person other than the true source of the contribution.
CREW has a pending FEC complaint against Rep. Buchanan.
Corporate Donations
Another former employee, Richard Thomas, who was the director of fixed operations for one of Rep. Buchanan’s dealerships, claims that Rep. Buchanan repeatedly used dealership cars for campaign purposes. Mr. Thomas has alleged that vehicles were taken out of inventory for use by the campaign and when returned, would frequently contain campaign materials such as literature and posters, which would be cleaned out, and the cars detailed by dealership staff before the cars were made available to customers. The dealership may not have been paid fair market value for the use of the vehicles. Rep. Buchanan also stored campaign materials at the dealership.
Using corporate vehicles for campaign purposes without paying fair market value may violate federal elections law.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON REP. VERN BUCHANAN (R-FL) >>
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) is a first-term senator from Illinois, appointed to the U.S. Senate in December 2008 by former Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of then President-elect Barack Obama. Sen. Burris’ ethics issues stem from the circumstances surrounding his appointment.
Conflicting Statements on Senate Appointment
On December 9, 2008, former Gov. Blagojevich was arrested by federal agents for what was described at the time as a “political corruption crime spree.” One of the central allegations against the governor was that he attempted to sell an appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama.
Sen. Burris was elevated to the Senate seat by the governor on December 30, 2008. When questions were raised about the appointment, Sen. Burris proclaimed, “I don’t have any taint from Gov. Blagojevich.” Over the next several months, Sen. Burris offered at least three different explanations under oath of how he came to be appointed to the Senate.
The Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Sen. Burris on February 17, 2009, for repeatedly altering his statements regarding his appointment to the Senate and his contacts with Gov. Blagojevich and the governor’s associates.
On May 26, 2009, transcripts of a conversation between Sen. Burris and the former governor’s brother Rob Blagojevich, captured on a federal wiretap related to the corruption probe of Gov. Blagojevich, were released. In the transcripts, Sen. Burris mentioned his interest in the Senate seat and potentially raising money for the governor. Sen. Burris offered to “give him [Gov. Blagojevich] a check” and “do something at the [Burris’] law firm.” Later in the conversation he pledged to “personally do something.” Sen. Burris also discussed having his attorney make a donation – potentially in violation of Illinois elections law – but the attorney later advised against it.
In the first half of 2009, Sen. Burris did not report paying legal fees. His campaign reported raising $41,230, but carried $138,085 in debt. On April 9, 2009, Sen. Burris revealed that he had “rung up” $500,000 in legal expenses resulting from the investigation into his ties with the indicted governor. According to a spokesperson, Sen. Burris began setting up a legal defense fund, but is awaiting Senate approval.
Although a prosecutor found insufficient evidence to file state charges against Sen. Burris for perjury, federal perjury charges may still lie. Under federal law, anyone who takes an oath that he will testify, declare or offer written testimony that he subscribes to be true, but deliberately offers untrue statements about a material matter, is guilty of perjury.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON SEN. ROLAND BURRIS (D-IL) >>
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-who-arent-charles-rangel-2010-7#ixzz0uoMu2CHx
more
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-who-arent-charles-rangel-2010-7