A helpful contrast

November 18, 2005

The Hill reported this week that there’s a growing concern among powerful DC lobbyists that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just isn’t giving them the attention they believe they deserve. It’s the kind of story that offers a helpful contrast when compared to the relationship between lobbyists and Tom DeLay.

Dozens of powerful lobbyists and Washington politicos navigated a crowd of protesters and camera crews as they entered a campaign fund-raiser Thursday night for Texas Republican Rep. Tom DeLay.

The dozen protesters from the public advocacy group Public Citizen chanted “Fat cats for DeLay: Coming through, make way,” as others, dressed in Tom DeLay masks passed out pork sausage and fake $100 bills to passing attendees — to mixed responses: Some waved, others strode by and one made an obscene gesture.

Despite his looming trial and indictments on conspiracy and money laundering charges, the event, hosted by a nearly 70 lobbyists, including former Secretary of State James Baker, former Michigan Governor John Engler and 10 former DeLay aides, is expected to raise as much as $200,000.

Apparently, it was quite a spectacle. In what was reportedly the largest fundraiser for a single member of Congress this year, top executives of the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Gas Association, and more than five dozen wealthy lobbyists got together to help lavish DeLay with contributions despite his pending criminal trial on alleged money laundering charges.

“This is more than just a fundraiser,” said Wayne Berman of the Federalist Group, a lobbying firm. “It’s a way of saying that an important part of the Republican establishment supports Tom DeLay now and will continue to support him in the future.”

I’m not going to pretend that Dems don’t maintain close relationships with DC lobbyists, because they obviously do. But the juxtaposition is nevertheless stark — the Dems’ top House leader won’t give lobbyists enough consideration while the GOP’s top House leader is the lobbyists’ best buddy.

Time to wrap Big Oil around Republican necks every chance we get.

Ask your friends:

Who’s more dishonest, the oil companies or the Republicans?

Oh wait, that’s redundant…

  • Looks like the Repugs are putting the finishing touches on “criminalizing politics”. Now the lobbyists are coming out and saying it, “We support GOP criminals.”

  • Actually, Steve, I found that report fascinating for a different reason.

    Why would the lobbyists care whether they were getting attention from Dems? Unless, of course, they’re expecting to need that relationship a lot more in the near future – say, January 2007?

    Food for thought.

    JAC

  • I know that James A. Baker is the biggest bully and most crooked lawyer on the face of the planet but I didn’t know he was an official lobbyist.

    In an earlier post here in the Carpetbagger Report, I wrote about two Washington DC lobbyists, Marcel Dubois and Bill Sarpalius, who were on the board of directors of the DeLay Foundation between July 2002 and June 2003.

    http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/5871.html#comments

    When I compiled the information from the DeLay Foundation’s 990s, I didn’t know who Dubois and Sarpalius were until I read Ellen Miller’s post in the TPM Cafe which listed some of the lobbyists attending the big “Keep DeLay Out of Jail” gala.

    http://auctionhouse.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/11/16/121127/32

    I did a little online research and found out that all of the board of directors of the DeLay Foundation that year were lobbyists except one. Besides Dubois and Sarpalius, the other directors were Ed Bethune, Ed Buckman, Mitch Delk, Duane Duncan, Jim Jenkins, Doris Williams. The president and director was Carolyn Teltschik who is married to a Republican fundraiser.

    Every director claimed that they devoted 4 hours per week on average to the DeLay Foundation For Kids in the 2002 990 for the year ended Teltschik who claimed 8 hours. The 2002 990 covers the year ended June 30, 2003.

    The directors cannot deduct time spent on the Foundation on their income tax returns but they can deduct expenses incurred with their work on behalf of the foundation. I’d sure like to know how much the DeLay Foundation directors deducted in expenses for the 44 hours per week they all devoted to the foundation.

    For the year ended June 30, 2003, the DeLay Foundation board members including Bill Sarpalius all claimed 1 hour per week devoted to the DeLay foundation except Teltschik who claimed 8. Total hours per week on average was 17 hours vs. 44 for the year before.

    The Washington lobbyists were on the board of the DeLay Foundation in the year that the foundation did not report $388k of gross receipts and $71K in expenses from the 2003 spring golf tournament and 2002 fall golf tournament. In the same year, 72% of “reported” total contributions of $2.2 millon were from “disqualified persons” such as the board of directors.

    I am surprised that the DeLay fundraiser will only raise $200k for his defense. He should have held a golf tournament. The 2003 DeLay Foundation golf tournament all told took in $1.2 million.

    For the year ended June 30, 2004, the Delay Foundation For Kids, Inc. reported $2.1 million in total contributions including the proceeds of $388k from the prior year’s tournaments. Gross receipts from the 2004 spring golf tournament were only $530 vs. the $1.2m from the 2003 golf tournament.

    The DeLay Foundation reports on a cash basis. You have to wonder exactly what cash is being reported or not reported. I find it highly unlikely that the Delay Foundation raised $800k less in 2003 than 2002.

    As I noted in the earlier post here, the DeLay Foundation cliams to raise money on behalf of The Oaks at Rio Bend Inc. which is supposed to build housing for foster children.

    Christine DeLay, Tom DeLay’s wife, is the chairman of the board of directors of The Oaks at Rio Bend Inc. She claims that she devotes 9 hours per week to Rio Bend. A very busy woman, Mrs. DeLay.

    Mrs. DeLay surely was instrumental in creating a new Oaks at Rio Bend entity. As I wrote, the Oaks At Rio Bend, Inc. became The Oaks at Rio Bend Inc., with a “The” and no comma and a new employer identification number. A new request to the IRS would have to have been submitted to be approved as a tax-exempt organization.

    The Oaks at Rio Bend reported as a new entity in the same year that it received its first substantial donation of cash and land.

    The George Foundation, is a very wealthy Texas foundation with $237 million in assets including $59 million in mineral rights and 21,000 acres of property in DeLay’s district. It reported that it donated $403,000 of land to the DeLay Foundation in 2003 but in the Fort Bend property records, title passed from the George Foundation to the Oaks at Rio Bend.

    The Oaks at Rio Bend only recorded $180K of land on its books. The Oaks at Rio Bend should have reported the details of non-cash contributions but didn’t. There is no way of telling whether the land was donated or purchased.

    According to its 2001 990, the George Foundation agreed to donate $403,000 in land to the DeLay Foundation For KIds in 2001 after George W. Bush was elected. In 2003, the value of its mineral rights increased from $4 million to $59 million.

    There are discrepanices between the Fort Bend property appraiser’s property records and the George Foundation’s schedule of property as to the number of acres in the tracts of land from which the DeLay Foundation land donation was taken.

    I don’t know if I can take my little investigation any further but I think that someone else besides me should be looking at the DeLay “charity” operations.

    If anyone is interested, the 990s for the DeLay charities and the George Foundation can be found online at Foundation Center’s 990 Finder.

    http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/esearch.php

    The Foundation Center is providing an excellent public service for people who want to make donations to a charitable or other tax-exempt organization. The IRS Return on Form 990 is an excellent source of information about a tax-exempt organization.

    I looked up the 990s for the National Center For Public Policy Research, a Washington DC conservative think tank run by Amy and David Ridenour. Ms. Ridneour testified to the Senate in June 2005 that she did not know that the Center was laundering $2.5 million for Jack Abramoff. At least $1.975 million was paid to Abramoff’s foundation, the Capital Foundation Center and Kaygold LLC, an Abramoff-owned entity.

    Ms. Ridenour claimed that she thought Michael Scanlon owned Kaygold LLC when the Center wrote a check for $1.275 million to Kaygold LLC in 2003.

    Ms. Ridenour is a liar. In the 2003 National Center For Public Policy Research 990, Kaygold LLC’s address is listed as 800 Connecticut Ave. NW, #500, Wash, DC 20006. That is the address of Greeberg Traurig, Jack Abramoff’s employer at the time.

    Ms Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research knew exactly what she was doing. The Center listed grants totalling $770k to Abramoff’s foundation, the Capital Athletic Foundation, in its 990s.

    Jack Abramoff was on the board of directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research from 1997 until October 2004.

    I think someone should be investigating Amy Ridneour’s money laundering actvities myself.

    I didn’t mean to run on but when I read about those DeLay lobbyists, I got steamed. Bunch of crooks, if you ask me.

  • Thanks, marcus and Ed.

    A minor correction – the National Center for Public Policy Research issued grants totalling $700k to Abramoff’s foundation, not $770k. One grant for $450k was made in 2002 and the other for $450k was made in 2003.

    I posted information from Jack Abramoff’s Capital Athletic Foundation at the TPM Cafe here:

    http://auctionhouse.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/11/4/114556/020

    Amy Ridenour’s testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs can be found here:

    http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/062205hrg/ridenour.pdf

    Here’s another observation about the land donated by the George Foundation to the DeLay Foundation For Kids.

    In its 2003 990, the George Foundation listed a $403,000 donation of land to the DeLay Foundation For Kids but provided no details about the land. I went back and read through the the 2004, 2002 and 2001 George Foundations 990s and every other donation or sale of land listed the number of acres of land involved in the transaction.

    We are talking Tom DeLay here.

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