List (and growing) of Indicted Republicans

Submitted by Sarah Gonzales on November 21, 2005 - 2:16pm. ::

Wow! these silly Republicans - another one down!  Perhaps the GOP is having a secret contest to see who can get indicted for the "most" and "worst" crimes! WOW!!!! just look at this list!

so much for the "ethics" and "morality of the GOP.....can you believe this? All the references below are taken right off the DNC website where sources are appropriately cited. (Many thanks to Pokey Anderson for sending the image!)

The Banana Republicans Washington, DC - This week, the Associated Press reported that new House Republican Leader Rep. Roy Blunt, through his political action committee, "has paid roughly $88,000 in fees since 2003" to a consultant also under indictment with DeLay for laundering campaign cash. [AP, 9/29/05] Jim Ellis, who ran Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), DeLay's national fundraising organization, was indicted in Texas along with DeLay for allegedly funneling corporate campaign contributions into Texas state elections in 2002 in violation of Texas law. [Express-Times, 9/29/05]

Blunt’s ethically questionable decision to hire the criminally indicted Ellis puts him in good company among the scandal-plagued GOP leadership in Washington, DC. The group includes Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff Lewis Libby, a GOP super-lobbyist and a handful of Bush benefactors, all of whom are facing federal criminal investigations.

"By picking DeLay's top deputy to replace him, the Republicans' culture of corruption remains firmly entrenched in Washington, DC," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "It's time for Republican leaders in Washington to end their ethically-challenged, business-as-usual approach to governing, their culture of corruption and cronyism are bad for America. We need a party and a President who will stand up for ethics in government. We need a fundamental change in Washington."

See below for a new document from DNC Research:

TOM DELAY'S MANY LEGAL PROBLEMS

DeLay's Campaign Committee, TRMPAC, Indicted for Facilitating Illegal Campaign Contributions. TRMPAC staff members were indicted for accepting corporate campaign donations, illegal in the State of Texas. The donations, totaling $190,000, were made by corporations and funneled through the RNC back to Republican Texas State House Candidates. DeLay cronies Jim Ellis and John Colyandro were personally indicted on charges of conspiracy to violate Texas campaign finance laws. [AP, 9/8/05; AP, 9/13/05, CQ Weekly, 3/20/2004; San Antonio Express-News, 3/15/2004; Austin American-Statesman, 2/26/2004; FEC, 4/8/2004; Texas Ethics Commission, 4/8/2004, New York Times, 3/9/05, Washington Post, 3/4/05]

Tom DeLay Indicted On Conspiracy Charges. "A Texas grand jury indicted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) yesterday on a charge of criminally conspiring with two political associates to inject illegal corporate contributions into 2002 state elections that helped the Republican Party reorder the congressional map in Texas and cement its control of the House in Washington." [Washington Post, 9/29/05]

DeLay Received Private Admonishment for Continuing with Gingrich's K Street Project. In 1999, the House Ethics Committee sent a letter to DeLay privately admonishing him for pushing the Electronics Industry Association to hire former Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY) as a lobbyist instead of former Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-OK). The plan was part of DeLay's push to load K Street power lobbying firms with Republicans, which he re-launched in 2004, despite being admonished for it by the Ethics Committee in 1999. [Roll Call, 5/17/99, 3/12/01, 2/11/04; National Journal, 6/12/99, 5/5/01; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, editorial, 7/27/01; Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 5/15/1999]

DeLay Admonished for Taking Bribes for Votes. DeLay violated House standard procedure and kept the 15-minute House vote on Medicare open for 3 hours. Later on, the House Ethics Committee conducted an investigation into whether DeLay threatened and bribed representatives into voting for the Medicare law, including a large contribution of "$100,000-plus" for the campaign of the son of a member of Congress. [Washington Post, 2/6/04, 10/1/04; New York Times, 2/10/04]

Delay Admonished for Trading A "Seat At The Table" During Energy Bill Negotiations To Westar in Exchange for Cash. An energy company, Westar, gave more than $56,000 in cash to DeLay for a "seat at the table" during energy bill negotiations. As a result, language was added to a bill that specifically benefited Westar. [Wichita Eagle, 5/17/03, Washington Post, 10/7/04, Lawrence Memo, "Suggested Campaign Contributions", 5/17/02]

DeLay Admonished for Abusing Leadership Position and Used Influence To Track Private Airplane. DeLay abused his leadership position and used his influence to direct the Department of Homeland Security to track a private airplane carrying Democratic members of the Texas legislature who were rebelling against a DeLay-led Texas redistricting plan. [Washington Post, 10/7/04]

BILL FRIST'S SEC PROBE

Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, is Under Investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice. Securities regulators have issued a formal order of investigation in a probe of trading in the shares of hospital operator HCA Inc., the company said on Thursday. On Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter said the Securities and Exchange Commission has changed its probe of HCA share sales by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to formal status from informal, granting investigators subpoena power. The Department of Justice has also initiated an investigation.[New York Times, 9/29/05]

CIA LEAK SCANDAL

McClellan Said Libby Never Told Reporters that Plame Worked for CIA. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked whether Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams or Lewis Libby told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?" McClellan responded by denying that Rove or the others had leaked any classified information. "Those individuals - I talked - I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands." [WH Briefing, 10/10/03]

Rove Told Cooper That It Was "Wilson's Wife" Who Worked on WMDs for the CIA and Confirmed Plame's Identity for Bob Novak. Rove had a conversation with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper on July 11, 2003. Cooper wrote an e-mail about the conversation to his Time bureau chief, describing how Rove gave him a "big warning" that Wilson's assertions might not be entirely accurate and that it was not the director of the CIA or the vice president who sent Wilson on his trip. Rather, "it was, KR said, Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd who authorized the trip." Wilson's wife is Valerie Plame, then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA's Directorate of Operations counter proliferation division. Rove also indirectly confirmed the CIA affiliation of Joe Wilson's wife for Robert Novak the week before he named her and revealed her position. "Novak said he had learned that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA... "I heard that, too," Rove replied." [Washington Post, 7/15/05, Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05]

CORRUPT REPUBLICAN LOBBYISTS AND THEIR FRIENDS

Former Washington Super Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Arrested on Fraud and Conspiracy Charges. "Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday as part of a wide-ranging fraud case stemming from the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line from a businessman later murdered in Fort Lauderdale, the U.S. attorney announced today. Abramoff, a key figure in ethics investigations into House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), was arrested in Los Angeles in late afternoon Eastern Time and was expected to be taken to a U.S. magistrate there." Abramoff was indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy, each charge could cost Abramoff and his partner $250,000 and five years in jail. [Washington Post, 8/11/05]

Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham Decides Not To Run For Re-Election After Dealings With Lobbyist Become Public. Under investigation for a real estate deal and his ties to a military contractor, Representative Randy Cunningham, an eight-term Republican, decided not to seek re-election next year in his district in the San Diego area. Cunningham had been the subject of a Justice Department investigation into his home sale to a defense contractor whom he dealt with through his Congressional Committee. [New York Times, 7/15/05]

Abramoff Financed DeLay Trip to England. The National Journal reported, "Abramoff listed, among other things, a $4,285 hotel bill for DeLay and his wife, Christine, during a trip to London and Scotland in the spring of 2000 with the DeLays and some of the congressman's former staff members." On the trip, DeLay played a round of golf at the prestigious St. Andrews course. The trip was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research, an Abramoff client; Abramoff also sat on its Board. [The Hill, 3/2/05]

Reed Paid Millions By Scanlon and Abramoff To Rally Support To Close Texas Casino. During an ongoing investigation involving Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon and Ralph Reed, The Washington Post obtained e-mails showing the trio manipulating a Texas Casino for millions of dollars. "The e-mails reveal how closely Abramoff and Scanlon worked in tandem with Reed, whose longtime opposition to casino gambling and his connections to churches made him a powerful ally in Texas's effort to shut down the Tigua casino that Cornyn said was operating illegally. Reed was paid $4.2 million by Abramoff and Scanlon for his work opposing several tribal casinos in southern states from 2001 to 2003, government sources said." [Washington Post, 8/30/04]

BUSH'S CORRUPT BIG DONORS

Peter Secchia, Businessman and Major Bush Fundraiser, Sued to Prevent Approval of Casino that Abramoff Opposed. In 2003, a group of Michigan businessmen sued the Department of Interior to block a casino from being opened in Gun Lake Michigan. The casino was also opposed by Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff because it would compete with one of his client's casinos. One of the main figures in the Michigan lawsuit was Peter Secchia, a Bush fundraising Pioneer in 2000 and Ranger in 2004, which means he raised a total of 300,000 for Bush's two Presidential campaigns. The Washington Post reported, "One of those involved in the legal action was Peter F. Secchia, a major GOP fundraiser who served as an ambassador for President George H.W. Bush. In December 2002, he told the Kalamazoo Gazette that he was going all-out to block the casino, so much so that he spoke to presidential political adviser Karl Rove about it at a White House Christmas party for donors. 'I talked to Rove, and he put me in touch with his guy in charge of this kind of operation. I'm going to do my damnedest on this one. This is really important to us,' Secchia told the Gazette that December." [Washington Post, 8/28/05]

The Wyly Brothers: Bush Campaign Pioneers, Involved In A State And Federal Tax Investigation. According to news reports Sam and Charles Wyly, better known as the "Wyly Brothers" are under investigation for tax evasion. In early 2005, Michaels Stores Inc. revealed that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York County District Attorney were investigating the stock transactions of Charles and Sam Wyly, the company's President and Vice-President. The Billionaire Bush patrons are accused of setting up offshore trusts on the Isle of Man, a noted tax shelter in the Irish Sea, in an attempt to evade paying taxes on stock options. [Dallas Morning News, 6/4/05]

Thomas Noe: Bush Pioneer, Under at Least Six Separate Investigations. Noe was tapped by the Voinovich Administration to manage a portion of the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau's pension funds. "He also happened to be a dealer in rare coins. And in 1998, the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau agreed to invest in a rare-coin fund that he controlled as a way to hedge its holdings in stocks and bonds, an investment that experts have called highly unorthodox... Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two funds could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a 'Pioneer,' raising more than $100,000." [New York Times, 5/28/05]

Robert Kjellander: Bush Pioneer, Records Subpoenaed in Corruption Investigation. Robert Kjellander was named RNC treasurer in early August of 2005, soon after it was reported that a federal prosecutor investigating corruption at the Illinois Teacher's Retirement Systems, a state run teacher's pension fund. The subpoena specifically sought records relating to Kjellander's receipt of $4.5 million in fees from the Carlyle group, for helping to land the business with the pension fund. [AP, 8/10/05]

James Tobin: Bush Ranger, Indicted For Phone Jamming Conspiracy. Bush Ranger and former NRSC regional political director James Tobin has been indicted on four counts of conspiracy. The charges stem from Tobin's work in the 2002 Senate race between former NH Governor Jean Shaheen (D) and John E. Sunnunu (R). Tobin was accused of conspiring to jam the phone banks of the Democratic Party and labor organizations on election day. [Manchester Union Leader, 8/13/05]

Brent Wilkes: Bush Pioneer, Under Federal Investigation in Corruption Probe. Agents from the FBI, IRS, and Defense department raided the home of ADCS Inc. Chief Executive Brent Wilkes, in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation of a Republican Member of Congress. "Neither law enforcement officials nor the company would comment on the reason for the search. Wilkes is a former business associate of Mitchell J. Wade, the head of MZM Inc., a defense contractor under investigation by a San Diego grand jury. That inquiry was prompted by newspaper reports in June suggesting that Wade had done financial favors for [Representative Duke] Cunningham (R-CA)." According to FEC filings, Wilkes and his wife have donated $139,806 to politicians since 2001, not including the $100,000 Wilkes raised as an elite fundraising Pioneer for Bush in 2004. [Washington Post, 8/18/05]