Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter has another ethics complaint filed against him, this time by Louisiana Democrats Part II


Louisiana--Yet another FEC complaint has been filed by Louisiana Democrats against him, so it's time for Davey to retain Wiley, Rein and Fielding once again (no, not for hookers this time), a high powered law firm populated by his own peers in the GOP, many past incumbents in Congress. Will he get out of it this time? Of course he will, the fix is always on for Davey, the law doesn't apply to people like him who service the wealthy and government contractor-fed districts (also known as "welfare").

Stupid is as stupid does, and the rule of law be damned.
The political committees of Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) have been accused of scheming to conceal a contribution from Pickering to Vitter in violation of federal campaign finance laws.

The Louisiana Democratic Party plans to file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission today, charging that Barbour's PAC essentially filtered a $5,000 campaign donation from Pickering's PAC to Louisiana Vitter's 2010 reelection committee to make it look like the contribution didn't come directly from Pickering.

Louisiana Democrats allege that Pickering didn't want it to look like one Republican embroiled in a sex scandal was giving to another Republican involved in a sex scandal.

Pickering says the charges simply aren't true. ...

Here's the evidence Louisiana Democrats are presenting to the FEC:

In August, Barbour's low-dollar political action committee, Haley's PAC, collected just one check and made just one contribution, each for $5,000. The outgoing donation was to Vitter's campaign, and it was recorded four days before the receipt, which was from CHIP PAC. That is CHIP PAC's only activity since Pickering retired in January, and Haley's PAC has made only one other donation this year. ("Louisiana Democrats file complaint against Vitter," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10.06.2009)

And so, therefore, since Pickering says it isn't true, it's isn't true, especially to the eternal children who were abused by their parents and mutated into authoritarians. Can we just lower the age for the eligibility to run for public office? Any ten-year-olds out there? Hmm?

Do Pickering and Barbour have intimate ties with Wiley Rein? You bet, in legislative actions and consulting, and they've even given to his own campaign fund, in 2002, $1,000 (as far as we know). For example, Pickering received $1,500 from Haley Barbour's own law firm in the 2004 election cycle through two of their employees, and $500 from one at Akin Gump. You think they had to be told to? Me either. I could on (and on, and on...), but I leave it to the reader to make more connections that are a good indicator of impropriety.

Do a Google search on "Charles Pickering Wiley Rein and Fielding," and permutations on the other players. It's going to raise your hackles. What you see on the net is just the surface level, and that's bad enough. Now--and we can assume they're doing this most of the time--they're trying to do it under the wire. When the rules you made no longer work, you break them. You cannot get more perverse than this, breaking one's own rules.

"Contributions from Wiley Rein and Fielding to Charles Pickering," Watchdog.net: http://watchdog.net/contrib/?from=wiley%20rein%20and%20fielding"Louisiana Democrats file complaint against Vitter," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10.06.2009: &to=chip_pickering

Charles W. Pickering - $873,579 raised, '04 election cycle, Mississippi (MS, Republican Party, Congress," Campaignmoney.com: http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/charles_w_pickering.asp?cycle=04

"Louisiana Democrats file complaint against Vitter," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10.06.2009: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09279/1003295-473.stm

July 3, 2008 - Vitter's (ultimately successful) attempt at skirting campaign finance laws: http://chickasawpicklesmell.blogspot.com/2008/07/louisiana-sen-david-vitter-attempting.html

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