User:Daniel Bush/casualnotes

So I dove back into the FEC database and got back to digging.

On June 16, 2003, Jack Abramoff gave $2,500 to the Keep Our Mission (formerly Keep Our Majority) PAC, plus Greenberg Traurig director Todd Boulanger, an indicted Greenberg Traurig employee (Kevin A. Ring), and another employee second gave $500 each. Two more directors, former Bob Ney chief of staff Neil Volz and Shawn Vasell, gave $1000 each. A fifth employee gave $250, making for a $6,250 total from Greenberg Traurig. The Mississippi Choctaw Indian Band gave $15,000 to the PAC. $14,250 was also given to this PAC on this date by miscellaneous lobbyists, most likely unrelated.

The first contribution made by the PAC afterward was $10,000 was given to Mike Ferguson (NJ-7) 11 days later; that month he had resolved a dispute with the FEC over his parents donating $525,000 to his campaign when the maximum amount a candidate can receive per person is $25,000. On June 3, according to a House Oversight Committee report, the Mississippi Choctaw tribe bill was about $10,000.

He received $2000 more from members of the Alexander Strategy Group on June 23, 2003, which also represent the Mississippi Choctaw tribe. His parents donated on the same day as those lobbyists, which makes me suspect it was arranged.

On June 3, Dennis Hastert held a fund raiser at Jack Abramoff's restaurant, called "Signatures," for the Keep Our Majority PAC. It was estimated that over $21,500 was given, which matches up exactly with the amount contributed on June 16. Strangely, though, the Mississippi Choctaw contribution, or rather all of them, are missing from the database in searchable format. I happened to find them by accident on the same image as another contribution.

Next, I wanted to see what legislation was going through Congress in June 2003. Well, wouldn't you know it, a week after the June 3 fund raiser, there was a bill on Internet gambling prohibition. Before the final vote, there was a vote on a provision that would have exempted the state-licensed businesses from the bill.

Tom DeLay had been trying to pass legislation that was favorable to Abramoff's clients that month, and the Choctaw tribe just happened to be state licensed. Ferguson voted for the bill, but against the amendment removing the state license exemption. It was only after Jack Abramoff's corruption was well known that he voted to ban financial institutions from allowing Internet gambling via credit card, in 2006.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll254.xml http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll255.xml http://www.nrsc.org/nrscwebimages/2008citations/marylandrieu/20051117_AssociatedPress.pdf http://oversight.house.gov/abramoff/docs/abramoff.pdf

These links provided information on the Signatures fund raiser. The FEC documents are saved on my hard drive, since the links appear to be temporary, and the Choctaw contributions not being in search format makes me feel the sanctity of the database to cleansing is suspect.

I'm preparing for Todd A. Boulanger interview; these questions can be recycled for other fundraiser attendees.

Mr. Boulanger, do you remember if you were in attendence at the Dennis Hastert fund raiser at

the restaurant Signatures on June 3, 2003?

{follow-up:

Do you remember if any of your former colleagues at Greenberg Traurig were in attendence? }

Do you remember if members of the Mississippi Choctaw Indian Band were there?

{if no to either:

I noticed that a Republican Senate report says that at least $21,500 was raised at Signatures.

This matches the report totals for June 16, 2003 of Dennis Hastert's Keep Our Majority Fund.

Did they wait to donate until that time, or was the reported date of the donations moved eleven

days later than it really had been, and if so, why?)

Was Internet gambling mentioned at the fund raiser?

{if yes, was the bill to prohibit Internet gambling in the House of Representatives discussed?

Did anyone mention the provision about exemptions for state-licensed businesses? Who?)

Was Mike Ferguson mentioned at the fund raiser?

Was the Department of the Interior or offshore oil drilling?