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Republicans dominate watchdog’s list of ‘crooked candidates’

By admin
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 12:04 EST
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According to a “nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials — regardless of party affiliation,” the vast majority of “crooked candidates” running for office in 2010 hail from the GOP.

A press release sent to RAW STORY states, “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) launched an effort to compile the most corrupt and unethical candidates vying for federal office in 2010. CREW’s Crooked Candidates highlights 11 candidates with scandal-littered pasts and histories of questionable ethics.”

The list “focuses on office-seekers who have engaged in unethical and, in one case, even criminal conduct. Their misdeeds range from quid pro quo schemes to abusing state office for the benefit of friends and donors, to an obscenity charge. A few candidates even made the list because of their involvement in national political scandals: two were involved in the Abramoff investigation and one played a role in the Bush administration’s politicization of the U.S. Attorneys’ offices.”

“With more than 2,300 people running for office this year, CREW’s list is likely only the tip of the iceberg,” the press release notes.

“From Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek’s shady relationship with a real estate developer to J.D. Hayworth’s close ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, to Ed Martin destroying state records – these 11 candidates represent the bottom of the barrel,” said CREW’s Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “America deserves better.”

This year’s election includes the greatest number of candidates in at least 35 years. Mirroring an electoral field that skews to the right, CREW’s list includes 8 Republicans, 2 Democrats and 1 Independent. Excluding incumbents, CREW’s research team poured over news articles, blogs and public records to identify the 11 candidates. CREW’s list is unranked and appears in alphabetical order:

* Roy Blunt (R) U.S. Senate, MO
* Charlie Crist (I) U.S. Senate, FL
* Jeff Denham (R) U.S. House, CA
* Alvin Greene (D) U.S. Senate, SC
* Timothy Griffin (R) U.S. House, AR
* J.D. Hayworth (R) U.S. Senate, AZ
* Ed Martin (R) U.S. House, MO
* Kendrick Meek (D) U.S. Senate, FL
* Dino Rossi (R) U.S. Senate, WA
* Marco Rubio (R) U.S. Senate, FL
* Allen West (R) U.S. House, FL

The Independent candidate named by CREW, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, quit the GOP only a few months ago, after being criticized for pushing for the stimulus package, and being photographed embracing President Barack Obama.

Selections from CREW list:

In 2003, Rep. Blunt divorced his wife of 31 years to marry Philip Morris (now Altria) lobbyist Abigail Perlman. Before it was known publicly that Rep. Blunt and Ms. Perlman were dating – and only hours after Rep. Blunt assumed the role of Majority Whip – he tried to secretly insert a provision into Homeland Security legislation that would have benefitted Philip Morris, at the expense of competitors. Notably, Philip Morris/Altria and its subsidiaries contributed at least $217,000 to campaign committees connected to Rep. Blunt from 1996 to 2006.

….

Gov. Crist handpicked Jim Greer to head the Florida Republican Party. Despite multiple calls for Mr. Greer’s resignation by fellow Republicans, due to extravagant spending at the party’s expense, Gov. Crist defended Mr. Greer. Mr. Greer is now facing six counts of grand theft, fraud and money laundering. He is accused of secretly setting up a shell company, Victory Strategies, and signing a deal that would give Victory Strategies 10% of GOP donations – a deal that Gov. Crist allegedly approved.

….

While in Congress, Rep. Hayworth accepted donations to his campaign and leadership PAC from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s clients. Rep. Hayworth also used Mr. Abramoff’s skyboxes five times without reporting the costs in his Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Rep. Hayworth’s failure to report the skyboxes as campaign contributions violated federal election law, and Rep. Hayworth was later forced to repay the skybox owners. Rep. Hayworth was later cleared of any additional wrongdoing in the Abramoff scandal.

….

Rep. Meek has been criticized for his relationship with developer Dennis Stackhouse, who is now awaiting trial for grand theft and organizing a scheme to defraud. Rep. Meek earmarked $1,072,750 million for Mr. Stackhouse’s development project and requested an additional $4 million in earmarks for Mr. Stackhouse, which were never awarded. In addition, both Rep. Meek and his chief of staff, Anthony Williams, served on the Miami-Dade Urban Revitalization Task Force, which loaned $2.2 million to Mr. Stackhouse’s project, but Rep. Meek did not vote on that particular loan.

Some conservative critics complain that CREW is slanted to the left, partly because “CREW serves as successor counsel to Valerie Plame Wilson and Joseph Wilson “in their lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney, his former Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, top Presidential advisor Karl Rove, former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage and other unnamed government officials” after the outing of former CIA operative Plame. The Wilsons are registered Democrats who have campaigned on the left since becoming household names during the Bush administration.

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  • weaselboy2

    Wouldn't it far easier to compile a list of politicians who aren't corrupt?

  • chabuka

    If President Obama keeps listening and caving to his Corporatist Base (“Emanuel's moderates”, and his Wall Street financial advisors, inside the White House), ignoring his left leaning voter based progressives, ….he is likely to face the same GOP witch hunt process that Bill Clinton struggled with during his Presidency, because the progressive voters, who feel as though they can't even get a crumb off the status quo's banquet table, won't turn out to vote in the mid-term……..

  • gypski

    How come Darrel Issa isn't on the list? He's got scandal hidden in his closet, just got to probe a little deeper and break a few nuts.

  • motelcalifornia

    LOL. Too short!!

  • damnadamzama

    Charlie Crist, the orangeman from FL. The only reason he got into the Senate was because his name is one letter removed from Christ. There are a lot of whako evangelical nutterbags in FL.

  • Third_stone

    Many more belong on this list I am sure, and they may be on the full version. I object, however, to the inclusion of Alvin Greene on the list. I do not think that pornography begins to approach the level of issue that plotting with jack Abromoff does, and it is not an act for monetary gain. It simply undermines the list, since a man who only stands accused, not convicted, of a trifle ends up in the top 5, how much is the judgement worth that is behind the list? It debases CREW's credibility severely. Alvin is already the longest long shot candidate on earth, and deserves our support only because he is making an unfunded run against one of the worst extremists now in congress, who will probably arrive with unlimited corporate funding.

  • bickle2

    Looks to me like a good list to start issuing warrants.

  • tmikellongbrake

    Charlie Crist, one of the GOP, oops, former GOP, most cited as being a closet homosexual. Blunt is a disgrace. One suspects this list is only the tiny tip of the ice burg of corruption. Yet, We, the People, continue to elect such ilk.

  • AtlanticCapers

    They don't do incumbents.

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  • scytherius

    NO surprises here.

  • PeteWa

    not surprised, at all.

  • dennycrane

    Too bad there isn't a “world cup” for this type of team sport, we would win. They could root each other on by blowing their “butt” trumpets instead of the vuvuzela horns.

  • weshallremain

    hmm… surprising how they can miss an ACTUAL SPY like Jane Harmon(Douche,CA), who ironically CHAIRS the “Intelligence” SubCommittee… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Harman#AIPAC_…

    though, it's not as if they're not unaware of her moonlit WHOREDOM for AIPAC: http://www.citizensforethics.org/search/node/ja…

    as far as I'm concerned that neoLiB WHORE should be on that list EVERY yr, until she is INDICTED, ARRESTED, TRIED, then summarily receives LIFE or “the other” legal punishment for treason. AFTER FULL Due Process, of course. What do they think we are, John Yoo or Dickhead Cheney? We the People, the Citizenry STILL BELIEVE in upholding the Constitution.

    priorities… granted shady biz douche and Wall St. funded Military Industrial Complex WHORES and lawyers pretty much fill the 99% scumbag quota prerequisite for working in District of CRIMINALS, but really, real estate scams vs. TRAITOROUS SPYING, who CHAIRS the Intel SubCommittee? Come on now.

    Gee… or how about the 400+ MURDEROUS ASSH*les who voted for ILLEGAL Iraq & AfPak War/Occupation, Dpt. of Homeland STUPIDITY, Patriot ActS, Mil.Commissions Act, John Warner Def.Autho.Act, and are CONTINUING to vote FOR, & FUNDING it?

    Murderers vs. Fraudsters… anyway you cut it they're all SCUMS, except for Ron Paul, of course.

  • LeftCoastLeftie

    Couldn't they make an exception for someone as sleazy as Issa? Or Special Recognition? If not now, surely he'll be up for honors in 6 years after he investigates the living isht out of President Obama and his family and friends (don't look at me, HE said it himslef).

    “Sasha, is it true that your dog was not neutered, in violation of District laws? Why do you hate your daddy's government? Now we'll have to kill your puppy.”

    “Mrs. Obama, are you aware that accepting a free month at the DC Fitness CLub and not reporting it as a gift is a felonious violation of our country's laws? Why do you hate white women with floppy upper arms and back fat? Are you training for a jihad?”

    Mr. President, do you have irrefutable proof that you did not invest money in a real estate scheme called “Blackwater” to cheat taxpayers and kill endangered turtles?”

  • LeftCoastLeftie

    So, is Abbie Perlman a hottie, or did he just f–k over his wife as part of his congressional duties?

    And, is Roy Blunt? Ms Perlman?

  • dennycrane

    Ha ha ha ha. Perfect.

  • wiseturtle

    That's right…water is still wet.

  • wiseturtle

    Too short.

  • cessnadriver

    You're a little bit of a jerk.

  • cessnadriver

    Bad idea to support Greene. He may have honestly filed a gadfly candidacy, but the whole thing still stinks.

    The sex thing is still unresolved. If the repugs are doing what they usually do, they are waiting for the Democrats to do something stupid like back Greene and then they will come out firing about the Democrats supporting a sex fiend.

    It's a little October Surprise wating to happen.

  • RepublicansAreADisease

    I am still wondering why Dino Rossi wasn't prosecuted for illegal campaign contributions from BIAW. Oh, I forgot. Our attorney general is a Republican. Sorry. I live in WA.

    http://www.RepublicansAreADisease.com

  • Mum48

    Actually they do incumbents, just not on this special “candidates” list.

  • MarkInOhio

    republicans cheat and lie. This is news?

  • cozmicseer

    That is assuming that the voting machines are not being flipped. I for one do not trust any electronic voting machine(and I work in the hardware/software field) that doesn't use paper for vote recording. It's too easy to flip the votes and there is no record of the actual count. We need hard copies of all elections and those should be randomly verified by organizations NOT associated with the government. Anyone who changed the votes should be given a mandatory life imprisonment sentence with no parole and a minimum fine of $1,000,000.

    Over at firedoglake a while back, there was an article about how a town council did just that, staying in power by flipping the votes. At least there were enough moral people in the Justice Dept. to investigate it and charge these good ol' boys for their crimes. And there have been many reports of how a voter would see the machine select the wrong candidate even though they had pressed their selection correctly.

    And Diebold promised to deliver the election to GW Bush in 2004. This was after the push for electronic voting machines by the Republicans due to so called problems in the Florida election in the 2000 election. These are not the acts of a true American patriot.

  • RantingTommy

    you almost had a point until you inserted your support for Ron Paul.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Grumppa George C. Sievers

    I searched, in vain, for any pointers in your diatribe to real evidence – and found none. Just innuendo and conspiracy theories. I'm no fan of AIPAC but ranting against them without evidence just makes them look good as victims.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Grumppa George C. Sievers

    Closet homosexual? So what? Are you homophobic?

  • http://www.facebook.com/Grumppa George C. Sievers

    Or, as Democrats are wont to do, cowardly attack Greene without evidence as they did in the Acorn case and the recent Shirley Sherrod fiasco orchestrated by Faux Noise.

  • http://twitter.com/EmeraldKnight76 Daniel Cooper

    The pornography thing was more than just a guy busted for looking at it on the job. He showed an underage girl pornography and made advances. She was a student. You consider that a “trifle”? While I agree that he has not been convicted of these charges yet he had not denied them either. Instead he is running for office on a platform of “the punishment should fit the crime”. Also he hasn't made the “top 5″, if you had read the article you would know this is an excerpt of the larger article and the list is alphabetical. I can see why you would want to replace a corrupt Republican but why do it with a corrupt Democrat? IF Alvin Greene is convicted of this crime AND wins this election how does that help Democrats? He should have dropped out of the Senate race and used his notoriety to start running for local offices until his legal issues had passed. He would get campaign experience, political experience (assuming he won something), and allowed Rawl to take out DeMint. Everybody wins.

  • cessnadriver

    Big difference here, Chumley, this is a bone fide criminal case that doesn't look like it's going to go away.

  • cessnadriver

    It's the closeted part that's important. People like Larry Craig who only take the bone out of the old mouth to rail against gay rights.

  • cessnadriver

    Just a quick correction-the woman complainant in Mr. Greene's case is not a minor, she was 19 years old at the time of the alleged incident.

  • weshallremain

    hm.. last I checked, Ron Paul NEVER VOTED to invade, bomb, murder, occupy, secretly and indefinitely detain Americans or foreigners.

    ANYONE you like in CONgress could state the same, possibly aside from Kucinich and Bernie FED-Sellout Sanders?

    I thought not.

    “you almost had a point until you inserted your support for…” well, misinformed ignorance. thanks for the heads up.

    Seriously, is anyone posting on RAW ever going to wake up from the fact that BOTH parties are WHORES owned by Wall St. Banksters' Military Industrial Complex?

    When you can actually look up your own CONgressman and Senator, or your favorite outside of your district politician and match it next to Dr.Ron Paul's principled consistency in some 30 yrs of TRACKABLE voting records, then talk to us.

  • weshallremain

    you're a little bit of a moron.

    hm… what did you expect someone else would say in kind? considering what little criteria you used to come to that ignoramus conclusion, me thinks not too highly of thee.

  • weshallremain

    hmm… clicking on the URL, kinda easy…

    one would think, that would have been a dead give away; not even satisfied when first step into researching a topic was spoon-fed to you? I cannot imagine a larger real estate of denial. “searched, in vain,” did you?

    WTF, did everyone on RAW turn illiterate post-oBUSHma? lord help us.

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  • Anonymous

    I realize it has been some time – but, I went back and clicked on your links. They provide no proof – just accusations. Show me where AIPAC was convicted of anything. In America, whether you are aware of this or not, a person or an organization is innocent until PROVEN guilty. Perhaps where you come from it is different. I don’t like or believe in the agenda of AIPAC and I am suspicious of their behavior. But there is no PROOF …. yet.

  • Anonymous

    You need to investigate Ron Paul a little more. He, for instance, is known to associate with and take money from white supremacist organizations. Whether because he is naive or because he supports them doesn’t matter. It definitely reflects on his ability to think critically.
    He also clutters up the Congressional Record with attempts to abolish the income tax. lol.
    However he did a fine job on HR 3835 when no one else would.

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