Forget Jack Abramoff and parasailing in the Marina Islands. Colorado GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer has another problem on his hands.
The president of a foundation for which Schaffer served on the board of directors is currently on trial (the jury is deliberating) on criminal charges for defrauding the government out of some $2 million. The treasurer for the group, who ran some of Schaffer’s earlier political campaigns, has already pleaded guilty.
As Andrew Tilghman explains at TPMmuckraker, the case arises from a earmark secured back in 2000 for the National Alternative Fuels Foundation, whose board Schaffer served on from October 2004 until March 2005, after he had left Congress. His tenure on the board overlapped with some of the alleged criminal conduct by the foundation executive director, Bill Orr.
Orr had a for-profit business seeking to develop alternative fuels, and he set up the nonprofit foundation to receive the earmarked funds. Although Schaffer was in Congress at the time, it’s not clear at this point which member of Congress arranged the earmark.
Schaffer himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But he is on a witness list in the case, as is Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, himself a former congressman.
