Former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl testified before House ethics committee this morning, but he’s still refusing to say publicly what he knows. Even though it seems he knows a lot.
If you’re wondering why the DSCC and Harry Reid are leaning on Kerry and Bayh in particular, this may be the answer.
So far Kerry has given the senate election committee $15,000 and Bayh $30,000.
Just for some random points of comparison Biden ($230,000), Feinstein ($1,106,800), Rockefeller ($325,000), Salazar ($116,000).
I know Kerry’s done a ton of campaigning for candidates around the country. I think he’s a great Democrat. But he’s sitting on a lot of money. And the DSCC could do a lot right now with money from these two.
There are some questions that Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) really doesn’t want to answer.
So much so that she ran away — literally ran away — from a local news crew.
Did a second Hastert staffer know about Foley’s pursuit of House pages? That’s apparently what former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl told the ethics committee today, according to ABC News.
Update: CNN adds more details.
Jack Abramoff, may be heading off to prison soon, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stop cooperating. Prosecutors have asked that he be placed in a convenient location, so that they can continue hanging out together.
That’s one way to cover it up.
The House Appropriations Committee had hired 60 extra investigators to deal with the unprecedented level of corruption in federal appropriations these days.
Jerry Lewis, Chairman of the Committee (who’s himself being investigated and has racked up $800,000 in legal fees) just fired them all.
When it comes to Republicans and corruption and sex crimes, I guess they figure, better to burn out than fade away …
A casino cocktail waitress told police a drunken U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons grabbed her, shoved her against a wall and threatened her in a Las Vegas parking garage after she rebuffed his advances at a restaurant Friday night.
But Chrissy Mazzeo, 32, told investigators she did not want to press charges against the Reno congressman “mainly because of who he is. ‘Cause of who he is, and I just don’t want to go up against something like that.”
Gibbons, 61, the Republican candidate for governor, denied her version of the story and told police he merely helped a woman to her vehicle and grabbed her arm when she tripped and fell.
Here’s the rest.
TPM Reader RM has had enough …
I am disabled by a spinal injury and unable to work, yet out of my meager funds I have scraped up $20 and $25 amounts to send to various campaigns around the country that need all the support they can get. These are amounts I can ill afford, but I feel we absolutely must free ourselves from the shameless conduct of the Republican controlled Congress and their staggeringly incompetent President.
So I am deeply pained by Democratic fat cats that just can’t bear to part with any of their millions of dollars, thank you, or those who only make token payments.
Are these the ones who want to be our Democratic party leaders?
Damn it, if I can do it, why can’t they?
I’m not sure there’s much I can add.
Lemme say a few more words about John Kerry and this issue of giving to the party committees in the final weeks.
First, John Kerry has done a lot of fundraising and contributing for candidates around the country in the last two years. Here’s a page they’ve just put up on their site making that case.
Second, for all the officeholders now getting dunned for extra money, this is a unique situation. In many cases, these are folks who’ve played by the established rules of the road, ponied up this or that amount. So at least from me, the issue isn’t that these folks are party giving scofflaws or deadbeats.
Yet it is, as I said, a unique situation. We don’t know what will happen on the 7th. But it looks like the Democrats may have an opportunity for a historic tidal wave type election, like 1974 and 1994. But they won’t be able to take maximum advantage of the opportunity without a lot more money right now to fund late-campaign pushes for second and third tier candidates around the country.
So, with Kerry, it’s not that he hasn’t already done a lot. It’s that he’s sitting on a lot of money. And he can do even more. And with these stakes, he should.
But Kerry’s only one guy. And this applies to lots of members of the House and Senate. While I think he should pony up even more, nothing I’m saying here should be construed to mean that he’s uniquely the source of the problem.
Finally, there appears to be a dispute about how much Kerry has given to the DSCC (the senate campaign committee) this cycle. The DSCC records I referenced earlier say he’s given $15,000. He says he’s given $1 million. It’s late and I haven’t been able to speak with all the parties involved. But I’ve looked in this and I believe the issue is this: Kerry gave $1 million to the DSCC just after the 2004 election to help the retire its debt. They, I think, don’t see that as money for this cycle. He does.
Presumably the parties in question can address that particular question tomorrow.
But here’s the bottom line. Candidates sitting on a lot of money should be sending more to the party committees. That’s the only efficient and quick way right now to move the money where it’s needed. Kerry’s folks say he’s already done a ton. I don’t know all the particulars. But I think it’s true. (See the Kerry page to make up your own mind.)
To me at least this isn’t about what’s come before. It’s about right now. More money is needed. Now. And those who are sitting on a lot of it should give more, regardless of what they’ve done to this point.
To those whom much is given, much is expected in return.