John McCain is either stupid, senile, or just doesn't care about how he gets the money, just as long as he can swindle people into it. Witness his latest hire in Ohio of none other than disgraced Ohio Treasurer of State Joe Deters, who resigned in disgrace in 2005, to head his campaign efforts in Southwest Ohio. Will the press give it notice? Judging by there "attack Obama, give OLD John a pass" type of reporting, it is for we, the grassroots voter to continue to publicize the truly shady cast of characters that litter the McCain Campaign "twisted talk express".
For those of you that have no idea who Joe Deters is, here are a few tidbits.
This is potentially a huge mistake for McCain. You want to remind Ohioans how the corrupt Ohio GOP drove the state into the ditch for 16 years? This is a great way to do it:
- Investment Broker Contributed $50K To Hamilton County GOP Fund, Received $5.9 Billion In Trades. Frank Gruttadauria, a Cleveland investment broker who defrauded his clients out of almost $300 million, contributed $50,000 to the Hamilton County Republican Party operating fund. Questions were raised when it was disclosed that companies Gruttadauria worked for made $5.9 billion in trades since 1999 for the office of State Treasurer Joe Deters. Gruttadauria pled guilty to using campaign contributions as a bribe for state work and was sentenced to four and half years in prison. An unsealed court document of Gruttadauria's testimony revealed that Deters was fully aware of the $50,000 contribution to the county GOP. [Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/15/02; Associated Press, 3/31/04; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9/17/04]
- Deters Awarded Out-Of-State Company Millions In State Work, Affiliated PAC Gave Hamilton County GOP And Other Deters Supporters Nearly $60K. State Treasurer Joe Deters gave lucrative work to a Pennsylvania firm that splits its fees with another company owned by a pair of generous donors to Ohio Republicans. Valley Forge Asset Management Corporation was among 14 companies picked to invest $347 million of Ohio's tobacco settlement money; Valley Forge was assigned to handle the largest piece- $40.3 million- and was expected to be paid over $200,000 in annual fees. Valley Forge had an agreement with VFIM Inc. and gave 50 percent of fees for helping land clients. VFIM is owned by Richard Ireland and Brian McElwee, who are the sole contributors to the Concerned Citizens Political Action Committee. Since 2000, they have given over $370,000 to the PAC and, in turn, the PAC gave $58,000 to the Hamilton County GOP and other Ohio GOP accounts that have supported Deters' campaign. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/31/02; Dayton Daily News, 6/1/02]
Plain Dealer Discovered That Roughly Two-Thirds Of $4 Million Deters' Campaign Funds Traced To Business Associates. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that roughly two-thirds of the $4 million State Treasurer Joe Deters has raised since 1998 can be traced to bankers, brokers, tobacco-fund managers or others doing business with his office. The total figure also included contributions from family members, lobbyists, close business associated and employees who work for the affiliated firms. Deters challenged the Plain Dealer's methodology, arguing it cast too wide a net by including family members and employees. "I'm surprised you only got to two-thirds," Deters said, adding, "You can find a link somehow to anybody." [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/2/02]
- Fifth Third Securities Received Largest Ever Fine For Pay-To-Play; Deters Linked To More Than $250K In Employee Contributions. The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Fifth Third Securities Inc., a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp, $1 million for violating federal rules aimed to curtail "pay to play," the practice of using campaign contributions to curry favor with those awarding municipal bond business. The fine was the largest ever issued by the SEC to end pay to play politics. The SEC would not say which elected officials were involved, but a federal source said they key figure was State Treasurer Joe Deters. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Fifth Third employees and associates gave more than $250,000 since 1998 to Deters' campaign or to Republican Party funds that supported him. Additionally, Executive Vice President Robert J. King, Jr. co-hosted a Deters fundraiser that raised $38,000 in Cleveland. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/19/02]
- Five Columbus Brokers Contributed $125K To Deters, Received Millions In State Business Contracts. Five Columbus brokers whose companies received millions of dollars in profits for doing business with State Treasurer Joe Deters' office contributed a total of $125,000 last year to the Hamilton County Republican Party, the largest bankroller of Deters' campaign fund. Contributions came after Deters stepped down in March 2001 as chairman of the county party and before the party had finished sending money to Deters' campaign fund. The party dumped $302,000 into Deters' campaign from January 2001 through January 2002, nearly twice as much as all 88 county Republican parties combined contributed to any of the four other GOP statewide officeholders. Democrats accused Deters of using the Hamilton County GOP to launder money into his campaign coffers. [Columbus Dispatch, 3/10/02, 3/19/02]
2004: Two Deters Aides Pled Guilty To Pay-To-Play Political Scheme. A former chief of staff and a fundraiser for Deters pled guilty to charges of pay-to-play politics. Matt Borges, who was Deters' chief of staff and a key campaign staff member, pled guilty to one count of improper use of a public office. Deters' fundraiser Eric Sagun pled guilty to one count of an election law violation. [Toledo Blade, 7/28/04]
Now, can someone explain to me how McCain justifies this hire? What IS that man thinking? The more I find out about McCain, the more that man scares me.
Interesting to note that one Kevin Kabat, CEO of Fifth Third Secuities highlighted above for their 2002 involvement in illegal donations, was a host of a Ohio fund raiser for John McCain in
June along with another infamous dirty dealer, Carl Lindner. My My, sure does look like the crooks like to hang together doesn't it?
It also appears that McCain is willing to ignore an SEC fine of $1 million against Fifth Third Securities, since he is also continuing his association with them and using them to raise funds for his campaign. It would be interesting to find out (and I am researching it) if Fifth Third Securities is engaging in similar dealings this election cyle for McCain? All the original players are there and now McCain has rewarded them by hiring Deters.
UPDATE: Just found a very interesting tidbit. Deter's chief of staff, Matt Borges, who pled guilty to "improper use of public office", and whose record of campaign contributions shows donations to Arlen Spector and other Republicans is curiously on John McCain's list of disbursements for the month of
June. Interesting when you put two and two together. Matt Borges gets a payment from John McCain the same month the President of Fifth First hosts a fundraiser for John McCain and the same month McCain hires Matt Borges' former boss. Hmmmmmmmm