Nobody likes me
John Boehner never met a lobbyist or a campaign donation he didn't like. Known for passing out lobbyist checks on the House floor, he was the top House fundraiser in 2012, fighting to keep his Speakership by using his huge war chest to make donations to other Congresspeople's campaigns.
But now it looks like it's caught up with him:
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
The Federal Election Commission is examining whether dozens of political action committees and individuals contributed more than the legally allowed amount to House Speaker John Boehner during last year's election cycle.
Letters the Federal Election Committee sent Monday to Friends of John Boehner indicated that donors including coal, energy, and gambling interests, exceeded contribution limits to Boehner's committee by more than $150,000.
Oops.
More below the Chee-to:
So where did the money come from?
Coalpac and Minepac, which represent obviously mining interests; Exelon, Luminant, and Constellation, representing power companies; Caesars and Penn National gaming enterprises.
Gee, coal mining, coal fired power, and gambling. Nice, wholesome, and family-friendly.
"Although the commission may take further legal action concerning the acceptance of excessive contributions, your prompt action to refund the excessive amount will be taken into consideration," the letters say.
Well, that's nice of the FEC. But since all the PACs and organizations Boehner uses to raise money netted him $22 million in 2012, that's a whole lotta dough.
So now the worst Speaker in history may also be one of the most corrupt.
The wheels of Justice...