Chaka Fattah
It's the end of the line for Rep. Chaka Fattah. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors
indicted the Philadelphia Democrat and several top associates on a broad array of corruption charges. Fattah had long been under investigation and now he faces 29 counts of wrongdoing that include a racketeering conspiracy (better known as RICO), bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and more. The Department of Justice alleges, among other things, that Fattah fraudulently tried to conceal campaign debts and even tried to
steer public money to pay off private debts to one of his creditors:
Specifically, the indictment alleges that, in connection with his failed 2007 campaign to serve as mayor of Philadelphia, Fattah and certain associates borrowed $1 million from a wealthy supporter and disguised the funds as a loan to a consulting company. After he lost the election, Fattah allegedly returned $400,000 to the donor that the campaign had not used, and arranged for Educational Advancement Alliance (EAA), a non-profit entity that he founded and controlled, to repay the remaining $600,000 using charitable and federal grant funds that passed through two other companies, including one run by Brand. To conceal the contribution and repayment scheme, the defendants and others allegedly created sham contracts and made false entries in accounting records, tax returns and campaign finance disclosure statements.
In addition, the indictment alleges that after his defeat in the mayoral election, Fattah sought to extinguish approximately $130,000 in campaign debt owed to a political consultant by agreeing to arrange for the award of federal grant funds to the consultant. According to the allegations in the indictment, Fattah directed the consultant to apply for a $15 million grant, which he did not ultimately receive, on behalf of a then non-existent non-profit entity. In exchange for Fattah’s efforts to arrange the award of the funds to the non-profit, the consultant allegedly agreed to forgive the debt owed by the campaign.
Fattah's office
has not yet commented, but it's impossible to see a way out for the congressman, who has held office for over 20 years. Fattah did manage to win re-election last fall to Pennsylvania's 2nd Congressional District, one of the most heavily Democratic in the nation, without any serious opposition, even though the government's investigation into his dealings had already been made public and several confederates had already been charged.
But other ambitious Democrats who've been hovering around this seat will now be able to press forward, and Fattah would be delusional to try to run again. Recently, the nonpartisan website CrowdPAC, which allows ordinary citizens to pledge money toward potential candidates for office as a way to encourage them to run, floated the names of 18 possible replacements for Fattah. When a local reporter followed up with many of them, all but one refused to rule out a bid, so you know that interest is intense.
It's unfortunate that Philadelphia Democrats have to endure this spectacle, but in the end, the city will have a chance to elect some better representation.