A descendant of one of the founders of what is now Safeco insurance has filed a lawsuit against GOP Senate candidate Mike McGavick, alleging fraud concerning McGavick's $28 million "golden parachute." McGavick is the likely Republican nominee to face Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
http://today.reuters.com/...
NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Mike McGavick, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Washington state, was sued on Tuesday for allegedly accepting up to $28 million of improper payments from Safeco Corp. (SAFC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) after he resigned as chief executive, a shareholder said on Tuesday.
The shareholder, Emma Schwartzman, a great-great-granddaughter of one of Safeco's founders, said her lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court in Seattle. She is also suing Safeco directors and the Seattle-based insurer.
McGavick, a 48-year-old Republican, is running for the Senate seat held by Maria Cantwell, a Democrat.
According to the complaint, McGavick resigned from Safeco at the end of 2005, but was allowed to work a few days in Jan. and Feb. 2006 to collect payments, including bonuses and stock option packages, that he had forfeited by resigning.
"McGavick thus looted Safeco on his way out the door," the complaint said. "The board acquiesced to this malfeasance."
While the McGavick campaign was quick to blame "Cantwell's allies," it turns out that a former Democratic governor, Gary Locke, is among the defendants in the lawsuit. Schwartzman's law firm denies that the suit is politically motived and has set up a web site about the case.
http://www.mcgavicklawsuit.com/...
Is this case really just a partisan attack on McGavick's run for the U.S. Senate?
No. This lawsuit is about corporate corruption and is non-political and non-partisan. Two of the defendants are high profile members and/or leaders of the Democratic Party, including former governor Gary Locke. While everyone is aware of McGavick's candidacy, the participants in the lawsuit have taken every possible effort to avoid even the appearance of partisanship. For example, both the Democratic and Republican parties are learning of this lawsuit for the first time on August 1st, after the case is filed. This lawsuit is non-political and extremely well supported both factually and legally. For that reason we have made the critical information about the suit, including key evidence, publicly available at www.mcgavicklawsuit.com.
An interesting twist is that Schwartzman is a grand-niece of Harriet Bullitt, a renowned progressive donor in Washington state. But she told the P-I that she knew nothing about the lawsuit.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/...
According to Federal Election Commission records, Stimson Bullitt has donated $1,500 to the Cantwell campaign this year, and his sister, Harriet Bullitt, of Leavenworth, has given Cantwell $4,000 since 2001 as well as $25,000 last year to Washington Senate 2006, a Democratic fund-raising committee.
Harriet Bullitt said she was unaware of her grand-niece's lawsuit, and Stimson Bullitt said he didn't know about it until his granddaughter e-mailed him a copy. "I think her mother probably encouraged her," he said.
Ashley Bullitt couldn't be reached for comment. But on his liberal Seattle political blog www.horsesass.org June 16, David Goldstein wrote: "Are you a Safeco shareholder? Are you (upset) by the $17 million golden parachute Safeco gave Mike McGavick after he announced his resignation? If you're both, send me an e-mail." Goldstein didn't return phone calls Tuesday.
That Goldy. Always causing trouble.
The Democratic Party had previously filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that McGavick's golden parachute constituted an illegal campaign contribution.
Naturally, the Republicans aren't happy.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/...
GOP Chairwoman Tebelius, in a statement, scoffed, "Does anyone believe that this woman woke up one morning a couple weeks ago and ON HER OWN decided to file a lawsuit? No."
But by all accounts so far Schwartzman is not a political activist, so it's hard to see what kind of damage control McGavick can do. He's already fallen behind in the polls after (ineffectively) spending lots of money trying to get name recognition. In a likely Democratic year, McGavick might just be toast.
Now, I know there has been discontent with Cantwell at times, and yes, she has been far too slow to publicly state that the war in Iraq is a disaster. But she fights stupid fucks like Ted Stevens with everything she has, so she deserves our support. Big tent and all that.