The Opposition Research Training Blog

Currie Acquittal Sends Strong Message

Judged by his peers, Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie was acquitted of federal bribery charges Tuesday. Currie was accused of taking over $240,000 from Shopper’s Food Warehouse in exchange for political favors. Currie failed to disclose his financial relationship with Shoppers for five years.

Currie’s defense team brought in a parade of high profile follow politicians who said Currie was probably sloppy in his business dealings but did not deliberately hide his relationship with Shoppers. The verdict seems to suggest that in Maryland, not disclosing a nearly quarter million dollar consulting arrangement is a trivial matter. As long as a few of your political friends know or suspect you are working secretly for a company then you were not really trying to hide anything.

The ball is now squarely in the court of the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. Will they welcome Currie back with open arms and condone his corrupt behavior or expel him for flaunting disclosure requirements sending a clear message that failing to fully disclose will not be tolerated.

FBI arrests prominent Democratic campaign treasurer

SACRAMENTO – A prominent Democratic campaign treasurer who works for federal, state and O.C. lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Loretta Sanchez and state legislators Lou Correa and Jose Solorio has been arrested by the FBI on suspicion of mail fraud, The Orange County Register has learned.

via articles.ocregister.com

Kindee Durkee offered professional campaign treasurer services and could have had access to funds from hundreds of campaigns. She is due in court today where prosecutors may unveil additional charges.

Former Del. Phil Hamilton Sentenced

Former Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, was sentenced to more than 9 years in prison this morning in U.S. District Court following his May conviction on bribery and extortion charges. He has been ordered to report no later than September 19th.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson to sentence Hamilton to a prison term of 12.5 to 15 years for pushing legislation to fund the Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership at ODU while soliciting the university for a job as the center's director. Calling the prosecution's request "excessive" Hamilton's attorney, Andrew M. Sacks, asked Hudson to sentence Hamilton to less than 6.5 years.

Federal Judge Expands Citizens United Decision

On Tuesday Federal District Court Judge James Cacheris affirmed his recent ruling in U.S. v. Danielczyk et al  ending a century-old ban on direct corporate contributions to political candidates. Cacheris struck one of the charges against William Danielczyk, head of the Virginia-based Galen Capital Group, and Eugene Biagi, a fellow executive. The two men are charged with multiple counts of illegally reimbursing people for nearly $200,000 in contributions to Hillary Clinton’s 2006 U.S. Senate and 2008 presidential races.

Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission  Cacheris wrote in his original decision:

“If human beings can make direct campaign contributions within FECA’s limits without risking quid pro quo corruption or its appearance, and if, in Citizens United’s interpretation of Bellotti, corporations and human beings are entitled to equal political speech rights, then corporations must also be able to contribute within FECA’s limits.”

In what looks like a feeble attempt to try and limit the damage the ruling has done, Cacheris attempts to foster the bizarre notion that his ruling applies only to the company involved in the case before him. He concluded:

“For these reasons, the Court will deny reconsideration
except to clarify its May 26, 2011 ruling to state that 2 U.S.C.
§ 441b (a)'s flat ban on direct corporate contributions to political campaigns is unconstitutional as applied to the circumstances of this case, as opposed to being unconstitutional as applied to all corporate donations.”

The government’s next step would be to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond.

Former Presidential Candidate Edwards Indicted

Former senator and presidential candidate John R. Edwards was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury in Raleigh. As expected Edwards was indicted on one count of conspiracy, four counts of illegal campaign contributions, and one count of making a false statement to the Federal Election Commission.

You can read the indictment here.

Edwards Indictment Near

Sources close to the investigation of former Presidential candidate John Edwards say Attorney General Eric Holder has instructed prosecutors to move forward with an indictment. Edwards has been under investigation for using campaign money to cover up an affair with Rielle Hunter a campaign videographer who was pregnant at the time. The U.S. Attorney in Raleigh should bring an indictment within days.

Jack Johnson’s Plea Deal

Former Prince George’s County Executive pled guilty to to one count of conspiracy and one count of evidence and witness tampering in a Baltimore federal court today. Johnson and his wife, Leslie, were arrested in November 2010 by FBI agents after they listened to a telephone conversation in which Johnson advised his wife to flush a $100,000 check from a developer down the toilet. Prosecutors alleged Johnson had accepted nearly $200,000 in bribes during his tenure as county executive.

Johnson faces up to 20 years in jail and fines up to $250,000. He remains free on bail until his sentencing on September 15th. A plea by Leslie Johnson in a separate criminal case should follow soon.

Ethics Committee Report on Ensign Released

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics released its long awaited report on the Special Counsel’s preliminary inquiry into a series of allegations surrounding the affair Ensign had with Cindy Hampton the wife of Ensign staffer Doug Hampton.

From the Report Summary:

“As will be developed below, it is Special Counsel s determination that substantial credible evidence exists that gives substantial cause to conclude that Senator Ensign engaged in violations of law and of Senate Rules within the Committee s jurisdiction under S. Res. 338, as amended, including improper conduct which reflects upon the Senate under Section 2(a)(1) of S. Res. 338.

Had Senator Ensign not resigned the Special Counsel would have recommended that the Committee initiate an adjudicatory review for the purpose of considering the appropriateness of disciplinary action against the Senator. The Special Counsel is confident that the evidence that would have been presented in an adjudicatory hearing would have been substantial and sufficient to warrant the consideration of the sanction of expulsion.”

The report says there is credible evidence that Ensign and his parents made false statements to the FEC concerning the $96,000 in hush money the parents paid to the Hampton family. The Special Counsel is clear that they had little desire to know the intimate details of the affair. What stands out in the report are the details of the timeline for the affair. It is clear that Ensign failed to break off the affair even after it was discovered and he was confronted on several occasions by Doug Hamilton, Senator Tom Coburn, and spiritual advisers from the C Street Center.

Be sure to download the report. It is a fascinating read.

Hamilton Guilty of Selling Out to ODU

A federal jury convicted former Virginia Delegate Phil Hamilton of extortion and bribery Wednesday in Richmond. Hamilton used his position as a powerful politician to get funding for a training center at Old Dominion University in exchange for a $40,000 a year job.

During cross-examination Hamilton was only able to account for 12 work days at ODU over the two years. This would appear to be the very definition of a $40,000 no-show job. It’s a shame there is no talk of ODU returning money they received from a criminal scheme involving Hamilton and ODU employees. When you get caught cheating the citizens of the Commonwealth you should not get to keep the money. Maybe they can keep some of the money and use it to fund ethics training for ODU staff.

Hamilton faces up to 30 years in jail. His appeal may take up to a year.

Hamilton's bribery trial begins today

Former Virginia Delegate Phil Hamilton’s federal trial on bribery and extortion charges starts today. He is accused of stewarding a $500,000 startup appropriation through the General Assembly in exchange for a $40,000-a-year part-time job at the newly created Old Dominion University Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership.

Hamilton claimed there was no quid-pro-quo with ODU after the Virginia Pilot reported he was on the university’s payroll. E-mails released by ODU after the story broke suggest Hamilton was pursuing state funding and negotiating the job at the same time.

It should be an interesting trial.