Posted on 07/31/2004 4:37:50 PM PDT by Froggie
scam con may rattle Kerry closet By David R. Guarino Read Guarino's Road to Boston Blog Friday, July 30, 2004
As John F. Kerry [related, bio] tries to bounce out of Boston and into a decisive fall campaign lead, a skeleton from the past will slink out of jail - possibly looking to score headlines and undercut the new nominee.
David Paul, a central figure in a 1980s savings and loan scandal, is set to be sprung from a halfway house in Miami Sunday - a decade after his conviction on 97 counts of banking fraud.
TV news outlets are scrambling to line up the first interview, hopeful the long-silent Paul might spill some beans about his close fund-raising ties to Kerry during the 1988 national campaigns.
David Bossie, who interviewed Paul for a new book that is very critical of Kerry, titled ``The Many Faces of John Kerry [related, bio],'' said the former banker may have a lot more to say about Kerry.
``There's no question he's holding cards, there's no question there's more out there,'' Bossie said. Paul did not return calls.
The Kerry campaign wouldn't comment on his release.
Paul, who was chairman of the Miami-based CenTrust Savings, and Kerry came into closest contact while the Bay State senator was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1988.
Kerry appointed Paul head of the Democratic Trust, a fund-raising arm of the DSCC.
The senator was then chairman of the Senate subcommittee investigating the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and other S&Ls. Bank execs and associates gave more than $30,000 to the DSCC, earning Paul recognition at the `88 DNC in Atlanta.
That year, Kerry attended a swank party at Paul's Miami mansion, where guests were fed by six of the top chefs of France.
Paul was later charged with wrongful investment of his bank's funds in junk bonds and using bank money to finance his lavish lifestyle.
Republican investigators in Congress later detailed ties between Paul and BCCI. The issue was raised in Kerry's 1990 re-election campaign, when Kerry beat Republican James Rappaport.
Kerry was never accused of any wrongdoing.
In the book interview, Paul offers only cryptic suggestions he might try to hurt the senator. Paul says he loves the Drudge Report - a right-leaning gossip Web site and he hints that he is aware of incidents involving Kerry and women.
``John Kerry was a red-blooded American guy. He liked the ladies - at least he wasn't gay,'' Paul said.
Right - how do you spell Arkancide?
Kerry will have no 'spainin to do, because the media will let this one go. So far, only the Boston Herald has shown any interest that I know of...
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&q=%22David+Paul%22&btnG=Search+News
A-la Vince Foster, anyone who tries to question Kerry about this story will be smeared as a right-wing kook.
Why does this not surprise me?
Just wonderin' ...
g
Of course, these six now work for Terry Kerry, one in each of the palaces and the sith, as vacation relief. Note that that finding a fill in when the French chef is on vacation is one of those annoyances that torments the little guy here in the states. You work changing tires all day and when you get home, you want the sauces for the veal or lamb to be just right! Then you find that Jaquez is on VC and there is no one to decant the cabernet properly. Kerry Understands!!
The BCCI affair won't get any political traction today.
It didn't back in the eighties.
There are far too many dirty politicians in D.C. on both sides of the aisle involved with it.
Snip
Paul was a chief fund-raiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee when Kerry was its chairman in 1987 and 1988. Kerry and his associates have charged that disclosures about the senator's alleged relationship with Paul are part of a political attack by Republicans, who are seeking to discredit him because of his investigation into corruption by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
The senator, who has held hearings on BCCI's actions, has charged that the Republican-led Justice Department is dragging its feet on investigating the bank.
There is speculation on Capitol Hill that the latest records uncovered in the Paul case may be from a "missing box" that federal regulators misplaced while transporting it from Florida to Washington.
The records were said to be unavailable early this summer when Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, investigated Paul's connection to several Democrats, including Kerry and former President Carter. Hatch issued a report last month saying there had been 120 contacts between Paul and elected officials or their staffs.
The latest records obtained from Paul's institution detailed how Paul attempted to use his political ties to help his thrift, although there is no evidence of direct links between financial contributions and actions by legislators.
Snip
Included in the documents cited by RollCall is an April 1989 letter that Kerry sent to Paul, which indicates that although the senator informed Paul that the prospects for Paul's suggested amendment to the bill were not good, the senator seemed to offer assistance.
Snip
Paul suggested an amendment that would continue the use of "good will" assets to key senators, including Cranston, Kerry, Senate Banking Committee chairman Donald Riegle, a Michigan Democrat, and Sen. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat who followed Kerry as head of the campaign committee. The campaign committee raises money for Democratic candidates.
Snip There is no evidence that the senators took any actions to help Paul or that his amendment was ever seriously considered. At this time, legislators were seeking ways to tighten regulations, not relax them.
But Kerry sent a letter to Paul in April 1989 saying he had looked into the matters that Paul had raised.
"I know Jim Brenner of my staff has been in direct communication with your general counsel regarding the technical aspects of Section 301 of S774," referring to the "good will" issue.
Kerry, who serves on the banking committee, told Paul that the panel felt it would be "inappropriate" to impose contraints that could hinder regulators. But Kerry opened the door for some hope, saying, "I will add that I do not believe that the matter of capital standards is even close to being settled. . . . If I or Jim can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to be in touch."
Yesterday, Larry Carpman, a Kerry spokesman, said that letter was pro forma and affirms that Paul's suggestion had been rejected.
He also asserted that the documents were made available for partisan Republican reasons.
"The bottom line here is, isn't it interesting that the one guy on Capitol Hill who has been investigating the biggest bank scandal of the century, BCCI, is now on the receiving end of an old story?" Carpman said. "The partisan nature in timing of this could not be more transparent."
Carpman reiterated that Kerry had rejected what Paul had proposed and contended that the charges are "as old as cobwebs."
Other letters, obtained by federal regulators from CenTrust records, showed that Kerry appreciated the assistance that Paul provided when Kerry headed the campaign committee.
Between 1984 and 1989, records show that Paul contributed more than $ 368,000 to candidates, most of whom were Democrats.
In one letter, Kerry wrote, "We are very, very appreciative." And in another, the senator wrote, following a fund-raiser that Paul had held at his Miami home: "Once again your assistance is above and beyond the call of duty." Kerry added that he and other Democratic officials "certainly enjoyed spending time with you on the flight home. Thanks for making a special trip to drop us off in Washington."
sadly, in the end (or sooner) this will redound negatively to w.
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