Posted on 02/10/2012 10:13:41 AM PST by iowamark
Newly released FBI memos detail a sensitive investigation into fundraising in the Carter White House that started with a comparison to Watergate but fizzled after uncovering special access for donors but no criminal wrongdoing.
The memos were released from the file of Charles Manatt, an Iowa native and former Democratic National Committee Chairman who was interviewed during the investigation. The records became public after Manatt died in July at age 75 in Richmond, Va.
Manatt grew up on an Audobon farm and studied rural sociology at Iowa State University before ascending to the top of the fields of law, business and politics.
While the investigation into whether President Jimmy Carter or aides improperly raised money at the White House received attention at the time, experts said the memos provide an intriguing look at one of the first major campaign finance investigations after Watergate.
Before his death, Manatt pushed Iowa State University to create the Harkin Institute of Public Policy, which was founded last year to house Sen. Tom Harkin's papers. Its director, Dave Peterson, said he'd never heard of the Carter case and the records provide "an interesting window into some of the early enforcement of the campaign finance laws."...
Investigators learned Carter and U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy dropped by to thank donors for supporting the Democratic Party and, in Kennedy's case, his late brother's campaign. The party received donations from some attendees the same day, including $100,000 from Wasserman, who got a brief personal meeting and a photo taken with Carter...
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
A hundred grand to be in a picture with Carter. I wonder how much Jim Jones paid to be in the picture with Roslynn.
“Newly released FBI memos detail a sensitive investigation into fundraising in the Carter White House that started with a comparison to Watergate but fizzled after the FBI realized that Carter was a democrat.” There, fixed it.
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