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Amy Goodman of the Marxist Democracy Now! network reported yesterday on the arrest of a “leading Democratic donor” named Hassan Nemazee. Here is the story, in its entirety: Back in the United States, a leading Democratic donor has been arrested and charged with seeking to defraud the financial giant Citibank. Hassan Nemazee is accused of submitting forged documents to secure a $74 million loan. Nemazee has given at least $150,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since 2006 and supported several other leading Democratic politicians. Not much to sink your teeth into there. Could it be that Goodman is downplaying...

Like Capt. Renault in "Casablanca," I am shocked, shocked to discover that access peddling is going on in the Obama White House. Perks for deep-pocketed donors? Presidential meetings for sale? The stale Chicago odor of pay-for-play wafting from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Knock me over with a feather. Despite the president's claimed distaste for the campaign finance practice known as "bundling" (rounding up aggregate contributions from friends, business associates and employees), the House of Obama has been a campaign finance bundlers' paradise from Day One. A new report by Matthew Mosk of The Washington Times just confirms the gob-smackingly obvious: It's...

Many of the fake documents used by a leading Democratic Party fund-raiser to defraud HSBC and Citigroup Inc were made by his brother-in-law, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday. Authorities arrested and charged Shahin Kashanchi, brother-in-law of indicted fund-raiser Hassan Nemazee, who donated to the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other leading Democrats over the years. Nemazee pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court to defrauding a total of three banks -- Bank of America was the other -- out of $292 million in loan proceeds. "Based on e-mail traffic between Kashanchi and Nemazee, Kashanchi was...

A wealthy investment banker and prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats was arrested Tuesday on charges he lied to get a $74 million business loan that -- once confronted by authorities -- he hastily repaid. Prosecutors accused Hassan Nemazee of giving Citibank documents showing he owned millions of dollars in collateral. They said the documents were "fraudulent and forged." A Clinton spokesman didn't immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment. The chairman and chief executive of Manhattan-based Nemazee Capital Corp. served as national finance chairman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, and later...

Ambassadors: Do patronage picks matter? Obama continues tradition — so far, more than half are political nominees By Domenico Montanaro Political Researcher NBC News WASHINGTON - American presidents rewarding top campaign fundraisers with plum ambassadorships has long been common practice for both Democrats and Republicans alike. But President Obama, who has vowed to “change the ways of Washington,” has not only continued this tradition of his predecessors, he has outpaced them. So far, 57% of Obama’s picks for ambassador positions — 34 of 60 — have been political appointees, or people not considered career Foreign Service, according to the American...

The candidate that claims to be the only presidential contender who doesn't take money from lobbyists is in fact the biggest recipient of lobby-related contributions. Barack Obama rakes in millions from law firms serving the interests of Wall Street, including the financial institutions that gave us the subprime lending crisis. Lawyers that work for firms that earn hundreds of millions of dollars for lobbying may technically not be lobbyists, but they share in their colleagues' earnings as influencers of Congress - a legal loophole that allows Obama to claim his hands are clean of lobby loot. The top contributors to...

The Edwards '08 Campaign for President has quietly refunded almost $4 million to individual contributors, a number of them, bundlers and big backers. This should be news to Warren Buffet who recently mused that Edwards' supporters should get together and file a class action suit. It seems another "class" has already had their contributions refunded--and it's not the "grassroots" little guys. We had no idea the campaign was handing out refunds until we happened to come across the information while perusing the site OpenSecrets.org and the data supplied to the Federal Election Commission by the Edwards' campaign. We were baffled,...

* The John Edwards' campaign has already refunded $3,831,398 to contributors--many who contributed the maximum of $2300. * 2,247 donors have already received money back from the John Edwards--many who are trial attorneys and political "bundlers"--and most received it back on March 24. * Refunds to small donors under $100 have accounted for only 1/5th of one percent, so far, according to Open Secrets.com. * The Edwards campaign still has $4,791,200 cash on hand, according to its July 31, 2008 filing. For any readers who gave money to the John Edwards' campaign and are now upset that perhaps that...

In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that a third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more - a total of $112 million, more than the total of contributions in that category taken in by either Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries. Behind those large donations...

Recently, prodded by a letter from campaign finance reform groups, and after the New York Times pointed out that the Obama campaign had not updated its bundler list for months, the Web site added a flotilla of names, along with each bundler's city and state. However, the Web site does not provide the bundlers' occupations or employers, although those should be readily available to the campaign from the bundlers' individual contributions.

WASHINGTON (June 25, 2008) – Obama’s decision to use only private donations for his campaign mandates that he be more transparent about his fundraising, the groups wrote. McCain’s continued reliance on private money until his party’s nominating convention also underscores the need for greater disclosure. The eight groups urge the candidates to disclose more complete information about donors to set a high standard of campaign funding transparency for future presidential candidates. Specifically, the groups ask the candidates to divulge on their campaign websites the exact amounts that bundlers raise for their official campaign committees and joint fundraising committees that benefit...

Number of bundlers for 2008 presidential candidates: 2,382 Number of lobbyist bundlers for 2008 presidential candidates: 143 Amount raised by 2008 presidential candidates: $317,070,981 Barack Obama (D) Total Raised: $78,915,507 ************ Bundlers: 359 Lobbyist Bundlers: 10 Hillary Clinton (D) Total Raised: $78,507,181 ************ Bundlers: 322 Lobbyist Bundlers: 20 Rudy Giuliani (R) Total Raised: $44,559,299 ************ Bundlers: 225 Lobbyist Bundlers: 35 Mitt Romney (R) Total Raised: $43,999,833 ************ Bundlers: 345 Lobbyist Bundlers: 16 John McCain (R) Total Raised: $30,306,621 ************ Bundlers: 463 Lobbyist Bundlers: 58 John Edwards (D) Total Raised: $29,935,179 ************ Bundlers: 665 Lobbyist Bundlers: 3 Ron Paul (R) Total...

Iraq continues to bubble, with the Iraqi government on Sunday declaring Blackwater USA very much in the wrong in last month’s big shooting incident in Baghdad — which is a problem for both George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton — and the presidential campaign spotlight this week is on Fred Thompson, who takes part in his first debate on Tuesday night in Dearborn, Michigan. After many months of almost diving into the race, while paddling around the shallow end of the pool, the former Tennessee senator and Law & Order star, seen by many on the right as a savior...