Free Republic

Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned as part of the probe. The case, which has been assigned to two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents in Delaware, has not been brought before a grand jury. Matt Moran, O'Donnell's former campaign manager, did not immediately respond...

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A former Marine turned Republican congressional candidate is raising campaign money by challenging all comers to a shooting contest.

Based on a single, poorly sourced article in Think Progress - a rabidly partisan blog that is an offshoot of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress - President Obama laid into Republicans for allowing "foreign money" to be used to fund campaigns against him, specifically, dues money from foreign countries paid to the Chamber of Commerce. The problem? The story by Think Progress is (not surprisingly) almost certainly untrue. But a closer examination shows that there is little evidence that what the chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual, according to both liberal and...

Andrew Young’s hero was an inspiring Southern orator and a paragon of Christian virtue. He was a pillar of his community. Then he was photographed in compromising circumstances, outed as an adulterer and beset by a scandal that destroyed his career. “They caught me, Andrew,” the Rev. Bob Young confessed to his heartbroken teenage son. The traumatized son later went on to subordinate his life to John Edwards’s political career, becoming one of his most trusted aides. And he allowed his own reputation to be ruined in a vain effort to save Mr. Edwards from embarrassment. How much of that...

...strangely, tort reform is not part of any of the Democratic party bills revising the United States health care system. [Obama] told the American Medical Association that he is "not advocating caps on malpractice awards." Even though they might significantly lower medical costs, Obama said he believes caps "can be unfair to people who've been wrongfully harmed." That might very be the real reason, but there is a major question-mark that arises when you look at the campaign contributions from the 2008 presidential election.... If you look at the latest Federal Election Commission (released 7/13/09), you see that President Obama...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fred Thompson, a newcomer to the Republican presidential contest, raised $9.3 million in the past three months and has $7 million in the bank, his campaign said Thursday. The former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" television actor has raised $12.7 million since he began exploring an entry into the race in June. All the money is for the primary contests. His campaign said he had 80,000 donors, 22,000 of them contributing through the Internet.

Why, just as the investigation into Clinton campaign corruption was hitting pay dirt, did Fred Thompson suddenly strike a deal with Democrats to shift the hearings into a softer, gentler discussion of legislative changes? Consider the momentum building: 1. Venerable Gore, now wisely hiring criminal lawyers, was shown to be fund-raising from federal property for his own campaign, which forced Janet Reno to shake up Justice's hapless bureaucracy - in hope of evading the law's mandate to seek court appointment of a real prosecutor. 2. Our rogue president, after selling face time to an engaging hustler for $300,000, was shown...

A few weeks ago, Linnie Frank Bailey, a 51-year-old self-described "older soccer mom" in Corona, Calif., and Isaac Burbank, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student at Colorado State University, both did something for the first time. They gave money to a political campaign -- $10 each to Sen. Barack Obama -- and they gave it over the Internet. About a third of the money Sen. Barack Obama raised in his record-setting haul of $32.8 million in the second quarter of this year came from donations made on the Internet, his campaign said. The Illinois Democrat's second-quarter fundraising haul of $32.8 million...

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed its report covering 2/1/2006-2/28/2006. The committee reports $3,101,719 in receipts and $2,496,317 in disbursements. Cash on hand totals $16,304,876. The DNC Services Corp./Dem. Nat'l Committee filed its report covering 2/1/2006-2/28/2006. The committee reports $6,208,145 in receipts and $4,183,133 in disbursements. Cash on hand totals $8,930,179. The National Republican Congressional Committee filed its report covering 2/1/2006-2/28/2006. The committee reports $5,394,460 in receipts and $4,324,877 in disbursements. Cash on hand totals $20,806,354. The Republican National Committee filed its report covering 2/1/2006-2/28/2006. The committee reports $10,877,419 in receipts and $8,890,906 in disbursements. Cash on hand totals $40,874,828.

Since the beginning of 2005 Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee has reported raising over $20 million from individuals around the country. Small contributions of $200 or less do not have to be itemized. For itemized donors aggregating over $200 the top state breakdown is as follows: New York: 6,444 donations - $5.63 million California: 1,639 donations - $1.54 million DC: 697 donations - $603,360 Illinois: 553 donations - $554,088 New Jersey: 526 donations - $543,305 Texas: 606 donations - $538,855 Since the beginning of 2001 Sen. Clinton has raised $31,178,474 from individuals. In the 2001-2002 cycle she raised $1,094,192 from...

Legislators use contributions for cars, memberships and sports tickets: Former state House Speaker Charlie DeWitt spent $19,000 to finish paying off a Jaguar. State Sen. Robert Adley spent thousands on a new wardrobe. More than 50 Louisiana legislators bought LSU football season tickets, most paying extra for some of the best seats in Tiger Stadium. The money came not out of legislatorsÂ’ pockets but from their supporters and special interests. The money came out of legislatorsÂ’ campaign accounts. Campaign contributors paid those expenses and a lot more in 2004, the latest year for which campaign finance reports are available. New...

Clinton - Gore ? Nevermore !! Al Gore , who won the 2000 election by Popular votes, but lost by Electoral votes , has emerged recently to criticize the Bush administration . No surprise there ! Mr. Gore can hardly be expected to have warm,fuzzy feelings for his erstwhile opponent . It is also unsurprising to see that some of his former supporters are experiencing a wave of nostalgia for “Honest Al “ – and wondering : “Gee ! Suppose He had become President – instead of that awful Republican ? How different –no, how WONDERFUL life would be !”...

NASHVILLE (AP) -- The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has found Sen. John Ford guilty of fraudulently using political campaign funds. The vote was 4-3. At a hearing Wednesday which Ford didn't attend, the Registry also fined him $10,000 for using campaign money on his daughter's wedding. The Memphis Democrat told the election finance board the spending was legal because roughly one-third of the wedding attendees lived in his Senate district. This marks the first official sanction against Ford in a recent swarm of ethical allegations. One of Ford's lawyers, Ed Yarbrough, said he would talk to his client before...

Michael Schiavo's Insurance Company Contributed to "Death with Dignity" Bill Supporter CLEARWATER, Florida, April 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Jerger & Centonze Insurnace (sic) Agency, a company that lists its address as 2807 Marrie Court - Michael Schiavo's address - and has as a co-founder, Michael's girlfriend/fiancé Jody Centonze, was a contributor to the campaign of death-with-dignity bill champion Florida Senator Jim King. "Conflicts of interest among key players in the Terri Schiavo controversy could give the United Nations oil-for-food investigation a run for its money," wrote canadafreepress.com Editor Judi McLeod. "Campaign contributors to the political campaign of district 8...

Documents supporting "Complaint for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, violation of California’s Unfair Business Practices, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy." And, Peter Paul's letter to Hillary Clinton. STOP HILLARY NOW!

Hutchison holds tense meeting with Perry supporters in El Paso EL PASO (AP) — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison reacted angrily recently after several El Paso business leaders suggested that she not challenge Gov. Rick Perry in 2006 because their large campaign contributions to state leaders have increased the city's influence in Austin. During the private luncheon last week, Hutchison, R-Texas, was asked to instead run for re-election for the Senate. She responded by denouncing the role large contributions play in state government, some of those attending said. The meeting was organized as a briefing by the senator on various...

Kerry's Campaign Finance Scandals Bossie's book contains a wealth of details on Kerry's addiction to money. Money is the name of the game for this senator, however he can get it – whether by marriage, "by hook or by crook," as the old saying goes. Even if that crook happens to be Bill Clinton's favorite Chinese donor, Johnny Chung, who "visited the Clinton White House a total of 49 times and moved on to become a central figure in that administration's foreign money scandals, eventually pleading guilty to funneling $28,000 in illegal foreign contributions to the campaigns of Bill Clinton...

Forgeries More Interesting Than Facts By Robin Mullins Boyd September 29, 2004 The appearance of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 Presidential Campaign has caused quite an uproar. The Democrats decried the use of partisan money to fund the Swift Boat ads. They have called on President Bush to denounce the partisan attack against John Kerry. John Edwards called on the President to "stop hiding behind a front group". The media's search for Bush/Cheney connections to the Swift Boat vets has been relentless. The media has been so focused on uncovering anything that could possibly damage the...

Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 Secret FBI Documents Reveal Kerry Accepted Laundered Contributions Senator Also May Have Set Up Meetings Between Chinese Firms, U.S. Officials (WASHINGTON, D.C.) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released recently declassified documents showing that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry accepted laundered contributions for his 1996 re-election campaign from the Communist Chinese government and that, in exchange, he may have arranged meetings between Chinese aerospace executives and U.S. government officials.

Look for the dirty laundry in Edwards’s closetJuly 7, 2004 | Dick Morris | The Political LifeThe cheering that surrounds John Kerry’s choice of John Edwards for vice president may fade quickly if the Bush campaign’s negative researchers are on the ball. Edwards has a real vulnerability in the way he raised campaign money during his abortive presidential bid. The North Carolina senator and former trial lawyer leaned heavily on his former peers for campaign funding. More than half of his donations came from trial lawyers, and 22 of his top 25 contributions came from his former colleagues at the...