Free Republic

RENO, Nev. — A Nevada powerbroker who headed a billion-dollar real estate company and pulled the strings of state politics as a prominent lobbyist for more than a decade was convicted Wednesday of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, 59, could face up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts tied to nearly $150,000 illegally funneled to Reid's re-election campaign in 2007. Later in the day, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks declared a mistrial on a count of lying...

A group of top Republican donors have reportedly begun an intense effort to draft former Florida governor Jeb Bush into the race for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. A Washington Post report quotes one major donor as saying that the "vast majority" of the top 100 givers to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney would back Bush in a nomination fight.  The report also claims that a hard press has begun to get Bush into the race because conservative leaders and longtime Republican operatives are concerned about the electoral viability of New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand...

The U.S. branch of World Vision based in Federal Way, Washington has about 1,100 workers with an annual budget of one billion dollars per year. The current president, Richard Stearns, announced this week that same-sex “marriage” was now acceptable but they would still require their employees to confine their sexual activities to be within marriage. Same sex “marriage” may be acceptable to World Vision but not to God. The Bible still teaches that perversion is still an abomination and is not approved or acceptable by Him and all true believers. Maybe part of World Vision’s problem is they have a...

Once carried like a conquering hero, President Obama is now pleading with donors for help to push his agenda, having to convince them that his record is something that should wow them. "Do you still have my back?" Obama asks in a new letter to donors and contributors. "You should be proud of what we have been able to accomplish together," he argues. "Can I count on you?" The president's note is to those who supported him in the past. "I would not be here today without you. You have been an essential partner in everything we have accomplished." The...

A longtime adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton personally sought and secured the funding for an illegal shadow operation to boost Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, according to court papers released as part of a wide-reaching campaign finance scandal. Washington businessman Jeffrey Thompson, who pleaded guilty Monday on federal conspiracy charges in a case that has focused largely on District Mayor Vincent Gray’s 2010 election, told federal prosecutors that Clinton aide Minyon Moore asked him to fund pro-Clinton efforts in four states and Puerto Rico totaling $608,750 during the hard-fought 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, the documents show.

Despite Hillary Rodham Clinton’s promise that she had scrubbed illegal cash contributions from her 2008 presidential campaign, prosecutors revealed Monday that the mastermind of Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s “shadow campaign” also funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid Mrs. Clinton’s bid for the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he knows his recent comments about the Koch brothers -- wealthy Republican donors -- have stirred controversy. "But I will continue to shine a light on their subversion of democracy," Reid promised in another vituperative speech on the Senate floor Tuesday. "This is about two very wealthy individuals who intend to buy their very own Congress -- a Congress beholden to their money and bound to enact their radical philosophy."

DAVID GREENE, HOST: … wealthy donors like Tom Steyer are putting a pistol to someone's head, forcing their pet issues on candidates. Steyer himself sees things very differently. He quit his hedge fund with $1.5 billion and now in his view he's fighting as hard as he can with money and passion to do something very noble - save the planet. .. With plans to pour $100 million into key elections this year, Steyer joins this elite group of wealthy individuals trying to influence politicians and voters. Steyer says he doesn't agree with the growing influence of money in politics...

As we’ve been talking about for months and months, billionaire San Francisco ex-hedgefunder Tom Steyer has been hinting that he’s going to go big in politics in 2014. He made it official Monday telling the New York Times that he’s going to spend big this year. Like $100 million big, making him one of the most significant outside forces in American politics.

The web site OpenSecrets.org has done a great deal of useful work. Especially helpful are its lists of high-dollar political campaign donor organizations. The web site's 1989-2014 and 2012-specific lists, to name just two, demonstrate that the hyperventilating on the left and in the establishment press about the eeeevil Koch Brothers is completely out of line: Imagine that. Koch Industries is way down in 59th place in the past 25 years and 77th place in 2012. This makes at least the following people look really dumb:

the top ten DNC donors outspent the top ten RNC donors by nearly 2 to 1 since 1989 ... The political left always accuses the Republican Party of being the “party of rich guys.” It’s a lie. ... C) Committed Democrat donors have outspent committed Republican donors by nearly $486 million since 1989 D) Overall, the top ten DNC donors outspent the top ten RNC donors by nearly 2 to 1 since 1989. E) The largest committed DNC donor group has outspent the largest committed RNC donor group by 67% since 1989 ... The arguments by Democrats that the RNC...

A top Hollywood fund-raiser embezzled more than $1 million from her employer---the Warner Music record label.....one of several “2012 Hollywood power women” touted for their clout in fund-raising for Pres Obama’s re-election... pulling in between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama. Danielle Smith, 45, flew from California and turned herself in at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She was arraigned on charges of first-degree grand larceny. The California-based national director for Warner Music, allegedly racked up $1.3M in unauthorized charges. Her duties at Warner Music, HDQ'ed in Manhattan, included scouting and signing artists, arranging travel and lodging. But Smith also funded...

Just hours after DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) conceded that Democrats aren’t likely to win control of the House of Representatives this fall, Politico ran a story noting that many high-dollar donors are shifting their focus to the Senate races in which vulnerable Democrats are running: With Democrats’ grasp on the Senate increasingly tenuous — and the House all but beyond reach — some top party donors and strategists are moving to do something in the midterm election as painful as it is coldblooded: Admit the House can’t be won and go all in to save the Senate....

Two days ago, the Paulding County Republican Examiner (reported) on a new Obama scandal that was emerging over the weekend that the Obama campaign was accepting illegal overseas donations and that the report would be released by an unnamed tax payer watch group. This morning, the non-partisan group, (Government Accountability Institute) (GAI) released its 108 page report, the first ever analysis of election campaign donations issues called, “America the Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?” raises indications the Obama campaign has potentially violated federal election law by failing to prevent the use of fraudulent or...

Earlier this month, Bob McDonnell became former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. On Tuesday, he became indicted former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Just days after he left office, the Republican and and his wife, Maureen McDonnell, were charged in federal court with more than a dozen counts related to the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans they accepted from a wealthy Virginia businessman. (The ex-governor maintained on Tuesday that he had done nothing illegal.) The fact that the McDonnells were under scrutiny from prosecutors was no secret. Stories about the investigation, and the relationship between the McDonnells and...

HOUSTON — The Mostyn Law Firm and its attorneys are spending a small fortune to ensure Texas Sen. Wendy Davis' political ambitions come to fruition. The most recent contribution came on Dec. 31, with the Mostyn Law Firm ringing in the New Year by donating $1 million to the Texas Victory Committee -- a joint project of Wendy R. Davis for Governor and Battleground Texas, according to the Texas Ethics Commission. Davis, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is no stranger to law firms specializing in civil litigation, as she first joined the Fort Worth law office of Haynes & Boone in...

What if conservative FReepers/bloggers/online activists were to instigate a boycott of major donors to Karl Rove's 'American Crossroads' and 'Crossroads GPS' SuperPACs- so that underwriting Rove's war on the Gee-Oh-Pee's own base comes at as heavy a price as possible? Then perhaps they'll realize what they're doing is wrong.   Crossroads GPS is a 'dark money' PAC -thus not required to release donor info- but we've got enough on the original American Crossroads group to make our presence felt (via pain inflicted) while we try and sniff-out the rest. Karl Rove and his congressional allies need to be taken-out-at-the-knees...

I've not read the official obituaries because they are predictable. "Billionaire." "Reclusive." "GOP donor." "Swift Boat Vets." "Industrialist." "Controversial." "Dallas." And there you have it: the death of a sinister figure driven by greed, the puppeteer manipulating the political process, a 21st century J.R. Ewing. (Or is it Mr. Burns?) If this is what you've read, it's written by someone who didn't know Harold Clark Simmons. I never knew a man quite like him. I met him in 1981 while panhandling for some political cause or another. Back then, he kept a ledger of his political donations on 5-by-7 cards....

The Minneapolis Star Tribune investigates independent political spending over the last few election cycles. The results are stark, but won’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention: A Star Tribune analysis of ­campaign finance records found that just three dozen individuals or entities have contributed more than $27 million to political action and independent expenditure committees over the past three election cycles. The analysis shows those donations heavily favored Democrats. Unless that trend is reversed, Republicans could find themselves at a disadvantage heading into the 2014 elections…. No kidding. One union — the powerful ­Education Minnesota teachers union — poured...

The Lockheed Martin Corp. is cutting ties with the Boy Scouts of America because the group does not allow gay Scout leaders, officials told the MDJ on Wednesday. “While we applaud the mission of the Boy Scouts and the good things they do in our communities, their policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and religious affiliation conflict with Lockheed Martin policies,” said Lockheed spokesman Gordon Johndroe. The reference to “religious affiliation” has to do with the Boy Scouts’ ban on atheist members.