[WA Sen. Maria] Cantwell loans broke election rules, says FEC [liberals get off scot-free again]

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ^ | 2/20/2004 | STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

[Eala]

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Maria Cantwell broke federal election laws by not promptly disclosing emergency loans made late in her 2000 campaign against Slade Gorton, the Federal Election Commission has ruled.

The ruling came as a result of a complaint filed in April 2001 by the National Legal and Policy Center, an independent interest group that tracks campaign financing. It alleged that Cantwell, D-Wash., violated election law by not disclosing the loan and by getting an interest rate below market rates.

At issue were two loans totaling $3.8 million extended to Cantwell from a branch of U.S. Bank in Bellevue in the closing days of the campaign. The loans came at a time when Cantwell badly needed money and was locked in a fierce battle with Gorton, the Republican incumbent.

In its ruling, which was made last month but not disclosed until yesterday, the FEC concluded that Cantwell violated the law by not disclosing the loans before the November election. Cantwell made the loans public on Jan. 30, 2001, after receiving two letters from the FEC asking for information about them.

Despite the violation, the FEC declined to fine Cantwell, deciding instead to issue a letter of reprimand and reminding her of the disclosure requirements.

[Eala]

I wanted to post the article from the increasingly left-wing King County Journal where I first read this, but (surprise, surprise) somehow it just wasn't quite newsworthy enough to appear on their website.

For those not in the know, this was an exceedingly close race, with something like a few hundred or maybe a thousand votes difference between Cantwell and Gorton. It looks like U.S. Bank bought Cantwell her seat.

[chimera]

I really question the value of a toothless tiger like the FEC. They take going on 4 years to resolve the complaint, and in the end does nothing other than paperwork like sending a letter, which has to be one of the more expensive letters ever generated (I know, welcome to the DC bureaucracy). Meanwhile Cantwell sits in the Senate for the next six years, and when the time comes thumbs her ugly snot-nose at the voters and taxpayers. And as a result, will probably get re-elected in a landslide when the next vote comes up.

[anniegetyourgun]

Yes, Eala....it was less than 2,000 votes. It triggered a horrible chain of events - Jeffords jumps, leaving the senate in hands of Dems/Daschle, and Cantwell gets placed on judiciary committee, and she spends the next several years reading the fax from Hillary's office into the record on a regular basis.

I'm ashamed to admit that I still maintain accounts with that bank - probably even the same branch in question.

[rockrr]

As I recall, This was a central element of the election - cant~do~well bashing Gorton for his campaign finance contributors, while painting herself as "above suspicion" and above the fray.
Like a impending train wreck, I saw it coming, watched it as it happened, and knew that there was nothing that I could do to change a thing.
And we've not been disappointed in our assessment of her either. She's has proved to be *almost* as incompetent as Patty Moron, and every bit the hack partisan for the DNC.
So, does anyone have a conservative Senator that I could pretend was my representative ;'}

[abner]

3.8 million divided by 2000 votes? Crazy.............

How much do Senators get paid? Crazy.....

[Eala]

Crazy, yes. And the WA State Republican Party sat on something like $1 million it should have put into campaigns, because they wanted to move party HQ from wherever it is now to Olympia, as I recall...

[not_apathetic_anymore]

And we can count on the voters not caring about this by the time the next election comes around:(

[JohnnyZ]

Who do y'all think will run against Cantwell in '06? Herbold/Stanton/Reichert?

[Eala]

I've really got no idea. Those are all possibilities, I guess (don't know anything about Stanton). John Carlson might too; he said on his show that he passed on running for Jenny Dunn's seat because of a commitment he made to KVI, but I believe that will be over in 2006.

It's sad, the very thin slate of good potential candidates we have in this state.

[Cicero]

Let's take it a step further. EVEN IF THEY DID FINE HER, she'd just use her position as a United States Senator to extort bribes from her business constituents to pay them.

Meantime, the SEC wouldn't even consider the only truly just solution, which would be to remove her from office for having won it by criminal behavior.

In other words, whatever happens, the election is never canceled. So there is no real penalty for corrupt practices at the polls or in fund raising. And, probably, 90% of the offenders are Democrats, because they can rely on media protection for their misdeeds. Republican cheaters have to be a lot more careful.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[NeoCaveman]

Despite the violation, the FEC declined to fine Cantwell, deciding instead to issue a letter of reprimand and reminding her of the disclosure requirements.

I'm shocked they didn't fine her. Well.... not really.

[CyberCowboy777]

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[MD_Willington_1976]

Must have a few friends at the bank...Rules for the big people, different rules for the little people...

[lilylangtree]

If it had been a PUB that violated election law, all hell would have been cut loose to fry the PUB.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Well, well, well...we have the Senator from U.S. Bank.

[Eala]

LOL... sort of...

[bigfootbob]

This really amplifies Don Benton's mistake. Or was it???

[Billthedrill]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but was not the emergency loan made necessary by the fact that her considerable holdings of Real (formerly Progressive) Audio had declined in value, and that she was using them for collateral for her original loan? Or am I thinking of another incident?

[Eala]

I think it was.