Posted on 04/21/2004 4:02:58 PM PDT by Checkers
As reported by ABC News and others, the American recipients of Saddam's "Oil for Food" bribes were:
Samir Vincent: 7 million Shakir Alkhalaji [sic]: 10.5 million (Most other reports spell the second name "Al-Khafaji").
The Seattle Times reported on Saturday that Al-Khafaji had made a (now returned) donation of $5,000 to Congressman Jim McDermott's legal defense fund and also gave an unspecified amount of money to the "charity" that paid for McDermott's 2002 trip to Baghdad.
This led me to wonder what other American politicians might have benefited from laundered "Oil for Food" bribes.
According to the Center for Responsive politics, Samir Vincent gave $1,000 in 2000 to then Republican Congressman Tom Campbell for his unsuccessful challenge against California Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Shakir Al-Khafaji was more generous to political candidates:
Michigan's David Bonior, at the time the second ranking Democrat in the House, received $2,500 between 1998 and 2000. Bonior accompanied McDermott to Baghdad in 2002.
Then Senator, now Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham received $250 in 1999
Detroit Democrat John Conyers received $1,000 in 1999. (Conyers introduced a bill in the House to end economic sanctions against Iraq in March 2000)
Michigan Republican Joe Knollenberg received $1,000 in 1998.
The Arab American PAC received $500 in 2002, while James Zogby's Arab American Leadership Council PAC received $5,000 in 2000.
The latter's top recipients in 2000 and 2002 included Democrat Congressmen Bonior, Conyers, Dingell, McKinney, Rahall and Moran and Republicans Stephen, Sununu and Issa. The former PAC's sole recipients in 2002 were: Bonior and Dingell.
Of course, this only accounts for a tiny portion of the "Oil for Food" money, that which is properly disclosed in federal FEC filings. Donations to state and local candidates, charitable organizations, activist groups and candidate's "legal defense" and other off-the-radar slush funds are harder to uncover, but I'll keep digging.
I haven't seen any indications that any of the aforementioned recipients actually knew that Vincent and Al-Khafaji were on Saddam's payroll. But it would be a good thing if they followed McDermott's example and returned their share of Saddam's bribes. In fact, they could do McDermott one better and return the money to the Iraqi people.
Before the Iraq war, Scott Ritter was one of Saddam biggest apologist
This California Republican always despised Tom Campbell, for good political reasons. Now I have patriotic reasons to despise him as well.
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