Posted on 02/25/2005 3:31:36 AM PST by kingattax
TAFT, Calif. - Five years ago, Aaron Tonken was riding high, hobnobbing with Hollywood celebrities and helping to raise millions for the Senate bid of first lady Hillary Clinton.
Tonken's life these days is neither flashy nor frenetic. Since September, he's been in a federal prison north of Los Angeles serving a 63-month sentence for mail and wire fraud.
The abrupt end to Tonken's career as an organizer of charity fund-raisers delivered a financial blow to the foundations he worked with and a public relations headache for the entertainers he accused of profiting from ostensibly charitable events.
Now, however, there are new signs that Tonken's demise could become a thorny political problem for Senator Clinton as she prepares to run for reelection and considers a bid for the presidency in 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
BS. Her supporters don't care how she raises money, how big a criminal she is, how many lies she tells, etc. Besides, who is going to "report" it, certainly not any big "news" organization (old media).
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My sentiments exactly. |
if all else fails, hellary can always get back into the cattle futures market.
No one rolls on the Queen of Denial.
PETER F. PAUL v. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, et. al. Complaint for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, violation of California’s Unfair Business Practices, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy.
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RESPONDENTS’ MOTION TO GOVERN FUTURE PROCEEDINGS - See the document as filed (Adobe Acrobate Reader Required).
RESPONDENTS’ REPLY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO GOVERN FUTURE PROCEEDINGS - See the document as filed (Adobe Acrobate Reader Required).
RULING ON DEMURRER TO FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - See the document as filed (Adobe Acrobate Reader Required).
FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND RESTITUTION, AMONG OTHER RELIEF - See the complaint as filed.
PLAINTIFF’S MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN OPPOSITION TO DEMURRERS BY DEFENDANTS WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON - See the document as filed.
PLAINTIFF’S MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN OPPOSITION TO DEMURRERS BY DEFENDANT GARY SMITH - See the document as filed.
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND RESTITUTION - See the complaint as filed.
Complaint for Unjust Enrichment; Fraud; Breach of Special Duty; and Conspiracy; Jury Demand - Compaint filed by Judicial Watch against William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and others
Pictures from Judicial Watch Client Peter F. Paul's Fundraisers for Hillary Clinton and Al Gore - Includes Exclusive Photos Taken at Hollywood Tribute to Bill Clinton
Handwritten Letter from Bill Clinton to Peter Paul - See the actual letter
Handwritten Letter from Hillary Clinton to Peter Paul - See the actual letter
Presidents Farewell Gala Concert Bank Account, Statement reflecting $830,000 entirely funded by Paul - See the actual statement
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF - Complaint filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Peter F. Paul against the Federal Election Commission
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON INVOLVED IN MASSIVE ELECTION FINANCE FRAUD - Judicial Watch Press Release
CLINTON DONOR SUES FEC TO FORCE ACTION AGAINST HILLARY
CLINTON CAMPAIGN FINANCE FRAUD - Judicial Watch Press Release
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON EXPOSED IN MASSIVE LAUNDERING FRAUD - Judicial Watch Press Release False Reporting of Federal Election Campaign Contributions - Complaint filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Peter F. Paul against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate Committee, Inc., New York Senate 2000 Committee, David Rosen, Edward Rendell, Stephanie Berger, James Levin and William Jefferson Clinton
False Reporting of Federal Election Campaign Contributions (with Attachments) - Complaint filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Peter F. Paul against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate Committee, Inc., New York Senate 2000 Committee, David Rosen, Edward Rendell, Stephanie Berger, James Levin and William Jefferson Clinton (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Demand Letter to Hillary Clinton from Donor Peter F. Paul - See the actual letter
NEW LAWSUIT LAYS OUT ILLEGAL SCHEME BY CLINTONS TO HELP HILLARY CLINTON’S SENATE CAMPAIGN - Judicial Watch Press Release
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON FAIL TO DENY CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING ILLEGALITIES IN COURT - Judicial Watch Press Release
ABC’S “20/20" TO AIR STORY ABOUT ILLEGAL HILLARY CLINTON FUNDRAISING - Judicial Watch Press Release
Petition sent to Attorney General John Ashcroft - Petition request that the Justice Department hold Bill and Hillary Clinton accountable using the evidence made available from Democratic donor Peter Paul
Urgent Request For Meeting On Paul, Ramirez and Terrorism - Letter sent by Judicial Watch to Attorney General John Ashcroft
July 16, 2001
Senator Hillary Clinton
U.S.Senate
Washington, DC
Via Hand Delivery
Dear Hillary:
It is with profound regret and extreme disappointment that I am forced to write this letter to you reminding you of your responsibility as a Federal elected official to comply with the laws and regulations of the United States that you have sworn to defend and protect, and as a citizen, the same laws and regulations that govern your individual conduct.
As you are personally aware, in May, 2000, I was induced by your National Campaign Finance Director, David Rosen, your friend Jim Levin and your volunteer Hollywood talent coordinator and fundraiser, Aaron Tonken, to become the largest individual contributor to your Senatorial campaign in an effort to begin building a closer relationship with your husband in anticipation of his departure from public service to the private sector.
As you recall, I hosted a private fundraising luncheon for you at Spago, and a fund raising tea at Mrs. Gershman’s Beverly Hills Estate on June 9, 2000, and paid certain expenses in connection with that event in addition to making a commitment to contribute $150,000 in stock to your campaign. I subsequently committed to produce and underwrite the largest fundraiser of your campaign, which was also a Hollywood farewell tribute to the President, on August 12, 2000, at the Brentwood estate of our mutual friend Ken Roberts. Rather than make an additional contribution to your campaign, I was induced to underwrite all the expenses of the reception, concert and private dinner so that David Rosen could galvanize your faltering fundraising momentum and generate much needed “hard money” contributions net of any and all expenses. In good faith I fulfilled that commitment, even as the expenses skyrocketed from a projected $500,000 to well over $2 million!
No expense was spared to produce a poignant and historic evening when the luminaries of the entertainment industry shared their love and appreciation for the contributions made by the President and yourself during the previous eight years of the Clinton Administration. As you requested, I hired your friend Gary Smith to produce the concert part of the event, which he did superbly through his lend out company Black Ink Productions. Although Gary’s unconscionable fee of $850,000 for the concert was reduced at my request by $50,000 due to your personal intervention, you should know that Gary subsequently tacked on another $75,000 for his personal production fee which I was not made aware of until the day before the event. Further, Gary demonstrated the most egregious unprofessionalism in the way he sabotaged my script for Stan Lee’s introduction and the activities of his film crews that were charged with documenting the event. To add insult to injury, he fabricated additional expenses that Ken Roberts chastised him for, for which he held hostage the tapes of the event for three months. In addition, $20,000 is unaccounted for as a final withdrawal that is not documented from the segregated event bank account I am attaching a statement for.
I enjoyed your warmth and friendship during this period from June through August, 2000, when you and the President made my wife and I feel like family. Your warm letters and phone calls, your embraces and kisses when we met, the meals and events we shared together, and especially your and Chelsea’s heartfelt introduction of my wife to Barbara Streisand, led me to believe that we had succeeded in forging a real family friendship. Unfortunately these feelings were, at best, short lived.
Starting with your campaign spokesmen’s “Judas Strategy,” employed when they twice disavowed me, and my contributions to your campaign, to the Washington Post, thereby lying to the people and the media, I witnessed that side of your personality that I had always believed was an invention of your political enemies. I continued with the erroneous assumption that it was only political expediency for your Senate campaign and the national Presidential campaign, that required less than honest candor in acknowledging our relationship because of the sensitivities generated by my anti-Communist misjudgments a quarter century ago. I even believed David Rosen’s and Jim Levin’s reassurances that after the election we could resume our budding friendship.
Just a few days after the events in Los Angeles I was forced to ignore your campaign’s gutless and insulting decision to return the $2,000 check I gave you as part of the June 8, luncheon commitment, and the insensitivity of your statements that you would not accept ANY contribution whatsoever from me. This statement was made only days after you received the largest individual campaign contribution to a single candidate ever recorded in American history! So, a month later when David Rosen begged me to further contribute $55,000 to an abortion rights group that you had committed to based on my commitment relating to the Spago lunch, I ignored my better judgment and the more than $1.5 million I had already contributed on your behalf, so that your word would not be compromised.
Thereafter, from November, 2000, I was preoccupied with the business and market issues that all internet related companies were dealing with, as well as more insidious and nefarious issues relating to actions taken by company management and others intent on ruining me and the company I founded. When your promised support for the first global broadcast of the Hollywood Christmas Parade we produced did not materialize, and the invitations offered to dinners and gatherings were withdrawn, and after making the final contribution on your behalf at David Rosen’s direction in October, the only communication I received from you, the President, or your intermediaries, was an irate e-mail from Jim Levin in November protesting my failure to make a $250,000 payment to the Clinton Library as I had committed to do in August.
Thereafter, the “dot com” meltdown of the last quarter of 2000, resulted in my company, Stan Lee Media, along with more than 230 others, going into bankruptcy and the usual fingerpointing between management and others regarding whose fault it was. In my case, because of the Washington Post articles about my Cuban and cocaine convictions from the late 1970’s, I became a vulnerable scapegoat by all those wishing to avoid responsibility for their willful misconduct.
Thus, in late February, after I had made numerous calls for several months to David Rosen about how you were going to report my contributions to the FEC to ensure their legality, I was shocked to discover through internet access to your campaign filings, that all my contributions to you and your campaign were not reported, that the only report, relating to the Hollywood Gala, was false as to the identity of the donor and the amount donated, and that you had thereby made me a co-conspirator with you and others in violating various Federal statutes and regulations.
This was the fatal blow to any vestiges of friendship and respect that I may have retained towards you and the President, and it is this final betrayal that has precipitated my new adversarial posture towards you both, and your co-conspirators. I am now required by my conscience and sense of fair play to demand that you abide by the laws you swore to defend and uphold, which includes the requirement set out in Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations that you return all “illegal contributions within 30 days of determining the illegality.”
The accounting provided in the attached copy of my Federal Election Commission complaint shall also serve as my notice to you and your Senate Campaign Committee, of the amount of the direct, in-kind contribution I made to you and your Senate campaign, and no other, and of the statutory requirement you have to return such monies, which statute you have been in violation of since March 1, 2001, thirty days after the amended filing of your FEC report which through their false reports made my contributions illegal de jure.
Rather than perpetuating the signature Clinton ethic of denial, semantical and rhetorical responses to valid requests and questions, and stonewalling, it is time to accept your responsibility as a Federal elected official and do the right thing according to the letter of the law, the position your campaign spokespeople have taken, and natural laws of right and ethical conduct, and return the contributions I made, which you have by your collective actions, made illegal. Please direct your refund to my counsel at Judicial Watch.
Govern Yourself Accordingly,
Peter F. Paul
Peter Paul: Hillary Knew About Campaign Cash
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton personally negotiated some of the fees for a star-studded Aug. 12, 2000 Hollywood fundraiser, the event's producer, Peter Paul, said in an interview aired on Sunday - as the event comes under increasing scrutiny by a Los Angeles grand jury and the Justice Department.
And in another sign of potential legal trouble for the top Democrat, a spokesman for the lawfirm championing Paul's case said his client informed Mrs. Clinton that her finance director, David Rosen, had failed to accurately report costs for the event to the Federal Election Commission.
Story Continues Below
"Hillary Clinton personally called the producer of the concert part of this event," Mr. Paul told Fox News Channel's Eric Shawn. "She asked him to lower the fee that he was charging of $850,000 at my request. So I don't understand how she could possibly say that she didn't know."
A secret four-count indictment against Rosen was unsealed by the Justice Department late Friday, charging that he deliberately underreported costs for the Aug. 2000 gala.
The indictment prompted a new round of denials from Clinton lawyer David Kendall.
"[Mrs. Clinton's] Senate Campaign Committee has fully cooperated with the investigation. Mr. Rosen worked hard for the Campaign, and we trust that when all the facts are in he will be cleared," he said in a statement.
But according to Judicial Watch, the lawfirm that has pressed the case since 2001 through a series of lawsuits and court filings, Mr. Paul personally informed Sen. Clinton that Rosen's filings were inaccurate.
"Peter wrote her a letter in 2001 telling her that the FEC forms from her campaign were false," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told NewsMax on Sunday. "Hillary Clinton knew Peter was paying for the event and was personally involved in negotiating the production fee for the event."
Fitton said Judicial Watch has "pictures, video, and thank you notes to prove [Clinton's] involvement" - evidence they have shared with the Justice Department.
"We hope politics does not protect her from prosecution again," Fitton added.
How Hillary's money man
was nailed for L.A. gala
Judicial Watch client
blew whistle on Rosen
Posted: January 8, 2005
5:20 p.m. Eastern
WASHINGTON – The indictment of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s former Senate campaign finance chairman, David Rosen, on campaign finance charges was made possible by the cooperation of Judicial Watch client Peter Paul, the public interest watchdog group said today.
Paul, a former Hollywood Internet entrepreneur and partner of "Spiderman" creator Stan Lee, spent nearly $2 million to produce the August 2000 Hollywood tribute to honor President Clinton and to help raise funds for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 U.S. Senate campaign – the event at the center of the indictment.
He was repeatedly assured that his expenses would be reported to the Federal Election Commission, according to Judicial Watch.
The Justice Department indictment charges Rosen with causing false campaign finance reports to be filed with the FEC. Rosen reported contributions of only $400,000 from the Hollywood gala. He also is alleged to have filed a fraudulent invoice for the cost of the concert portion of the gala, reporting $200,000 when the actual cost was more than $600,000. Rosen faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines on each of four counts of making a false statement.
Judicial Watch brought a lawsuit in 2001 on behalf of Paul against Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rosen and other Clinton representatives after Bill Clinton reneged on a $17 million deal to work for Paul’s Internet companies after he left the White House and because Paul’s expenses were not reported by Hillary Clinton to the FEC, as was required by law.
Paul has documentary evidence of his close relationship with the Clintons, including checks, thank-you notes from the Clintons and candid video and photographs, according to Judicial Watch. Hillary Clinton was intimately involved in setting up the Hollywood gala and knew of the FEC misreporting, the group says.
"Judicial Watch welcomes the indictment of David Rosen on campaign finance charges, an indictment that was made possible by our client Peter Paul’s cooperation with the U.S. Justice Department," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "We hope the Justice Department pursues this case all the way to Hillary Clinton."
Rosen is the second figure involved in organizing the soiree for Clinton to become entangled in legal problems as a result.
Aaron Tonken is currently in prison for his role in organizing the event – a tribute to then-President Bill Clinton and starring Cher, Patti LaBelle, Sugar Ray, Toni Braxton, Melissa Etheridge, Michael Bolton, Paul Anka and Diana Ross.
Tonken has authored a tell-all book, "King of Cons: Exposing the Dirty, Rotten Secrets of the Washington Elite and Hollywood Celebrities," on his role in the fraud.
The FBI previously said in court papers that it had evidence the former first lady's campaign deliberately understated its fund-raising costs so it would have more money to spend on her campaign.
While the event allegedly cost more than $1.2 million, the indictment said, Rosen reported contributions of about $400,000, knowing the figure to be false.
The indictment charged that he provided some documents to an FEC compliance officer but withheld the true costs of the event and provided false documents to substantiate the lower figure.
In one instance, Rosen obtained and delivered a fraudulent invoice stating the cost of a concert associated with the gala was $200,000 when he knew that figure was false, according to the indictment. The actual cost of the concert was more than $600,000.
Each of the four counts of making a false statement carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines upon conviction.
Mrs. Clinton's lawyer on campaign finance matters, David Kendall, told the Associated Press: "The Senate Campaign Committee has fully cooperated with the investigation. Mr. Rosen worked hard for the campaign, and we trust that when all the facts are in, he will be cleared."
The businessman who hosted the event, Peter Paul, has told federal authorities that it cost more than $1 million and that he had been surprised when he saw that most of the contributions were not reported.
The money from the fund-raiser went to Mrs. Clinton's successful campaign for a Senate seat from New York, the Democrats' national Senate campaign organization and a state Democratic Party committee.
During former President Clinton's administration, a Justice Department campaign finance task force charged more than two dozen individuals and two corporations with fund-raising abuses from the 1996 election cycle. Many of the charges involved Democratic fund raising.
In addition to his Clinton effort, Rosen has raised money for several other high-profile Democratic candidates, including former presidential hopeful Wesley Clark. Most recently, he was named to the fund-raising team of Donnie Fowler, a candidate for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship.
Tonken, 34 at the time of the 2000 fund-raiser, basked in his role in organizing the fund-raiser, never imaging he'd be facing down government investigators within a couple of years.
Writes Tonken in describing the departure of the Clintons the night of the gala: "Just before they got into the limo, I handed the president gifts from me, Stan Lee and Peter Paul: for him, a custom humidor and a handmade gold watch worth tens of thousands; for Hillary, a necklace that cost eight grand. The first lady disliked it and later sent it back.
"Before my car arrived, I had my last fond glimpses of this gathering of the rich and famous. I watched them drive off into the night. I may have been the ultimate outsider growing up, but not any more. Now I was in, and they were my people.
"But not for long. In less than three years I'd be busted. Instead of chronicling my stunning successes, Variety's Army Archerd would be writing about my criminal misdeeds; I'd be talking not to presidents and movie stars, but to the FBI and other federal agencies, handing over more than two dozen boxes of letters, e-mails, receipts and invoices, cooperating as the government pursued a multifaceted investigation into the corruption that lay hidden behind all the glitter."
Tonken pleaded guilty last year to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud in hopes of ultimately getting a lesser prison sentence. Instead, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.79 million to donors and event underwriters whom he bilked.
He clearly implicated Rosen.
"David Rosen, Hillary Clinton's director of finance, worked out of our offices and knew about every dime that was being spent," he writes. "More than that, he participated in the spending."
In his account of his dealings with Hillary, Tonken mentions how grateful she had been to him for all his help with her campaign. But how much did she know about the financial skullduggery?
"One thing about Hillary, she was very attentive to the little details," he writes. "I believe she is genuinely considerate in that way. The very next day [after the Hollywood fund-raiser], she sent me a thank-you note, partially handwritten, in which she said: 'Your ongoing support of my Senate candidacy is especially important to me, and I am grateful for your continued friendship.'
"Take a good, long look at the first half of that last sentence. I did, and it made me wonder: Did she really know what was going on? I think David Rosen knew; I think [longtime aide] Kelly Craighead knew; I think [fund-raiser] Jim Levin knew. But Hillary? It was very possible that they hid it from her. In a way, that was their job. Protect the candidate.
"That was all about to change."
Tonken later writes he explained what he was doing and how to the Senate candidate while the two were alone briefly in a van during a day of campaigning in L.A.:
"I'd spent odd moments alone with [Hillary] before, primarily in the evening at the White House. But this was my real shot to talk to her with no one else around, and what I wanted was to let her know how much I admired her, how much I was behind her, and most important, what I had already done for her. It was, quite by accident, the moment of truth. …
"I told her about virtually every penny I'd spent on her behalf. I let her know what I was doing and had done for each event of hers. I spoke about the money and what a pleasure and honor it was to spend it on her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
"Once and for all, I wanted it clear in her mind who was the person really doing things for her. There was so much jockeying for position among those around her: Kelly, David, Jim Levin, and so on. People taking credit for stuff. I thought I might have been short-changed, and I wanted to correct that.
"I believed that once she knew the facts, she would see how valuable I was to her and welcome me into her inner circle. The whole thing was intended to be solely for my benefit. I never wanted to hurt her. I could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable with this conversation, and yet I couldn't stop. It wasn't until much later that I fully realized what I had done. Whatever protection her staff had built around her, however much in the dark they had kept her, that was over.
"Now she knew."
Further implicating Rosen, Tonken writes of how he would run his schemes by the finance director and would routinely get the go-ahead.
Writes Tonken: "Since I had only a passing acquaintance with campaign-finance law. If there was any question in my mind, I'd call David. The problem was, whenever I asked for advice he would invariably laugh off my concerns and say, 'Don't worry. Just raise as much as possible. Just keep at it.'
"Here's an example: I came up with what I thought was a great idea to make it look as though support were coming from a lot of little donors, instead of one big one. I proposed that [Democratic donor] Cynthia [Gershman] would write a check for 40 grand, which she was willing to do, and I would run it through one of my accounts and emerge with cash and started giving it out in one-thousand- or two-thousand-dollar chunks to 20 or 30 people. They would then turn around and write personal checks of their own for the same amount, and that would be 'their' contribution. Sounded good to me, but when I presented it to David he laughed for about three minutes straight. When we got down to it, though, he told me to go ahead.
"I should have been suspicious when he added, 'Just don't tell anyone.' Later, he would pull me aside at Spago and re-emphasize the point: I was to keep that little trick of mine quiet, 'very quiet.'"
Tonken also writes of Rosen's concern about expenses, telling the author to "get rid" of receipts related to fund-raiser expenditures.
"What we want is the appearance that expenses were minimal," Tonken says Rosen told him.
A 2002 FBI affidavit backs up Tonken's account:
"The [2000 Hillary event's] costs exceeded $1 million, but the required forms filed by New York Senate 2000 ... months after the event incorrectly disclosed that the cost of the event was only $523,000," the affidavit reads. "It appears that the true cost of the event was deliberately understated in order to increase the amount of funds available to New York Senate 2000 for federal campaign activities."
Tonken's book tells how he continued to do his job after federal agents contacted him about cooperating with their probe.
"Month after month this investigation went on," he writes." My life began to seem surreal. Here I was, doing charity events where there was fraud involved; continuing to expand my political contacts, fielding telephone calls from President Clinton, the first lady and Gerald Ford; and at the same time being enmeshed in an FBI probe."
Peter Paul & Hillary: Will It Be A Case Of The Little Guy Taking The Fall?
By Paul M. Weyrich
February 4, 2003
Larry Klayman is one conservative who probably should employ a food taster. He bills his organization, Judicial Watch, as the only real law enforcement agency in the USA.
His fellow conservatives cheered as Klayman filed suit after suit challenging the actions of the Clinton Administration. The cheers turned to jeers when Klayman went after Vice President Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration over their policies of secrecy. Klayman also angered conservatives by going after the fundraising practices of some in the GOP leadership in the House. Klayman says he is not running a partisan organization and when he sees wrongdoing on the right, he fights it as vigorously as he fights wrongdoing on the left. The liberals also hate him with a passion because some of his suits have found favor with federal judges. Cases against the Clinton Administration are ongoing.
Klayman is now pushing for action against Bill and Hillary Clinton over a fundraiser which a Hollywood figure named Peter Paul put on for Hillary in her run for the U.S. Senate from New York. I have considerable interest in this case because I know Peter Paul. I met him through the children of Clifford Heinz, a former Director of the Free Congress Foundation. Paul subsequently was in touch with me on a number of occasions. He seemed to indicate he wanted to help conservatives, but later he got close to the Clintons.
Mrs. Clinton needed lots of money to run for the Senate in New York. She and the president turned to Paul to help with a major fundraiser. He ended up putting over $2 million into a "Hollywood Tribute to Bill Clinton" on August 12, 2000. The problem is that Hillary never reported this contribution to the Federal Election Commission.
That is a federal crime.
According to Klayman, this payment of $2 million was part of a $17 million offer to Bill Clinton to work with Peter Paul's companies after Clinton left office. Paul has disclosed this, revealing that Hillary Clinton lied to the media when she said she had taken no contributions from Paul and would not do so.
That would be significant because the only commandment left with the liberal media is "thou shalt not lie to the liberal media."
Klayman also contends that then-Democratic National Chairman Ed Rendell (who is now Governor of Pennsylvania) offered Paul, who is a convicted felon three times over, a presidential pardon in return for further contributions.
Klayman says that Peter Paul has proof that the Clintons "knowingly and illegally" permitted a foreign national to attend that Hollywood Tribute in exchange for a $27,000 contribution. Contributions from foreign nationals to political campaigns are illegal. Klayman says that that foreign national later attended an important state dinner.
In fact, Paul insists that Clinton campaign finance director David Rosen virtually demanded that Paul make another campaign contribution to a pro-abortion group in Illinois for $55,000. That money made it into Hillary's campaign war chest as well. The charges against Paul, according to Klayman, "inherently implicate Hillary and Bill."
Peter Paul has also been indicted in a stock fraud case. There is evidence that the Clintons, instead of granting the expected pardon, got the Justice Department on his case, lest he talk about them. That almost worked, until Paul started talking about the campaign issues.
The problem is that, thus far, Attorney General John Ashcroft has not agreed to pursue the Clintons in this case. Once again the little guy gets put away while the big time operators get let off the hook.
The Washington Post has reported that the two major political parties have signed off on a deal under which neither will pursue public corruption cases against the other. I would be shocked if Ashcroft has signed off on such a deal, but the failure to pursue the Clintons while Pete Paul takes the fall is troubling.
Klayman asked leaders of the conservative movement to contact Ashcroft, asking him to move on this case. But in case he doesn't, Judicial Watch has filed lawsuits in California and Washington to force the issue.
The junior Senator from New York, the ex-President of the United States, the Governor of Pennsylvania. These are all very powerful political figures in this country. Since the Justice Department lawyers have interviewed Mr. Paul four times and have told him his allegations about the Clintons have "checked out," the question now is whether these important figures will be treated as anyone else would be under the law or whether they will be passed over just because of who they are. I guarantee that if you or I had run a crooked campaign, and we were found out, we would be hounded until we were in federal prison. If Mr. Paul's allegations are true (and I believe they are because he has so many witnesses and so much documentation including hand-written notes from then-President Clinton) then how can this corruption be ignored?
I know President Bush has instructed his cabinet not to look back but to look forward. There were scandals in almost every agency and Bush, who came into office under unusual circumstances that divided the nation, did not want to begin his administration with dozens of investigations. All well and good. But this level of corruption must be dealt with or else we will have ceased to be a nation of laws and become a nation of men.
Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
WHO IS PETER PAUL? By Michelle Malkin · October 11, 2004 05:53 AM The man in the middle: Peter Paul (more photos at Judicial Watch) The Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewhas new developments in the Peter Paul story: The Justice Department says it has evidence that Hillary Clinton's 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate deliberately low-balled costs associated with a fund-raising event in an apparent attempt to free up more money for electioneering. Peter Paul, a three-time felon currently under indictment for stock fraud charges in New York, claims he underwrote most of the cost of the August 2000 star-studded Hollywood gala. Prosecutors say he did so in hopes of securing a presidential pardon that never came. Mr. Paul and the Clintons have denied the allegation. Clinton's campaign denies any fund-raising chicanery. In a second matter, the Clintons have filed an appeal with the California Supreme Court in an attempt to stop a lawsuit filed by Paul. Acting on Paul's behalf, Judicial Watch contends Mr. Clinton reneged on a $17 million deal to work for two Paul Internet companies. The lawsuit says none of Paul's expenses -- $2 million he spent to put on the Hollywood gala that also was part of the business deal -- were reported as required to the Federal Election Commission. My take on Hillary's Hollywood fund-raising shenanigans is here. Insight Magazine has been all over the story for months here. Too bad none of the talking head suck-ups asked Hillary about the matter as she made the rounds after the presidential debate last week on Spin Alley.
FBI Raids Hillary's Warehouse in Whitewater Déjà Vu
NewsMax.com
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/6/24/221543
Monday, June 24, 2002 11:15 p.m. EDT
FBI Raids Hillary's Warehouse in Whitewater Déjà Vu
Ten years ago, L. Jean Lewis, an investigator with the government's Resolution Trust Corporation, was able to piece together a complicated Arkansas bank fraud conspiracy from a treasure trove of documents she unearthed in an out-of-the-way Kansas City warehouse.
The result was the Whitewater scandal, which, after six years' worth of twists and turns, ended in the first impeachment of an elected president in U.S. history.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton surely hopes that history isn't repeating itself with the raid conducted by the FBI last month on another warehouse, this one chock-full of documents from her 2000 senatorial campaign.
"The documents were seized in a May 30 raid of a California storage facility containing documents of Peter Paul, the entrepreneur who funded Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign with over $2 million in direct, in-kind contributions which were never reported by Hillary Clinton or her Senate campaign, as required by law," revealed the public interest law firm Judicial Watch in a press release late last week.
The raid is important for two reasons. First, it may yield yet another treasure trove of evidence against the Clintons.
But the second reason may be even more significant. The Justice Department's continuing investigative interest in the Clintons comes despite news last week that U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District James Comey decided to shut down a key part of the Pardongate probe.
Peter Paul and his Judicial Watch lawyers have been trying to persuade the Justice Department for the better part of two years to take his allegations seriously. But instead they seemed more intent on prosecuting him for stock fraud. That is, until now.
Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman suggested the raid may represent something of a turnabout in thinking among Attorney General John Ashcroft and his colleagues.
"Mr. Paul could have turned the documents about the Clintons over to the FBI months ago under a cooperation agreement," Klayman noted. "Instead, he waits in a Brazilian dungeon for the Ashcroft Justice Department to get serious about this corruption case. So it is a welcome sign that the Justice Department is turning up the heat on this new crime scandal concerning the Clintons."
The FBI raid may also be a sign that the reported no-prosecution deal for the Clintons, demanded by Democrat leaders as the price for President Bush getting some of his legislative agenda implemented, is beginning to unravel - since Democrats seem to have kept little if any of their part of the bargain. (See: Bush Insider Claims Clinton Deal Torpedoed Pardongate)
"The search warrant authorizing the FBI raid of the storage facility specifically references the Clintons and the New York Senate campaign," says Judicial Watch.
"The search warrant authorizes the seizure of: Records relating to New York Senate 2000, the Hollywood Gala Salute to President William Jefferson Clinton, the Federal Election Commission, David Rosen and Aaron Tonken ... [David Rosen was the Director of Finance for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, and Aaron Tonken is a Democrat fundraiser who raised money for the Clintons. Both men have knowledge of Mr. Paul's contributions.]"
Meanwhile, Peter Paul awaits a Justice Department offer of legal leniency in exchange for his continued cooperation in the Clinton case.
If he returns to the U.S. anytime soon, it could be a sign that, for Hillary Clinton, it's déjà vu all over again.
Hillary Clinton's crime ignored by the media
From the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:
January 21, 2005
Unsurprisingly, the liberal media is ignoring Hillary Clinton's role in the campaign finance violations that led to the indictment of her 2000 Senate campaign finance director, David Rosen.
Through Judicial Watch's work, Rosen was indicted - the indictment was "unsealed" Feb. 7 - for causing false reports to be filed with the Federal Election Commission.
He grossly underreported the cost of the August 12, 2000, Hollywood tribute to then-President Bill Clinton, which also served as a fundraiser for Hillary's Senate bid. The star-studded gala was produced and underwritten by our client Peter Paul at a cost of more than $1.2 million.
The concert portion of the gala, which featured such entertainers as Diana Ross and Cher, cost $800,000 alone.
Hillary personally called her friend Gary Smith, who produced the concert portion, to negotiate that price, and she and Bill personally called Peter to thank him for paying for the gala. (In all, Peter spent nearly $2 million on the event.)
Howard Wolfson, Hillary's 2000 campaign spokesman, admitted in an Aug. 17, 2000, Washington Post story that the gala cost more than $1 million. Yet Rosen reported to the FEC a cost of just $425,000, and Hillary's campaign reported only a $2,000 contribution from Peter in 2000. Peter alerted Hillary to the false reports in his lawsuit, filed in June 2000, and in a July 16, 2001, letter to her. She had a duty to correct those reports (and certainly not to allow the filing of false reports).
Few in the press have reported these facts, although, somewhat ironically, former Clinton crony Dick Morris has written a piece that touches on Hillary's involvement in this latest scandal.
We'll keep pressuring the Justice Department and the media to dig further into this Clinton mess.
Today is Inauguration Day, and I want to again extend congratulations to President Bush on his reelection. I hope that in his speech the president mentions the need for his administration to uphold the principles of accountability, integrity and transparency. He can start by tearing down the stone wall that the administration has erected around documents and information Judicial Watch is seeking from the Cheney Energy Task Force.
We're set to argue our case in this matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit next Thursday.
Internet users joined Judicial Watch Director of Investigations and Research Chris Farrell in our "Full Disclosure" chat room on Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics, including the recent indictment of Hillary Clinton's former campaign finance director.
Our next Internet chat will take place Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. EST. I hope you will join this lively forum. Just click on the "Full Disclosure" link on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org.
Tom Fitton
President
Indict the Witch!
08/24/04 – A HOLLYWOOD fundraiser who organised events featuring such celebrities as former US president Bill Clinton was today jailed for more than five years for fraud. Aaron Tonken, 38, was sentenced to 63 months behind bars after admitting fraudulently diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars destined for charity galas and using the cash to pay off his own credit card bills. <…snip…>During his time as a top fundraiser, Tonken helped arrange events for Mr Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in August 2000. Tonken struck a secret plea deal with prosecutors that resulted in today's sentencing by US District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles.
04/19/04 - The Federal Election Commission has opened a formal probe into a star-studded Aug. 12, 2000 Hollywood fundraiser for then-first lady Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, Fox News Channel reported on Sunday. And some say the development is at least partly responsible for Sen. Clinton's claim that she's not interested in joining John Kerry's presidential ticket.
The allegations themselves are not new: Two of the event's organizers, Hollywood producer Peter Paul and charity fundraiser Aaron Tonken, have detailed a series of transactions undertaken in conjunction with Hillary's campaign that could violate FEC regulations, with Paul charging that the campaign failed to report nearly $2 million he spent producing the event.
But months before Paul was returned to the U.S. to stand trial in the stock case, Hollywood fundraiser Aaron Tonken began cooperating with federal probers. Tonken has said that he's a star witness against the Clintons in a federal grand jury probe in New York into Mr. Clinton's Marc Rich pardon - and has been cooperating with the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who's probing his fundraising activities.
FEC Heat Hurts Hillary's VP Chances
The Bush administration has quietly done an about-face on allegations that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton broke campaign finance laws in 2000 - with the Justice Department preparing to extradite one-time Clinton fund-raiser Peter Paul to the U.S. as part of a plea deal for his testimony. The sudden action on Paul's case comes just weeks after reports surfaced that former Hollywood fund-raiser Aaron Tonken has supplied damaging testimony about Hillary Clinton's fund-raising practices.
"I'm a star witness against President and Mrs. Clinton," Tonken claimed in a recent report on his case in Vanity Fair magazine, explaining that prosecutors wanted his testimony about" "fundraising activities that I've done on behalf of the Clintons." The exact nature of Tonken's allegations against Sen. Clinton remains secret, the magazine said. But the celebrity moneyman is known to have been involved in the August 2000 fund raiser that is at the heart of Peter Paul's allegations.
Peter F. Paul, the flamboyant Hollywood entrepreneur who says Hillary Rodham Clinton has hidden almost $2 million of in-kind contributions he made to her campaign in 2000, is back from Brazil and promising to raise a ruckus about the New York senator as he fights bizarre securities and bank-fraud charges on which he's been indicted. Aaron Tonken, a political operative in Hollywood and a former protégé of Paul under indictment for a variety of alleged sharp deals with the rich and famous, also is promising to tell everything he knows about behind-the-scenes shenanigans of Clinton and many others.
Clintons' Fall Guy May Turn the Tables (Peter Paul)
Mr. Paul has substantial, documentary evidence detailing his close relationship with the Clintons and his funding of the Hollywood tribute, including cancelled checks, hand-written thank you notes from the Clintons, and photographs. Also named in the complaint is Clinton fundraiser David Rosen, Clinton friend James Levin, and Hollywood celebrity fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who currently is under criminal investigation for his role in other Hollywood fundraisers. As a result of Mr. Paul’s disclosures, federal authorities have launched an investigation into the Clintons and other matters. Mr. Paul, who is facing alleged (and related) stock and bank fraud charges, remains eager to cooperate with federal authorities.
Thank you for playing Ms. Clinton, we have some lovely parting gifts for you...these exquisite matching stainless steel bracelets and an all-expense paid trip to beautiful Danbury, Connecticut. Now...who will be our next contestant? COME ON DOWN!
[Note: For those that don't get it...Danbury is a Federal Penitentiary]
Time is not on Hillary's side. Once those that are really afraid of her decide she will not be able to hurt (or help) them, they will begin to talk.
Hillary will be brought down not by a Republican but by a Democrat that the Clintons crossed years before. Pay back is a bitch, and there is a lot they have to answer for.
The President is staying above all of this so that when it comes, no one can blame him (although they will certainly blame Karl Rove).
This is of course just my opinion.
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