Posted on 04/26/2005 9:50:21 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
On 18 July, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick. He escaped, but left Mary Jo Kopechne to suffocate in the submerged car. That ended his chances of ever being President. Now Hillary Clinton has experienced an event with a similar political result.
On 15 October, 2000, Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senatorial Campaign filed a report with the Federal Election Campaign that included falsified cost statements (about $750,000 low) for her Hollywood Gala on 12 August. Her National Finance Director, David Rosen, has just been indicted on four felony counts for that and related filings. Those events will sink her chances of being President as thoroughly as the killing of Mary Jo Kopechne sank Ted Kennedy’s chances.
For a detailed analysis of Ted Kennedy’s actions, see the February, 1980, issue of Readers Digest. This went to about 50 million American households, where it was placed on the back of the toilet for leisurely reading. (A literary description of this is Leopold Bloom’s newspaper reading in Ulysses by James Joyce.)
The press accounts of Chappaquiddick plus Kennedy’s gross incompetence in a legendary interview with Roger Mudd prevented Kennedy from taking the 1980 presidential nomination away from the damaged incumbent, Jimmy Carter. The Readers Digest version slammed the presidential door against Kennedy forever.
Hillary Clinton has already said Mr. Rosen will be found not guilty “when all the facts come out.” Not so. The facts include tape recordings of Mr. Rosen admitting illegal conduct to Raymond Reggie, (ironically Ted Kennedy’s brother-in-law), plus copies of campaign documents. They show the Clinton Campaign kept two sets of books – an accurate internal set and a false set for the FEC.
Mr. Rosen will be found guilty when all the facts come out, unless there is a gross miscarriage of justice as with John DeLorean and O.J. Simpson. But his trial is almost irrelevant. The facts alone will do the damage.
The Readers Digest may not do the permanent damage now. Every tabloid in America has sent reporters out with ample funds to loosen tongues and ferret out documents. This will be a hot story on the Internet. The facts may come out even before the trial. The original trial date of 3 May will certainly be pushed back by aggressive lawyering by Rosen’s counsel.
And who is his counsel? The first lawyer to comment on the case was the ever-present Clinton mouthpiece (excuse me, lawyer), David Kendall. Another lawyer has appeared as Rosen’s counsel, but if Kendall is involved at all, there would seem to be a conflict of interest. Kendall’s life’s work is to protect Clinton (him and her) from felonious consequences of their acts. Rosen’s interest right now is to avoid a stretch in stir. Rolling over on Hillary and turning state’s evidence is his best way of saving his neck.
So Mr. Rosen’s legal interests seem quite different from hers. If Kendall were involved, that would suggest Rosen will deny, deny, deny, rather than sing like a canary. However, with tape-recorded conversations and internal documents available, the only consequence of keeping Rosen on the reservation is to protect Clinton from felony charges herself. It will not protect her from the political consequences.
Keep in mind that all politicians – liberal conservative, Republican, Democrat, men, women, smart or dumb – necessarily follow two details of their campaigns: money in, and money out. Unless Clinton is either the dumbest member of the Senate, or the most careless, she would not have a million-dollar gap in knowledge of her own campaign finances. One witness has already claimed discussing financial details of this Gala with Clinton personally.
The bottom line is this: Hillary Clinton cheated her way into the Senate in 2000. Knowing that, the American people will not let her back into the White House. Like Ted Kennedy, she will probably be barred from the Democratic nomination. If nominated, she will not win.
There is another parallel between Ted Kennedy then and Hillary Clinton now. Kennedy was never charged with or tried for manslaughter. Clinton will probably not be charged and tried for election felonies. Though the facts came out, Kennedy still remains Senator for life from Massachusetts as long as he can draw breath and pour Scotch. It is likely that the facts of this case will not knock Clinton out of her Senate seat. (Though for the sake of New York and the nation, I hope I’m wrong about that.)
She may remain a Senator, but Hillary Clinton’s campaign for President in 2008 – or ever – is now over.
About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
bump
Historically speaking, we choose our Presidents from the pool of governors, not senators.
I have asked many people and they have not heard anything about this. Typical. If these criminals were Republicans it would be front-page news.
Unfortunately, times are much different now then even in 1980. The MSM and other organs (academia, hollywood, unions, etc) are firmly and unequivocally part of the democrat party and will do everything in their power to elect clinton. She will skate, laughing all the way to the bank, thumbing her nose at America. This issue is not even close to enough to stop the clintons.
Trying to do maximum damage today on my little road trip.
I wish it were true, but after seeing Kerry get a pass for treason, anything is possible.
Emperor Karl Rove has decreed the latter.
It will take more than an arcane eight year old campaign finance problem to sink the SS Hillary.
I guess every little "BTTT" counts...
I always look forward to your take. Thanks again.
Big meeting today on location in an undisclosed location in North Carolina. Let's hope Broomstick One is grounded soon.
yup ,...you bet ,...we've got so very much on her , to get it in a form where it isn't "Dry Toast" ,ahhhh , that's why I'm calling her Sir Edmund Hillary Clinton ,...when someone is interested[and you can tell,one on one] , I just start with some HillBilly facts,making sure that I don't sound like a LaRouch supporter ,LOL!!
you are so right. "anyone but Hillary" won't work any more than "anyone but Bush" worked for the dems.
Exactly how did she "cheat" her way into the Senate?
The only people to blame for her being in the Senate are the dumb voters of New York State!
She is the Teflon Senator, it won't stick, she'll still be the sweetheart of the left. She will worm her way out of this too, and still be the candidate for 2008. Count on it!
By understating the costs of this L.A. Gala by about $800,000, Hillary was running a money laundry. She was creating $800,000 in usable cash. How much difference the spending of that much money made on her election, is unknown. But it is generally true in elections that spending more money produces more votes, all other factors being equal. John / Billybob
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
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 dollars 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.
FBI Raids Hillary's Warehouse in Whitewater Deja Vu
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.
Clinton accuser Peter Paul will be allowed to testify against the finance chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign after pleading guilty in an unrelated stock fraud case in a Long Island courtroom yesterday. Before meeting with U.S. District Court Judge Leonard D. Wexler, Paul told the New York Sun that he was eager to testify against Mr. Rosen at trial, and potentially against Mr. and Mrs. Clinton.
"I have come to take responsibility for my actions and put myself at the mercy of the court. Senator Clinton has not," he declared. Mr. Paul told the Fox News Channel last year that he personally apprised Mrs. Clinton of the money being spent on her behalf. Fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who helped Paul produce the Aug. 2000 event, has given prosecutors a similar account - and both have reams of financial records to back their stories.
Clinton Accuser Peter Paul Cleared to Testify
"Hillary Clinton personally called the producer of the concert part of this event," claims Peter Paul, the Hollywood mogul who bankrolled the Aug. 2000 event.
"She asked him to lower the fee that he was charging of $850,000 at my request," he added, in an interview last year with the Fox News Channel. "So I don't understand how she could possibly say that she didn't know."
Lest anyone doubt Mr. Paul's word, there's Aaron Tonken, whose specialty was rounding up stars for charity events in Tinseltown - and who distributed most of the cash Peter Paul used to pay for the Hillary bash.
In his recent book "King of Cons," Tonken describes his sit-down with the former first lady in the backseat of a limo, where he gave her a chapter and verse update on the money her top aide was hiding from the feds.
"I told her about virtually every penny I'd spent on her behalf," Tonken recalled. "I told her about the money and what a pleasure it was to spend it on her candidacy."
Hillary Clinton's Fundraising Troubles Worse Than Tom DeLay's
Excellent work CB.
Keep us up to date on your "other" endeavor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.