Posted on 10/13/2005 11:49:05 AM PDT by Interesting Times
Peter Paul hosted two separate fundraisers for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign two months before he hosted the Hollywood Gala. They took place on June 9, 2000: a VIP fundraising luncheon at the famed Beverly Hills restaurant Spago, and a tea at the Bel Air home of Cynthia Gershman, a wealthy donor associated with Aaron Tonken, an organizer of top-dollar charity and political events who Paul had subsidized to work with DNC Chairman Ed Rendell and Hillary Clinton on Hollywood fundraising.
At the suggestion of Ed Rendell, under the supervision of DNC Regional Finance Chair Stephanie Berger and assisted by Hillary Clinton campaign finance director David Rosen, Peter Paul agreed to host and underwrite the costs of both events. Rendell obtained a pledge of $150,000 in Stan Lee Media stock, to be transferred to the Clinton campaign in September, 2000, as the "cost" of Paul being designated host of the VIP luncheon for the First Lady. This was identical to the pledge requirement that Rendell also extracted from Paul to host Vice President Gore's first major Hollywood VIP Dinner fund raiser, held on June 8, 2000 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Peter Paul's business partner, Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, acted as co-host for the two fundraisers, but did not commit stock or pay any expenses.
Spago
The Spago luncheon took place in a private room, and lasted from 11:30 am until 2:00 pm. Present for the event were Spago owner Wolfgang Puck and his wife Barbara Lazaroff, Peter and Andrea Paul, Stan and Joan Lee, Gerry (Nick Cage and Sylvester Stallone's manager) and Angela Harrington, Susie Buell Tompkins (Hillary's "close" friend and owner of the Esprit clothing line, Aaron Tonken, the designer Bijan, Alana Stewart (ex-wife of George Hamilton and Rod Stewart who worked for Paul as a talent coordinator), Olivia Newton-John, Dionne Warwick, Shawn King (wife of Larry King) and Cynthia Gershman. Hillary Clinton was accompanied by David Rosen, long-time aide Kelly Craighead, DNC regional finance chair Stephanie Berger, and Terry New of Capital Strategies consulting.
Dionne Warwick sang "That's What Friends Are For" for the guests, a performance for which Aaron Tonken later reported that he paid her $20,000 in cash. In all, more than $600,000 was provided to Tonken by Peter Paul for such expenses, and all the expenses paid by Tonken on behalf of the DNC and Hillary's campaign came from Paul's funds. None were ever reported to the FEC.
Peter Paul sat next to Hillary Clinton at the Spago fundraising luncheon for about 90 minutes, during which time they discussed his problematic anti-Castro activities in the late 1970's, his interest in hiring her husband when he left the White House, and his commitment to give $150,000 in Stan Lee Media stock to her campaign.
Mrs. Clinton can be seen on a *videotape of the event* calling Paul a "genius" and telling Stan Lee how lucky he was to have Paul as a partner. She also publicly thanked Paul for his generous support of her campaign, as witnessed by the VIP luncheon guests.
The Spago fundraiser raised at least $20,000 for the Clinton for Senate campaign in hard dollars. The expenses paid by Paul as a cash "in-kind" contribution to Hillary's campaign were never reported. The $2,000 check Paul wrote as part of this fund raiser would be returned to Paul on August 16, 2000, when Hillary attempted to publicly distance herself from Paul after the Washington Post reported on Paul's anti-Castro related felony convictions. Hillary hid Paul's role in these fundraising events from the Post as well.
Bel Air
After leaving Spago, Paul and Tonken joined Hillary Clinton's motorcade as it travelled to the "Tea in Bel Air" at the home of philanthropist Cynthia Gershman. This event lasted from 2:30 until 4:45 pm, with some 150 Hollywood luminaries in attendance, including Melanie Griffith, Larry King, Morgan Fairchild, and Sean Young, who videotaped the event. Also present was Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, a guest of Paul's who received multi-thousand dollar contributions from Paul for his campaign. Peter Paul introduced Hillary Clinton to the guests, and again sat next to her during the event. During her speech, Mrs. Clinton once again thanked Paul for his generous financial support of her campaign.
Peter Paul, Mrs. Paul, Stan Lee, and Mrs. Lee all wrote $2,000 checks to Mrs. Clinton's campaign, as did many other guests. The Bel Air event raised more than $50,000 in hard money contributions.
Peter Paul's expenses for the two events, which exceeded $32,000, were paid on his behalf by Aaron Tonken in his capacity as assistant producer. Tonken would later report in his book, "King of Cons" that David Rosen had given him clear instructions not to provide receipts to the campaign for his expenses, and not to report expenses for which there were no receipts, such as Tonken's $20,000 cash payment to Dionne Warwick. Tonken quotes Rosen as saying, "Throw them out. Don't write them off on your taxes, just get rid of them. I don't want to know about them. What we want is the appearance that expenses were minimal." Instead, Tonken kept the receipts, and eventually turned them over to federal investigators.
Only nominal expenses were reported to the FEC for the two fundraisers, referred to collectively as "Event 19" by the campaign. Hard money contributions were reported totaling approximately $40,000. None of Peter Paul's expenses were reported, nor was the pledge of $150,000 in stock that he had made to DNC chair Ed Rendell. Campaigns are required by federal law to file a memorandum of all pledges made but uncollected in connection with fundraising events, at the same time that reports are filed about the costs for the events.
What Hillary knew
In "King of Cons," Tonken reports a private meeting with Hillary Clinton in a van in Los Angeles during which "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."
On July 16, 2001, Peter Paul wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton notifying her personally that his enormous contribution to her Senate campaign, of which the Spago and Bel Air events represented a small portion, had not been reported. The letter stated in part, "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." Paul concluded by demanding that the Clinton campaign return his money. This request was ignored.
The final report made to the Federal Election Commission by the Clinton Senate campaign contains no reference to any expenses paid on behalf of the campaign by Peter Paul, Aaron Tonken or even Paul's company, Stan Lee Media for the Spago and Bel Air fundraising events of June 9, 2000.
There really oughta be a law...
Investigating Hillary ping...
I'm really amazed at how CHEAP these people were, considering their wealth. ha.
Does this qualify as"hooking" just because Hildebeast didn't take off her clothes?
Thanks for the ping!
Where is the outrage from liberal moonbats ~ oh, I forgot ~ she's the head liberal moonbat! *sigh*
Very BUMPY bump.
Bttt
Can anyone be there in the morning with a movie camera? I am hoping to confront David Kendall outside and demand to know why he has been a co-conspirator in the fraud.
Thanks!
Thanks, but I find the Clinton's machinations more than adequately disturbing when viewed strictly in financial and legal terms.
BTTT
Selling out their country is high on the list as it brings in a good amount of cash.
Hiding a donation from the American Muslim Foundation by listing it as American Museum Foundation is another quaint way to lie, cheat and steal.
There are laws, it's just that the Clintons are above that sort of thing. It was one thing when their justice department looked the other way. It's a lot tougher to take when ours does.
Thanks for the post.
Your post is a thought provoker for me
(as is your tagline)
I am not one for the foil fedora,,,but,,,re:the FBI files.
Why is it the only way liberals win whilst being loosers is to tar and feather conservatives in the legal realm like Delay,Limbaugh,Bennett, etal and now Frist.
How many Rino's are be manipulated,browbeaten or blackmailed?
Haven't heard much about Hillary's connection to this case from the MSM.
They must just be too busy with DeLay's indictment, Frist's investments and their perpetual Bush bashing.....to cover it.
Remember; Klintoon's FIRST action upon being sworn in in '93 was to terminate ("accept resignation of") ALL Federal prosecutors. ...but I'm not suspicious...
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.