Posted on 04/21/2006 7:10:47 AM PDT by MC Miker G
A defense contractor seeking help from Rep. Katherine Harris for $10 million in federal money last year took her to one of Washington's most exclusive restaurants, where he paid for a meal that may have cost as much as $2,800 and offered to sponsor a campaign fundraiser for her.
Mitchell Wade, who pleaded guilty this year to bribing a California congressman, spent $2,800 on wine and food, said Ed Rollins, former chief political strategist for Harris in her campaign for the U.S. Senate.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel this week, Harris R-Longboat Key, said it was "news to me" that the total bill had been that expensive.
Rollins said he and Harris discussed the meal and its cost early this year after Wade, the central figure in a congressional bribery scandal, admitted giving kickbacks to U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California.
...
The rules also state that members "must never accept a gift that is linked to any official action that the individual has taken, or is being asked to take. . . ."
In her interview Wednesday, Harris acknowledged for the first time that Wade had paid for the dinner at Citronelle, reversing a statement from her congressional spokeswoman earlier this year.
But in the interview, Harris also said her campaign had, at some point, "reimbursed" the restaurant.
When asked how she could have reimbursed a business that was owed no money -- Wade paid the bill that evening -- she abruptly ended the interview and walked off.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Just the latest hit-piece on Katherine Harris and her run for US Senate.
Number 2,892 in an ongoing series...
Let me see, if I were to run for Senate and had prior notice that the dems were going to do everything in their power to ensure I lose, I would be so squeeky clean. She should know better than have any hint of scandle. What does a millionaire need to be having some contractor pay for a 2800 dollar meal? That is like 50 bucks for you and I. She needs to get serious about this election or she is going to LOSE!!!!! Get with it Katherine...NOW. Stop doing things for attention like going on TV saying you are going to use your own money and then later say oh I guess I am not going to use my money. It just makes you as a great conservative look horrible and you are not helping the GOP at all which we need all the help we can get this year.
"If we are going to try to dig dirt, lets spend time on finding out why Ted Kennedy has land in Lafayette LA which may have been provided him by Abramoff. Do something constructive.
"
I have no resources that will let me do that. I'm not trying to dig dirt on Harris. I have no resources to do that, either. I'm just commenting on how this might affect the election, which is probably a lost cause, anyhow.
So you don't like Harris. Fair enough. Do you have any alternative candidate(s), or are you just complaining?
I didn't know about the house rule, but I understand it now. I honestly don't even know much about Harris and whether I'd support her or not. I just don't have an opinion of her.
The reason this looks like a cheap shot then is that we don't know what her portion cost, nor how many people there were. Nor do we even know if she *did* kick in for anything over fifty bucks, if it was. There's just a couple of facts that she was there and the total was $2800. Most of the time, the people at the dinner don't see the check. I don't have a hard time believing that she would have had no idea what the meal ended up costing, especially if there were a number of people there.
Again... I'm not jumping to her defense necessarily, but this is pretty obviously just a partisan cheap shot.
That still doesn't explain the $2,800 tab. Wade's penchant for $1,000-a-bottle bordeaux seems to be the best explanation.
Remember, Alan Keyes pulled 27% of the vote, and Katharine Harris is nowhere near in the same league as Keyes.
I'm predicting the high 30s.
Chef dinner: 250 per plate minimum 6 people.
Thats 1500 right there. only need 5 more people to make almost 2800. How many people were there? Who sourced this? Who cares? LOL
How did the author find out anyhow? Have an actual tab? I may have missed seeing that part...
"and Katharine Harris is nowhere near in the same league as Keyes"
Thats true! Harris has been in Florida for more than 6 months and has a clean financial record!
It wasn't necessarily at the Chef's Table; the story doesn't say. There is regular restaurant seating as well, and the prix fixe (without wine) is about $150 per person. Worth every penny. I've paid a lot more for a lot less!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
She isn't losing it's in the bag.
So you don't like Harris. Fair enough. Do you have any alternative candidate(s), or are you just complaining?
First of all. I NEVER said or implied that I don't like Representative Harris. Secondly, it does not matter if I do or not...can't vote. I am a Pennsyvanian so we have our own difficult election. Third, I was just pointing out what I would do if I was running for Senate and it would not be going out to dinner with contractors unless I paid for it myself...where does that say I don't like her...Very confusing post you wrote.
From the article:
The dinner first became an issue within the campaign late last summer when senior advisers learned that Wade had been one of Harris' biggest campaign contributors a year earlier.
Rollins said he questioned Harris at the time about her relationship with Wade and about the dinner meeting.
At that point, Rollins said, Harris told him she had instructed a campaign staff member to make sure her portion of the meal would be paid.
But Jim Dornan, campaign manager at the time, said no such request was ever made.
Dornan said he oversaw campaign expenditures, and none of the staff members ever approached him about the Citronelle dinner.
"They would have brought that to me," he said.
Rollins said the amount of the bill didn't become clear to him and other campaign staffers until early this year when Wade pleaded guilty. Rollins said he met with Harris again to discuss the dinner and asked how the bill could have been so much.
Harris, he said, told him that Wade bought expensive wine.
"She was very anxious," said Rollins, "and wanted to know how she could reimburse the restaurant."
When Rollins said that couldn't be done, Harris asked about repaying Wade. Rollins said he advised against that, pointing out that Wade, by then, was a convicted criminal. He said he told Harris to talk to a lawyer.
"I left the campaign shortly after that," said Rollins, who, like Dornan, was among more than half a dozen key staffers who quit Harris' Senate campaign in the past five months. "I have no idea what steps she took."
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Oh, I know...everyone is now out to get Harris, right? I think the more reasonable explanation is that Harris is imploding. Is is possible that she is just a typical corrupt politician?
Bill Clinton did a lot worse with the Lincoln Bedroom and the drive-by media thought that was just fine.
In my state, I'm tired of the "good ol' boy" GOP-endorsed candidates. Apparently many others were as well....and elected Tom Coburn.
The article said that the bill may have been "as much as.....".
As soon as I see "as much as" or "less than", I quit reading.
That's somebody's wild ass guess. Similar to listening to a used car salesman.
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