Posted on 11/03/2007 7:46:24 PM PDT by RDTF
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing.
Thompson selected the businessman, Philip Martin, to raise seed money for his White House bid. Martin is one of four campaign co-chairmen and the head of a group called the "first day founders." Campaign aides jokingly began to refer to Martin, who has been friends with Thompson since the early 1990s, as the head of "Thompson's Airforce."
Thompson's frequent flights aboard Martin's twin-engine Cessna 560 Citation have saved him more than $100,000, because until the law changed in September, campaign-finance rules allowed presidential candidates to reimburse private jet owners for just a fraction of the true cost.
Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. He was charged in 1983 with violating his probation and with multiple counts of felony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of the drug, and was continued on probation.
Thompson's campaign said the candidate was not aware of the multiple criminal cases, for which Martin served no jail time. All are described in public court records.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yawn...
Charles Manson?
What they did 30 years ago prevented both Ted kennedy and John Kerry from winning the White House.
Good point, but the deals with Hsu, are a LOT more recent than those of Fred's friend.
John Kerry served in Vietnam!
What about Hillary’s Sandy?
And that crook that Obama is involved with?
And Rudy and his defrocked pedophile employee?
And Mitt with his criminial supporters?
The WP fears Fred.
I would bet that the Romney campaign is behind the leak to the WP.
“24 years ago. It’s a problem, and I hope Fred addresses it pronto and decisively.”
Why couldn’t he have found out about this before he became associated with the guy?
It’s just for a quick ‘gotcha’. A talking point for the braindead libs to use when backed into a corner over Hsu.
This kind of thing won’t work with Fred. He just dismisses it and explains things rationally, slowly, and clearly so everyone can understand it.
They feel that way in Massachusetts about Ted Kennedy too, he murdered an innocent by his own negligence and still cruises away.
Yes...but to be honest...those were things they, themselves did.
Fred probably didn’t even KNOW this guy 20 years ago.
And you feel that there is some sort of equivalence here between Ted Kennedy murdering a woman and an associate of Fred Thompson’s being a drug dealer 30 years ago?
Did you read the article? This is not Fred, it’s an associate.
It doesn’t matter to people with an agenda.
If there was no conviction, what is the problem?
Well, admitting your idiocy is the first step.
If you’ll vote for anyone with an R next to their name, you should refrain from voting in the primary and leave it to those of us with some principles to decide the nominee. That way, we’re sure to not end up with a flip-flopping, medicine socializing, abortion supporting, candidate like Slick Willard.
The guy needs to leave the campaign and be done with it.
This isn’t a big deal.
I’ll wager it was the Romney’s oppo research that tipped off the Post.
This has got the beast’s claw marks all over it. The War Room is up and running 24/7. Like the song says, “We’ve only just begun.”
Egads! 1979? Sheesh! Clintoon smoked but didn’t inhale. Right! (sarc)
He probably wants to live. JMHO.
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