CA: Assemblywoman Diane Harkey accepted $16,600 from firms borrowing from husband's company

LA Times ^ | 3/3/09 | Stuart Pfeifer

[NormsRevenge]

California Assemblywoman Diane Harkey accepted $16,600 in political contributions from real estate developers who had received loans from her husband's business, now under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The borrowers later failed to repay loans brokered by her husband's lending company, Point Center Financial Inc. of Aliso Viejo. The firm was accused of fraud last month in an investor lawsuit, and the company's owner has confirmed that Point Center is under investigation by the SEC.

Harkey (R-Dana Point) said Monday that there was nothing improper with the developers' contributions and that she had no idea they had loans pending with her husband's company at the time they donated to her campaign.

"It is totally legal and totally proper. I'm not voting on anything that affects them," she said. "I will take campaign contributions from anybody who chooses to support me. But I will not take anything from anyone who has a conflict."

In the lawsuit filed last month, the investors contend that Point Center neglected to inform them about the risky nature of its loans and that Harkey, a defendant in the lawsuit, used proceeds from bad loans to donate nearly $1.1 million to her political campaigns.

Harkey said she used her own money -- from a prior "six-figure" banking career -- to donate to her campaigns for the state Senate and Assembly.

"It came from my personal income. I don't care what the lawsuit says. It's frivolous. It's full of lies. And it will all come out in court," she said.

Harkey accepted $16,600 in campaign contributions from three developers who borrowed tens of millions of dollars from Point Center, according to campaign finance records.

Two of the loans ended in foreclosure and a third was modified because the developer was unable to meet the original terms.

[NormsRevenge]

Harkey (R-Dana Point) said Monday that there was nothing improper with the developers’ contributions and that she had no idea they had loans pending with her husband’s company at the time they donated to her campaign.

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That’s OK, Diane. Obama had hundreds of millions of dollars donated by anonymous donors on credit cards. You, unfortunately, just have an R by your name.

We know the SEC will get to the bottom of this, huh?

[Professor_Leonide]

When I read the headlines about a politician receiving money from a conflict of interest case and I saw the LA Times was reporting it, I knew it was a Republican politician. The MSM does this so when the big case with a D breaks, the reading public will reflexively say “those politicians” and let it go at that.