Posted on 08/09/2002 4:36:35 AM PDT by KLT
Hillary Rodham Clinton with City Council candidate Elana Waskal Posner -- Sam's daughter
August 9, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - A day after disgraced ImClone chief Sam Waksal was indicted for insider trading, bank fraud and obstruction of justice, his favorite politician - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - said she has no intention of returning the $27,000 he's given her.
Clinton has been the biggest individual recipient by far of Waksal's campaign largesse.
He pumped $20,000 into her soft-money committee for her 2000 Senate race, gave that campaign $2,000 directly, and donated another $5,000 to HILLPAC, her political-action committee, in 2001.
"She [Clinton] has no plans to return the money at this time. So far as we know, he did not give us any money in 2002," said Clinton spokeswoman Karen Dunn.
Also holding on to his Waksal cash is Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who got far less - $3,000.
So are the Democratic National Committee ($56,500), the New York State Democratic Committee ($5,000) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($10,000).
It's common for politicians to give back or give away tainted campaign cash.
Clinton has done so herself, turning over her Enron money to an employee-assistance fund.
And some other Democrats have already said they intend to return their Waksal donations, including Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester), who is picking a charity for the $1,000 she got back in 1998.
Democratic presidential wannabe Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is also giving to charity years of campaign donations from the Waksal family.
But New York State Democratic Committee spokeswoman Serena Torrey said the party is keeping the money because Sam Waksal "has not been convicted of a crime, and he was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party long before this."
The Democratic National Committee has said it intends to keep Waksal's money because it goes back to 1999-2000.
Waksal and his family have funneled big bucks to a number of Democratic soft-money groups and candidates.
Besides the money from Sam, Clinton also got another $15,000 from the Waksal family and top ImClone execs during the 2000 race.
Waksal stands accused of tipping off family members about the government's negative ruling concerning the company's cancer drug Erbitux - a charge he has denied.
He also allegedly had key telephone documents shredded. The files might have revealed the names of other pals who got the tip-off and forged a lawyer's signature on $44 million in bank loans.
Therefore, Hillary has now set the new standard by stonewalling any "tainted cash" return movement. It was getting out of hand. Returning tainted funds was started by her felon husband with the Chinese money connection (even though they talked more about returning the money than doing it), so I guess she feels she has a right to reverse it.
Besides, there is not a Senate Ethics Committee that will do anything about it, so she's home free!
Look for the rest of the Democrat criminals (but, I repeat myself) to take her lead and follow suit. Meanwhile, they'll turn up the rhetorical heat on the Republicans to return their $100 pittances they may have received from the same felons. Moral Equivalencee, you know!
Why doesn't she pry the cash out of the Red Cross? After all, where did all that donated "billion plus" dollars go? Not to the families of the victims.
Why must the taxpayers pay for everything? Ask for more donations, Hillary.
She is holding true to the Clinton way of life. Never pay for anything out of your own pocket.
Probably true for the country as a whole, but the screaming headline definitely catches the attention of NYC metro-area residents on the commuter train platforms, on newsstands, etc. Nice payback (although not enough) for Hillary's low-class grandstanding with the misleading "He knew!" headline (re: Bush and 9/11).
This coming from the smartest people on Earth. Even their staffers have learned the fine art of splitting hairs. I don't know why they just don't come right out and say "Yeah, he gave us money. So what?". The mainstream press certainly wouldn't report it and the Republican "leadership" would giggle and think it was a cute statement.
Of course there were the gifts and the stolen furniture that she was returning -- but she never did that either. I think the government finally had to send a truck to Chappaqua for some of the stuff. But what about all the stuff that disappeared to Arkansas and the Liebrary?
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