Clinton Accuser Peter Paul Cleared to Testify

NewsMax ^ | 3/9/05

[areafiftyone]

Clinton accuser Peter Paul will be allowed to testify against the finance chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign after pleading guilty in an unrelated stock fraud case in a Long Island courtroom yesterday.

The government required that Mr. Paul plead guilty in the stock fraud case before it would consider using him as a witness against David Rosen, Clinton's former finance chairman, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

A four count indictment against Rosen was unsealed in January, charging the Clinton money-man with attempting to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars of in-kind contributions that bankrolled an Aug. 2000 gala fundraiser in Los Angeles. Rosen allegedly worked out of Paul's Stan Lee Media office as he oversaw preparations for the star-studded event. Witnesses say he refused to keep records on vast amounts of cash spent on Mrs. Clinton's behalf.

But Peter Paul's testimony could spell just as much trouble for Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic Party's likely 2008 presidential nominee.

Before meeting with U.S. District Court Judge Leonard D. Wexler, Paul told the New York Sun that he was eager to testify against Mr. Rosen at trial, and potentially against Mr. and Mrs. Clinton.

"I have come to take responsibility for my actions and put myself at the mercy of the court. Senator Clinton has not," he declared.

Mr. Paul told the Fox News Channel last year that he personally apprised Mrs. Clinton of the money being spent on her behalf.

Fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who helped Paul produce the Aug. 2000 event, has given prosecutors a similar account - and both have reams of financial records to back their stories.

David Rosen is set to go on trial in Los Angeles on May 3.

[ravingnutter]

As we say in Texas:

YEE-HAW!!!!

[donozark]

Paging Jim McDougal's doctor! Patient in need of Lasix-ASAP!

[SpinnerWebb]

How long until he commits "suicide"?

[donozark]

Won't matter. Dr. Malik (or other "company man") will perform the autopsy...Even if bullets roll out on the slab, cause of death will be "accidental."

[unkus]

You got that right. That -itch would do away with 90% of us if she could.

[areafiftyone]

To be honest, I think this will slide right off of her like everything else. But its good ammo to use against her in 2008!

[unkus]

More reason why a Ross Perot candidate will start to surface within a year or so.

[ex-Texan]

This witness had better be in special Protective Custody. Not just guarded under close watch 24/7 in a federal lock up facility. If it were at all possible, have him under protective custody at a U.S. Military Base. I heard a rumor the Clintons are particularly tenacious when one of their own is about to spill the beans. They are rumored to have a blackops trained cadre of nasties at their disposal. Or, perhaps I have just heard rotten, exaggerated Internet rumors. Or maybe, I'm just paranoid and delusional. Hate to see another key witness die pleading for his medications while prison official prepare their cover stories. Whatever . . . Nobody listens to me anyway. I'm just a geezer living in the Peoples Republic of Oregon.

[areafiftyone]

I think so too. I'm very leery of the 2008 election. It will be interesting but I don't feel that it's a shoe-in for Republicans to win.

[MamaLucci]

In the end, if the GOP completely let's the Clinton's off
the hook for their various crimes, they deserve to lose
to Hillary! in 2008. WE sure as heck don't deserve it, though!

[ravingnutter]

Background info from my files:

A HOLLYWOOD fundraiser who organised events featuring such celebrities as former US president Bill Clinton was today jailed for more than five years for fraud. Aaron Tonken, 38, was sentenced to 63 months behind bars after admitting fraudulently diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars destined for charity galas and using the cash to pay off his own credit card bills. <…snip…>During his time as a top fundraiser, Tonken helped arrange events for Mr Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in August 2000. Tonken struck a secret plea deal with prosecutors that resulted in today's sentencing by US District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles.

Hollywood Charity Man Jailed

Now…keep in mind the secret plea deal and read these stories:

The Federal Election Commission has opened a formal probe into a star-studded Aug. 12, 2000 Hollywood fundraiser for then-first lady Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, Fox News Channel reported on Sunday. And some say the development is at least partly responsible for Sen. Clinton's claim that she's not interested in joining John Kerry's presidential ticket.

The allegations themselves are not new: Two of the event's organizers, Hollywood producer Peter Paul and charity fundraiser Aaron Tonken, have detailed a series of transactions undertaken in conjunction with Hillary's campaign that could violate FEC regulations, with Paul charging that the campaign failed to report nearly $2 million he spent producing the event.

But months before Paul was returned to the U.S. to stand trial in the stock case, Hollywood fundraiser Aaron Tonken began cooperating with federal probers. Tonken has said that he's a star witness against the Clintons in a federal grand jury probe in New York into Mr. Clinton's Marc Rich pardon - and has been cooperating with the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who's probing his fundraising activities.

FEC Heat Hurts Hillary's VP Chances

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton surely hopes that history isn't repeating itself with the raid conducted by the FBI last month on another warehouse; this one chock full of documents from her 2000 Senatorial campaign.

"The documents were seized in a May 30 raid of a California storage facility containing documents of Peter Paul, the entrepreneur who funded Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign with over $2 million dollars in direct, in-kind contributions which were never reported by Hillary Clinton or her Senate campaign, as required by law," revealed the public interest law firm Judicial Watch in a press release late last week.

FBI Raids Hillary's Warehouse in Whitewater Deja Vu

The Bush administration has quietly done an about-face on allegations that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton broke campaign finance laws in 2000 - with the Justice Department preparing to extradite one-time Clinton fund-raiser Peter Paul to the U.S. as part of a plea deal for his testimony. The sudden action on Paul's case comes just weeks after reports surfaced that former Hollywood fund-raiser Aaron Tonken has supplied damaging testimony about Hillary Clinton's fund-raising practices.

"I'm a star witness against President and Mrs. Clinton," Tonken claimed in a recent report on his case in Vanity Fair magazine, explaining that prosecutors wanted his testimony about" "fundraising activities that I've done on behalf of the Clintons." The exact nature of Tonken's allegations against Sen. Clinton remains secret, the magazine said. But the celebrity moneyman is known to have been involved in the August 2000 fund raiser that is at the heart of Peter Paul's allegations.

The End of Hillary Clinton

Peter F. Paul, the flamboyant Hollywood entrepreneur who says Hillary Rodham Clinton has hidden almost $2 million of in-kind contributions he made to her campaign in 2000, is back from Brazil and promising to raise a ruckus about the New York senator as he fights bizarre securities and bank-fraud charges on which he's been indicted. Aaron Tonken, a political operative in Hollywood and a former protégé of Paul under indictment for a variety of alleged sharp deals with the rich and famous, also is promising to tell everything he knows about behind-the-scenes shenanigans of Clinton and many others.

Clintons' Fall Guy May Turn the Tables (Peter Paul)

Mr. Paul has substantial, documentary evidence detailing his close relationship with the Clintons and his funding of the Hollywood tribute, including cancelled checks, hand-written thank you notes from the Clintons, and photographs. Also named in the complaint is Clinton fundraiser David Rosen, Clinton friend James Levin, and Hollywood celebrity fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who currently is under criminal investigation for his role in other Hollywood fundraisers. As a result of Mr. Paul’s disclosures, federal authorities have launched an investigation into the Clintons and other matters. Mr. Paul, who is facing alleged (and related) stock and bank fraud charges, remains eager to cooperate with federal authorities.

Clinton Whistleblower Peter F. Paul Sues Bill and Hillary Clinton for Fraud, Conspiracy, Unjust Enrichment

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"You got that right. That -itch would do away with 90% of us if she could."

Because if we're dead or in prison, then for SURE we vote Democratic, right? LOL!

[b4its2late]

To be honest, I think this will slide right off of her like everything else.

And it'll probably be such a complicated web of deceit that no one will be able to follow it. Or the people that are able to follow it won't be able to explain it to those that don't and most will lose interest.

[Ben Hecks]

"Fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who helped Paul produce the Aug. 2000 event, has given prosecutors a similar account - and both have reams of financial records to back their stories."

Bump!

[ravingnutter]

"Fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who helped Paul produce the Aug. 2000 event, has given prosecutors a similar account - and both have reams of financial records to back their stories."

Plus the documents the FBI got when they raided Hillary's warehouse in May of 2002 (see my post #12: FBI Raids Hillary's Warehouse in Whitewater Deja Vu).

[donozark]

Actually, I was quite surprised Paul ever made it back from Brazil. Jungle environs being what they are and all...

[ArmyBratproud]

hope this guy does not have to fly anytime soon...

[deport]

Adding this article from Mar. 7 to the thread for archival purposes......

Ex-Stan Lee Chief Paul to Plead in Securities Case

Mon Mar 7, 5:20 PM ET

U.S. National - Reuters

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stan Lee Media co-founder Peter Paul said on Monday that he would plead guilty to a federal securities charge.

However, Paul said the plea was not part of an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors probing alleged campaign finance violations by Sen. Hillary Clinton (news - web sites)'s staff.

Paul told Reuters he would plead guilty on Tuesday in New York federal court to one count of manipulating the share price of Stan Lee Media, an online entertainment company he founded with comic book legend Stan Lee that collapsed in 2000.

The charge stems from a 2001 indictment accusing Paul and two others of manipulating Stan Lee stock by buying shares with bad checks and selling at below-market prices.

Paul faces more than 10 years in prison but said he has made no deal to limit his exposure to prison, including talking to prosecutors about a star-studded Hollywood fund-raiser he threw for Clinton during her 2000 run for the U.S. Senate.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have indicted Clinton's former finance director, David Rosen, for on charges of filing false campaign finance reports about how much the event cost.

Rosen pleaded not guilty in January to four counts of filing false FEC reports. He was extradited from Brazil in 2003, where prosecutors said he had fled, and was in federal custody until January after spending 43 months in prisons in the two countries.

Paul filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) and a civil lawsuit claiming he agreed to throw the fund-raiser in exchange for a promise from then-President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) to work for Stan Lee Media after he left the White House.

The former president has denied that allegation, and both Clintons have asked the California Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit.

On Monday, Paul demanded that Sen. Clinton "take responsibility for her role in what was the largest campaign finance fraud basically that has ever been reported."

"I'm standing up and taking responsibility for an SEC violation. ... She, as a public figure, should do the same for her (Federal Election Commission) violation," he said.

A spokeswoman for Clinton could not immediately be reached for comment.

Clinton has not been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the Aug. 12, 2000, fund-raising concert starring Cher and Diana Ross and billed as honoring her husband.

Prosecutors estimated the fund-raiser cost more than $1.2 million, paid for with more than $1.1 million of "in-kind" contributions from Paul. But Rosen purportedly told federal election officials in-kind contributions totaled $400,000.

---

The following paragraph is in error I think. It was Peter Paul that was in Brazil and extradited if I remember correctly....

Rosen pleaded not guilty in January to four counts of filing false FEC reports. He was extradited from Brazil in 2003, where prosecutors said he had fled, and was in federal custody until January after spending 43 months in prisons in the two countries.

[ravingnutter]

Thanks...I'll add this one to my file. And yes, you are correct on that para...it was Peter Paul that was imprisoned in Brazil. I am just amazed he made it out of there alive.