SECOND SHOE DROPS WNBC reports AG letter alleges Tori tried getting Clinton pardon for jailed donor

Questions have ....been raised about a 1992 "sweetheart deal" stock purchase in which Torricelli obtained an unsecured loan in order to buy shares in a hugely profitable offering - not open to the general public - in a local savings-and-loan association headed by a longtime friend.

In August 2002, the former president of a defunct Hackensack brokerage firm was sentenced to nine months in prison Monday for making illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Robert G. Torricelli and former President Bill Clinton, as well as manipulating the prices of stocks.

Lawrence Penna, 58, of Edgewater pleaded guilty in October 1999 to illegally funneling $20,000 to Torricelli's 1996 campaign and up to $12,000 to Clinton's reelection campaign by reimbursing "straw donors" after personally contributing the maximum.

Federal election laws limit individuals to donating no more than $1,000 per election, and prohibit one donor from reimbursing another. Torricelli spokeswoman Debra DeShong said the senator was not aware of Penna's illegal activities. The Senate's Ethics Committee reviewed the investigation's findings. Although it "severely admonished" Torricelli for taking gifts from a contributor without disclosing them, its final letter made no mention of illegal donations that have led to the convictions of seven other Torricelli contributors. Penna also admitted to lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission when it investigated stock trades by his firm, Investors Associates Inc.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska ordered Penna to serve nine months even though a presentencing report recommended six months and Penna's lawyers argued for no jail time because he has heart disease and a sick daughter who relies on him for care.

Penna also admitted that he and two colleagues from Investors Associates conspired to make $36 million in illegal profits by manipulating five initial public stock offerings between 1995 and 1997.

In addition to ordering him to surrender to authorities no later than Oct. 4, Preska said Penna will have to reimburse the full $36 million. Once he is released from prison, he will have to pay no less than 10 percent of his gross pay monthly as restitution.

Defense lawyer Ronald Fischetti, who represents Penna, said in court his client cooperated with federal investigators probing stock trading and Torricelli donations.

Through Investors Associates, Penna also illegally coordinated the prices of five IPOs, including one for Compare Generiks Inc., a Long Island drug distributor.

Torricelli's blind trust made a one-day profit of more than $50,000 investing in Compare Generiks, even though other investors lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on the stock.

In an interview in 1999, the trust's executor, Matthew Gohd of Las Vegas-based Whale Securities, dismissed any connection between campaign contributions and stock profit.

He said he had no idea Investors Associates had inflated the price of the stock. If Torricelli had directed Gohd to buy the stock, it would have violated the guidelines for his blind trust.

But Bruno said Penna dealt with Gohd on the transaction and that Torricelli was not involved. "As far as Larry knows, the senator didn't know anything about it," Bruno said. "He would have no reason to protect [Torricelli] at this point."

I'm hoping that this is just another wheel falling off of the Clinton/Democrat machine.

I'm hoping to see a grass-roots "Repudiate Democrats" theme emerge in November because of the latest Democrat rantings.

Since we're coming down to the final 30 days of the campaign, I'd like to see a national theme emerge that reinforces the following:

The Democrats tried to run and hide from the American people. They tried to defer a debate on Iraq until after the elections so they don't have to be accountable for their positions.
The Democrats are undermining the President. They asked him to prove his case in Congress, and when he did they stalled and made even more demands.
The Democrats asked the President to go to the UN to make his case, and he did. Afterwards, they went to Baghdad and called the President a liar and the murderous Hussein believable.
The Democrats are subverting the election process. They want to remove a losing candidate in New Jersey but retain a dead candidate in Hawaii.
The Democrats are perverting the judicial process. They are rejecting well-qualified (according to the ABA) nominees for the federal bench and increasing vacancies in the courts, while their picks make ludicrous rulings like calling the Pledge of Allegience unconstitutional and tamper with elections in New Jersey, Hawaii and Florida.
They demand Senate hearings on Enron and Global Crossing, but then stall them when Clinton and McAuliffe emerge as the villians.

The Democrats could have cleaned their own house and solved their problems had they admitted mistakes, but they chose to take the risk of defending flawed and/or guilty people. If the Democrats had removed Bill Clinton, Al Gore would be president now. Had the Democrats removed Robert Torricelli, they would be winning in New Jersey now. If the Democrats won't fix their own problems, then the American people will have to do it for them.

It's time for America to repudiate Democrats and vote Republican for law and order. Take back our electoral process. Take back Congress. Put an end to the contempt that the Democrats have for the rule of law and the people of the United States.

-PJ

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