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Hillary's sleazy cash-grasping machine
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hillarynews
Joined: 24 Jan 2007
Posts: 2255
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 Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:00 am Post subject: Hillary's sleazy cash-grasping machine |
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 Hillary's sleazy cash-grasping machine
By Charles BirdThe questions about the Hillary campaign's questionable fundraising practices aren't just being raised by the GOP. Carl Hiaasen won't be mistaken for a card-carrying Republican, and he talks about Hillary's financial ties with lawyers of dubious virtue:
Category: Commentary
By Charles BirdThe questions about the Hillary campaign's questionable fundraising practices aren't just being raised by the GOP. Carl Hiaasen won't be mistaken for a card-carrying Republican, and he talks about Hillary's financial ties with lawyers of dubious virtue: Now comes the revelation that Mrs. Clinton and several other Democrats, including presidential candidates John Edwards and Joe Biden, accepted contributions from trial lawyers implicated in a sleazy kickback scheme.The facts, as reported in The New York Times, make it difficult to believe that taking money from these characters was an innocent oversight. The scandal was already in full bloom, and well publicized, when the candidates banked the donations.At the center of the case is the New York law firm of Milberg Weiss, which made billions in legal fees by initiating class-action suits against large, publicly traded corporations.The firm's approach was aggressive and effective. When a company's stock dropped significantly, Milberg Weiss would quickly sue, having recruited a shareholder as a plaintiff.Typically, the lawsuit accused executives of misleading or defrauding investors. More often than not, the company would settle the case for big bucks in order to avoid a trial.Milberg Weiss soon became the leading class-action firm in the country, though its activities drew the scrutiny of federal investigators. In May 2006, the firm was indicted for fraud and bribery.Prosecutors called it a "racketeering enterprise," and alleged that Milberg Weiss paid people kickbacks to act as plaintiffs in 250 cases. The law firm has denied all charges, but at least three former partners have pleaded guilty to conspiracy.One of the lavishly bribed was Howard J. Vogel, 61, of Aventura. Prosecutors say he got $2.5 million under the table for acting as lead plaintiff in several Milberg Weiss class-action suits. Vogel and former Milberg partner Steven G. Schulman have pleaded guilty.So has ex-Milberg partner William S. Lerach, a former fundraiser for Edwards, who is himself a trial lawyer. Lerach is also a buddy of Bill Clinton dating back to his White House days, and donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton presidential library.The odor of the criminal probe has been hovering around Milberg Weiss for some time, but apparently many top Democrats don't mind the stink. Twenty-six candidates, including Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, have accepted campaign checks from donors connected to Milberg Weiss since the 2006 indictments.Edwards took $4,600 from Lerach this year. Biden collected $2,700. Hillary Clinton grabbed $3,000 from Lerach, and a total of $4,600 from two other former Milberg Weiss lawyers.She has also accepted $4,600 from the firm's co-founder, Melvyn I. Weiss, who stands charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Surprisingly, a Clinton spokesman told The Times last week that Clinton doesn't intend to return Weiss' money.Then there are Hillary's connections with Alan Quasha, onetime financial backer of George W. Bush back in the day. Quasha ran Harken Energy, which bailed out Bush's failing oil business, and the man is connected with "Saudi frontmen, a foreign dictator, figures with intelligence ties and a maze of companies and offshore funds." Quasha gave Terry McAuliffe a mystery job at his investment firm (along with McAuliffe's protege), and his business partner is Hasan Nemazee:In 1998, in the midst of the Lewinsky affair, Nemazee collected $60,000 for Bill Clinton's legal defense fund in $10,000 increments from relatives and friends. Clinton subsequently nominated Nemazee as ambassador to Argentina but withdrew the nomination after an article in Forbes raised questions about Nemazee's business dealings in the 1980s and '90s--which noted that the American-born Nemazee magically became "Hispanic" by acquiring Venezuelan citizenship because of a requirement that certain California public pension funds be run by minorities.
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Source: The Hillary Project
Description: reporting the news about Hillary that the media refuses to |
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