Thursday, January 5, 2006
RODHAM WATCH
FEC fines
Hillary
fund-raising group
Senator denies
responsibility
but civil suit under way
Posted: January 5, 2006
5:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Peter Paul and Sen.
Hillary Clinton (photo: hillcap.org) |
A
committee that helped fund Sen. Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign has
been fined for filing three false reports to the Federal Elections
Commission regarding a Hollywood gala that feted her husband, former
President Bill Clinton.
In a "Conciliation Agreement" with the FEC, New York 2000 and its
treasurer Andrew Grossman agreed to pay a civil fine of $35,000 and amend
false reports to reflect failure to report a $721,000 donation by Los
Angeles millionaire lawyer and businessman Peter Franklin Paul.
As WorldNetDaily
reported, Paul has filed a civil suit against the Clintons in which he
claims the New York senator orchestrated the largest campaign-finance
fraud ever by an American political campaign.
California courts have denied the Clintons' motions to dismiss, and the
case is about to enter the discovery phase.
The civil suit, he says, is the only way to compel testimony from Sen.
Clinton.
Paul argues Sen. Clinton knew about the false reports but refused to
correct the record, allowing Grossman to file a third false report in
response to an inquiry by the FEC.
Earlier this year, Sen. Clinton's former finance director, David Rosen,
was acquitted of criminal charges related to the reports, but the trial
established that Paul contributed more than $1.2 million of his personal
funds to Clinton's campaign in an attempt to persuade President Clinton to
become a spokesman for Paul's businesses after leaving office.
Paul says he was notified by the FEC on Dec. 29 that it had concluded
its four-and-a-half-year investigation into his complaint that Sen.
Clinton had filed false reports and tried to hide his identity as her
largest contributor.
The FEC found there was "probable cause" to believe New York Senate
2000 and Andrew Grossman, in his official capacity as treasurer, violated
the federal election code.
New York Senate 2000 was a joint committee established by Sen.
Clinton's campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the
New York Democratic Party to fund events for which donations in excess of
the $2,000-per-person limit could be made.
Marc Elias, attorney for the joint committee, said in a statement the
agreement "makes clear that there was no violation of federal election law
by the Hillary Rodham Clinton for Senate Committee in connection with the
2000 Hollywood fund-raiser.
But Paul insists Sen. Clinton is criminally liable based on Title 18 of
the U.S. code, for aiding and abetting, conspiring, colluding with
Grossman's filing of materially false statements to the FEC and the IRS
and then obstructing the federal investigation that led to the indictment
and prosecution of Rosen.
He expects the discovery phase of his civil suit to reveal Sen.
Clinton's guilt.
"The testimony under oath by the multitude of witnesses to Hillary's
misconduct will challenge Hillary and Bill to tell the truth in their own
depositions or face the prospect of new perjury charges even more serious
than those that emanated from Paula Jones' deposition of Bill," Paul said
in a post on his weblog.
Paul, supported by the public-interest law firm, U.S. Justice Foundation, also alleges Bill
Clinton reneged on a $17 million deal to work for his Internet companies.
USJF has established a website for
Paul's case.
The civil suit's charges arise from the largest fund-raising event
during Sen. Clinton's campaign an Aug. 12, 2000, Hollywood Gala Salute
to President Clinton, which featured performances by Cher, Diana Ross,
Toni Braxton, Patti LaBelle, Melissa Etheridge, Sugar Ray and Michael
Bolton.
Paul says the event cost close to $2 million. The government
acknowledges it cost more than $1.2 million to host and raised $1 million
in "hard money" contributions.
In addition, he claims, the fair-market value of the entertainment he
provided amounted to another $1 million in contributions.
But the campaign reported $366,000. If the full amount had been
reported, the campaign, according to the law, would have been forced to
turn over $800,000 in badly needed hard money during the final weeks of
the campaign, Paul says.
He charges Sen. Clinton not only knew of the actions taken by her
finance director, she directed those actions and others in violation of
federal campaign statutes and regulations.
Related offers:
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2000 fund-raiser scam bite Hillary?
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Previous stories:
Fraud
lawsuit targets Hillary
Did
Bill Clinton know of gala's financial fraud?
Hillary's
ex-staffer pleads not guilty
How
Hillary's money man was nailed for L.A. gala
Hillary's
finance chief indicted for L.A. gala
Will
2000 fund-raiser scam bite Hillary?
