so murky, are you calling a loyal dem, and clinton lawyer, the man behind the whole investigation a liar? are you ? just cannot except the truth can ya? retard
On Oct 7, 6:30 am, "[ a patriotic Republican ]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Is John McCain a Crook?http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/ > The controversial George W. Bush-sponsored poll in South Carolina > mentioned John McCain's role in the so-called Keating Five scandal, > and McCain says his involvement in the scandal "will probably be on my > tombstone." What exactly did McCain do? > > In early 1987, at the beginning of his first Senate term, McCain > attended two meetings with federal banking regulators to discuss an > investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan, an Irvine, Calif., thrift > owned by Arizona developer Charles Keating. Federal auditors were > investigating Keating's banking practices, and Keating, fearful that > the government would seize his S&L, sought intervention from a number > of U.S. senators. > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > At Keating's behest, four senators--McCain and Democrats Dennis > DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of California, and John Glenn of > Ohio--met with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, > on April 2. Those four senators and Sen. Don Riegle, D-Mich., attended > a second meeting at Keating's behest on April 9 with bank regulators > in San Francisco. > > Regulators did not seize Lincoln Savings and Loan until two years > later. The Lincoln bailout cost taxpayers $2.6 billion, making it the > biggest of the S&L scandals. In addition, 17,000 Lincoln investors > lost $190 million. > > In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee launched an > investigation into the meetings between the senators and the > regulators. McCain, Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, and Riegle became > known as the Keating Five. > > (Keating himself was convicted in January 1993 of 73 counts of wire > and bankruptcy fraud and served more than four years in prison before > his conviction was overturned. Last year, he pleaded guilty to four > counts of fraud and was sentenced to time served.) > > McCain defended his attendance at the meetings by saying Keating was a > constituent and that Keating's development company, American > Continental Corporation, was a major Arizona employer. McCain said he > wanted to know only whether Keating was being treated fairly and that > he had not tried to influence the regulators. At the second meeting, > McCain told the regulators, "I wouldn't want any special favors for > them," and "I don't want any part of our conversation to be improper." > > But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain--he was a longtime > friend and associate. McCain met Keating in 1981 at a Navy League > dinner in Arizona where McCain was the speaker. Keating was a former > naval aviator himself, and the two men became friends. Keating raised > money for McCain's two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and > for McCain's 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received > $112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees--the most > received by any of the Keating Five. (Keating raised a total of > $300,000 for the five senators.) > > After McCain's election to the House in 1982, he and his family made > at least nine trips at Keating's expense, three of which were to > Keating's Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he > was required to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989. At > that point, he paid Keating $13,433 for the flights. > > And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators, > McCain's wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating > strip mall. > > The Senate Ethics Committee probe of the Keating Five began in > November 1990, and committee Special Counsel Robert Bennett > recommended that McCain and Glenn be dropped from the investigation. > They were not. McCain believes Democrats on the committee blocked > Bennett's recommendation because he was the lone Keating Five > Republican. > > In February 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee found McCain and Glenn > to be the least blameworthy of the five senators. (McCain and Glenn > attended the meetings but did nothing else to influence the > regulators.) McCain was guilty of nothing more than "poor judgment," > the committee said, and declared his actions were not "improper nor > attended with gross negligence." McCain considered the committee's > judgment to be "full exoneration," and he contributed $112,000 (the > amount raised for him by Keating) to the U.S. Treasury. > > Next question? > > On Oct 6, 7:38 pm, mark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > PHOENIX -- The McCain campaign pushed back hard against the new Obama > > attack over the Keating Five, arguing that the Arizona senator was > > treated unfairly by the Senate ethics investigation and asserting that > > John McCain had been much more open about his relationship with > > disgraced thrift executive Charles Keating than Obama has been about > > his connection with one-time radical William Ayers. > > > In a conference call with reporters this afternoon, John Dowd, the > > Washington lawyer who represented McCain during the Senate > > investigation, called the inquiry a "classic political smear job" by > > the Democrats running the Senate at the time, saying that they only > > included McCain to make sure that a Republican was among the targets. > > "John had not done anything wrong," Dowd said. > > > Dowd's point of view was amplified by Robert Bennett, the Washington > > lawyer and Democrat who served as special counsel to the Senate Ethics > > Committee during the Keating Five investigation, which focused on > > whether McCain and other senators exercised improper political > > influence over the regulation of Keating's failed Lincoln Savings & > > Loan. > > > In an interview, Bennett said McCain should never have been dragged > > into the ethics case to begin with. He said that after his own lengthy > > investigation, he came to the conclusion that the case against McCain > > and former Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) "should have been dropped" because > > the evidence suggested that once McCain understood that the Justice > > Department was investigating Keating, he backed off any involvement. > > Dowd noted that McCain threw Keating,once a strong supporter, out of > > his office after Keating pressed him to intervene in his case. > > > Bennett said former Sen. Howell Hefflin (D-Ala.) insisted that the two > > be included in the formal public inquiry because otherwise there would > > have been a month of public hearings "with no Republicans in the > > dock." The other members of the Keating Five were Democrats. > > > "It was clear that McCain should not have been at the table nor should > > Glenn," Bennett said. "I felt it was unfair for McCain to be included > > as part of the Keating Five." > > >http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/06/mccain_lawyers_... --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
