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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2008 > August > 13 > Entry
McCain fundraiser with Reed under fire from watchdogs and DNC
John McCain always maintained he was suckered into the meetings in the 1980’s in which Charles Keating tried to stop an investigation of his savings and loan. Keating eventually went to jail and McCain was tarred as one of the “Keating Five,” the senators who received more than $1 million in campaign donations and political favors from the S&L executive before his conviction.
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, can’t use that excuse about his upcoming fundraiser with former Jack Abramoff associate Ralph Reed, however. He conducted the Senate investigation that explored the ties between Abramoff and Reed. And ethics watchdogs are warning him to call off the fundraiser with Reed.
Reed plans to host a fundraiser Monday for McCain, and the event is also drawing fire from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.
“John McCain’s decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption shows how far he is willing to go to win,” Dean said Wednesday. “Despite all of his rhetoric about reform, McCain’s willingness to accept tainted money raised by tainted Abramoff cronies like Ralph Reed shows that McCain simply cannot be trusted to bring change to Washington politics.”
Abramoff pleaded guilty in 2006 to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charge after federal investigation unearthed an extensive effort to buy influence with Republican lawmakers by showering them with gifts and campaign contributions.
Emails made public during the investigation revealed that Reed had received at least $4.2 million from Abramoff to help his clients.
On the campaign trail, McCain has bragged about holding the hearings that investigated Abramoff. But in the hearings, McCain never called Reed to testify.
However, an independent ethics watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has posted online the 66 pages of correspondence between Reed and Abramoff that McCain’s committee obtained. And CREW has suggested that McCain review those documents before proceeding with the fundraiser with Reed.
The documents can be viewed at www.governmentdocs.org.
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