Another new day, another crooked Republican

[Ocotillo]

Republican corruption redux

The congressman & the hedge fund
By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY

One day after a New York investment group raised $110,000 for Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis, the House passed a defense spending bill that preserved $160 million for a Navy project critical to the firm. The man who protected the Navy money? Lewis.

Rep. Jerry Lewis says Cerberus' fundraising efforts helped him win the House Appropriations' chair but insists he did nothing improper.
Gerald Herbert, AP

The fundraiser, which took place July 7, 2003, and the subsequent vote illustrate the kind of relationship between congressman and contributor that's under increased scrutiny in the nation's capital.

A fellow California Republican, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, resigned in November after admitting he helped steer Pentagon contracts to two of four businessmen who paid him more than $2.4 million in bribes. Former top GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty last month to using gifts and political donations in a conspiracy to bribe public officials. Both investigations continue.

Nothing is illegal about government contractors giving political money to lawmakers who help them, unless both sides agree to exchange campaign donations for votes.

Lewis, 71, insists he did nothing improper. "I'm darn sensitive to make certain we keep arm's length from certain efforts" by political donors to influence legislation, Lewis said.

Both Lewis and the investment company, Cerberus Capital Management, benefited from the relationship. Eighteen months after the fundraiser and the House vote, Lewis won the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee. He acknowledges that the fundraising efforts of Cerberus "played a very significant role" in winning the post. The ties between Cerberus and Lewis, a 14-term congressman from Redlands, Calif., have not been publicly examined before.

In the opinion of Larry Noble, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, the timing of the fundraiser within days of a favorable vote "looks like influence buying." Noble is a former chief lawyer for the Federal Election Commission.

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[JoeChalupa]

Those Bush bas s!!