Date: February 14, 2012
URL: http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012302140050
Elected officials get rid of Whittemore contributions
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U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and former U.S. Rep. Dina Titus have joined two
other Nevada politicians in getting rid of campaign contributions
received from embattled lobbyist Harvey Whittemore. Heller spokesman
Stewart Bybee said Tuesday that they will give about $27,600
contributed by Whittemore or his family to a yet-to-be-determined
charity. Those contributions were since 2008, when Heller, R-Nev.,
represented Congressional District 2 in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Heller is running against U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley,
D-Las Vegas, for the U.S. Senate seat vacated with the resignation of
U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Both Berkley and U.S. Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., gave up their Whittemore contributions last
week following news of an FBI investigation into Whittemore campaign
activities.
Jay Gertsema, Titus' campaign manager in her bid for the Nevada U.S.
House District 1 seat in Las Vegas, also said Tuesday that they plan
to dispose of any campaign contributions received from Whittemore.
Titus, a Democrat from Las Vegas received about $34,700 from
Whittemore and his family since 2008, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics. 'The campaign will be disposing of those funds,'
Gertsema said. 'We're working with our attorney and compliance officer
to determine the proper way of disposing of the contributions.'
Whittemore declined Tuesday to comment on the lawmakers' decisions
about the contributions. Whittemore is involved in a high-profile,
high-stakes legal battle with Tom and Albert Seeno Jr., his former
partners at the Wingfield Nevada Group. Last week, the FBI served
subpoenas to dozens of Whittemore associates or former employees in an
investigation into his campaign-contribution activities. The FBI is
investigating whether Whittemore funneled campaign contributions
through his employees or associates to candidates.
The Nevada Democratic Party said Tuesday that it will keep donations
made by Whittemore and his family members. The party received at least
$32,600 in contributions from them. 'It appears that the Nevada State
Democratic Party has not received any contributions in violation of
campaign finance laws,' spokesman Zach Hudson said an email.
'Therefore, there is no reason to dispose of them at this time.'
Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval also was checking Tuesday into
whether he received any contributions during his campaign in 2010.
'We're checking and we believe that I did not get any contributions
from him during my gubernatorial campaign,' Sandoval, a first-term
governor elected in 2010, said in a statement. Sandoval said his
campaign staff would also look for contributions from Whittemore to
Sandoval's successful 2002 state attorney general campaign.
A spokeswoman said last week that Reid would give all Whittemore
donations to charity. And Berkley's campaign would 'be disposing of
contributions from Mr. Whittemore and his family,' a spokesman wrote
in an email. Whittemore and his family contributed about $268,350 to
Nevada candidates since 2008, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics.
Reid received about $51,000 from Whittemore and his family and another
$92,400 from the Wingfield Nevada Group. Berkley received about
$11,900 from Whittemore and Heller took in $27,600, according to the
center.
Campaign contributions
Campaign contributions made by Whittemore family members in 2008, 2012
and 2012:
* U.S Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D): $51,000
* Former U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D): $34,700
* U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R): $27,600
* U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley (D): $11,900
* Former U.S. Rep. Jon Porter (R): $9,200
Source: OpenSecrets.org
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(c) 2012 Reno Gazette Journal
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Source: Reno Gazette Journal
Date: February 14, 2012
URL: http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012302140074
Whittemore connections give Reid $117,000 in one day
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Harvey Whittemore's family and workers at his businesses across Nevada
each gave $2,300 contributions to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, D-Nev., on a single day in 2007 - for a grand one-day total of
$117,300, according to a Reno Gazette-Journal analysis of campaign
finance records. That's an unusually high amount of money coming from
23 people who list addresses that represent all parts of the state
from Las Vegas to Reno, said Viveca Novak, a spokeswoman for the
Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics. 'That amount of
money can sometimes be raised at a fund-raising event,' Novak said.
'But if this hasn't been orchestrated by someone, it's a remarkable
coincidence.'
On March 31, 2007, the workers, and some spouses, joined the
Whittemore family in making multiple donations of $2,300 to Reid,
according to a database of campaign donations on OpenSecrets.org. The
employees worked at Wingfield Nevada Group and the Coyote Springs
company in Las Vegas, and at Wingfield Realty and the Resort at Red
Hawk in Sparks. Efforts to reach Reid's office were unsuccessful late
Tuesday.
Whittemore declined to comment on the donations, saying he has been
instructed by his lawyer against speaking about these issues. About
six workers who made contributions were contacted by the
Gazette-Journal, but they also declined to comment.
A lobbyist, Whittemore is involved in a high-profile, high-stakes
legal battle with Tom and Albert Seeno Jr., his former partners at the
Wingfield Nevada Group. FBI agents issued subpoenas last week to an
undisclosed list of Whittemore associates as part of a statewide
investigation into his campaign-contribution activities. Funneling
funds through employees could lead to felony charges that sometimes
carry sizable prison sentences, according to campaign finance experts.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney's office and FBI offices in Las Vegas
declined to comment on the Whittemore accusations, but Nevada U.S.
Attorney Daniel Bogden said such charges are rare here. We don't
believe we have previously charged anyone in the District of Nevada
with such an offense,' Bogden said.
Under federal law, using a conduit to make contributions totaling
$10,000 in a calendar year carries a two-year maximum prison term. And
conduit contributions of more than $25,000 in a calendar year carries
a five-year maximum sentence and a $250,000 fine.
A lobbyist with a Virginia firm, Paul Magliocchetti, was sentenced
last year to 27 months in prison for using family, friends and
employees at his firm to make unlawful contributions between 2003 and
2008 to members of Congress, according to the U.S. Attorney's office
for the Eastern District of Virginia. And prominent Los Angeles lawyer
Pierce O'Donnell pleaded guilty last year to two counts of making
illegal campaign contributions by reimbursing 10 people who each made
$2,000 contributions to the presidential campaign, according to Los
Angeles division Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Mitchell. In a plea
deal with prosecutors, he agreed to serve a six-month sentence.
Nevada Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Marsh, who heads the criminal
and elections division in Las Vegas, said he could not comment on FBI
investigation into Whittemore. But he said it was important for the
public to understand campaign finance laws. Campaign finance
violations can be prosecuted several ways, he said. The Federal
Elections Commission is the regulatory body overseeing campaign
finance law and can investigate complaints and issue civil fines, he
said. But sometimes potential violations are handled through the U.S.
Department of Justice's public integrity section, he said. 'These
cases do come up,' he said. 'When they do, we investigate them like
any other criminal investigation.'
Federal law prohibits someone from making a campaign contribution in
the name of another person. It also prohibits someone from letting his
or her name be used by another to make a contribution. 'The campaign
conduit law applies both to the person who makes the contribution and
to the person whose name is used,' Marsh said. 'But that person has to
know what's going on - you have to know it's a violation. It has to be
a willful violation of the law.'
Larry Noble, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who specializes in
campaign finance, ethics and lobbying issues, said using conduits for
contributions is 'a very serious violation, and the Department of
Justice will prosecute' both the contributor and the conduit. 'If you
allow your name to be used, there are levels of culpability,' he said.
'It depends on the case. Cooperating helps you.'
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(c) 2012 Reno Gazette Journal
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