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“People who have more money should be free to buy more cars, more homes, more vacations, and more gizmos than the rest of us. They should not be able to buy more democracy." -Bill Moyers |
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For Immediate Release: March 31,
2006 Doolittle Donor Tony Rudy Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges Doolittle the Largest Recipient of Rudy's Campaign Contributions Campaign watchdog TheRestofUs.org calls on California Congressman John Doolittle to give to charity the $11,250 in campaign contributions Doolittle received from former lobbyist Tony Rudy, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges in federal court today. "Tony Rudy adopted wholesale the m.o. of lobbyist Jack Abramoff - spread the campaign cash around to key members of Congress so that they help your lobbying clients," said Ned Wigglesworth, analyst for TheRestofUs.org. "As the recipient of the most campaign cash from Rudy, Congressman Doolittle was clearly in Rudy's sights as part of his scheme to buy influence. Rep. Doolittle should give that money to charity in order to rid his campaign coffers of the remnants of Mr. Rudy's corruption." Tony Rudy is a one-time aide to Rep. Tom DeLay who went to work for Jack Abramoff after leaving DeLay, before ending up at Alexander Strategy Group (ASG), a lobbying group started by Ed Buckham. Doolittle's wife Julie was hired by Buckham to do accounting work for a nonprofit group Buckham set up. ASG was also hired as a lobbyist by Brent Wilkes, one of the defense contractors which Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to being bribed by. While lobbyists for Wilkes, Ed Buckham and his wife and Tony Rudy and his wife contributed $25,000 to Doolittle. The contributions paid off: Doolittle earmarked $37 million in federal funding over three years for Wilkes company PerfectWave Technologies. As her husband's fundraiser, Julie Doolittle made a 15% commission off all the contributions from Wilkes, the Rudys, and the Buckhams. While Rudy contributed nearly $60,000 to federal candidates and PACs since 2001, his largest recipient far and away was Rep. Doolittle, who received $11,125 from Rudy. "Rep. Doolittle owes it to his constituents to act to the highest standards of ethics and accountability," said Derek Cressman, director of TheRestofUs.org. "If he does not give up this corrupt money, he will fall quite short of that goal."
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| Tony Rudy's Paean to former FEC Chairman Brad Smith | ||||
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