Perdue, Reed Sucked into Abramoff Ethics Scandal
Perdue’s Chief D.C. Lobbyist on “Team Abramoff”
(Atlanta) Gov. Sonny Perdue and Ralph Reed are dragging Georgia into the scandal currently engulfing Washington – the culture of corruption surrounding Jack Abramoff. According to The Washington Post, Gov. Perdue’s federal lobbyist Padgett Wilson was one of the “individuals [who] lobbied for tribal clients of Jack Abramoff and, along with some of their spouses, contributed money to politicians.” After negative press attention, Republican Congressman Jack Kingston recently donated to charity $16,000 given to him by Wilson’s tribal clients at the time Wilson worked with Abramoff. [“Who is Team Abramoff?” Washington Post, 12/12/2005; Dickson, “Kingston tossing Abramoff monies,” Georgia Times-Union, 1/10/2006]
Gov. Perdue serves as Vice Chair of the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA), which took in $500,000 in October 2002 from a PR-firm owned by Abramoff business partner Michael Scanlon. The RGA has said that they will not rid itself of half of the money until 2007. That means $250,000 in dirty Abramoff-Scanlon funds will be available for Gov. Perdue’s reelection this year.
Reed’s ties to Abramoff are already well documented – friends for over 20 years, a business relationship worth millions in funds, including gambling proceeds, for Reed, and a donation to Reed’s campaign for Chair of the Georgia GOP in 2001.
What would Gov. Perdue say to the following questions?
- At the time of Wilson’s hiring in February 2005, there were ongoing Senate and Justice Department investigations of Abramoff and his firm’s activities representing tribal clients. Before Wilson was hired, did Gov. Perdue ask about Wilson’s role, if any, in the scandal? If so, what did Wilson say? Presumably a decision was made that the scandal surrounding Wilson’s former colleague does not disqualify Wilson from taxpayer-funded employment. What factors were considered in that decision?
- Since the RGA isn’t returning $250,000 in funds from Scanlon’s firm until 2007, is Scanlon providing a zero-interest loan of $250,000 to the RGA for gubernatorial elections in 2006? Will Perdue accept financial assistance from the RGA while these funds are in its bank account?
- Ralph Reed, the man widely credited with orchestrating Gov. Perdue’s election in 2002, may well be the Governor’s running mate. What does the Governor think about Reed and his involvement in the Abramoff scandal? Is he indifferent to Reed’s candidacy, even with the cloud that surrounds him now?
Gov. Perdue’s involvement in this national scandal should come as no major surprise given his history of ethics problems. Gov. Perdue was the first governor in Georgia history to be found guilty of violating state ethics laws, forced to pay multiple civil fines totaling $1,900 from personal funds and to repay more than $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Gov. Perdue’s staff was caught lying about Gov. Perdue’s efforts to slip a provision into the ethics legislation in 2005 that would have helped him escape punishment for the violation for which he was convicted. He arrogantly believes that the rules he espouses apply only to others, as evidenced by his frequent violations of his own lobbyist gift ban. And just recently, Gov. Perdue orchestrated the firing of Georgia’s ethics watchdog, Teddy Lee. [Pettys, “Perdue fined, ordered to repay $18,000 for campaign violations,” Associated Press, 6/17/2005; Baxter and Galloway, “Political Insider: The Case of the Vanishing Clause: Ignorance might not have been the whole story,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/4/2005; Salzer, "Perdue took gifts from lobbyists," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/1/2005; “Booted for barking; Ethics watchdog Lee treated Dems and Republicans alike, which was more than Gov. Perdue could bear,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/6/2006]
“Gov. Perdue and Ralph Reed rode claims of cleaning up Georgia government to victory in 2002,” said Bobby Kahn, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Sadly, we now learn that they were just riding a Trojan Horse to power that let them bring the greed, corruption, hypocrisy and dishonesty of Washington here to the Gold Dome,” he continued.
(Atlanta) Gov. Sonny Perdue and Ralph Reed are dragging Georgia into the scandal currently engulfing Washington – the culture of corruption surrounding Jack Abramoff. According to The Washington Post, Gov. Perdue’s federal lobbyist Padgett Wilson was one of the “individuals [who] lobbied for tribal clients of Jack Abramoff and, along with some of their spouses, contributed money to politicians.” After negative press attention, Republican Congressman Jack Kingston recently donated to charity $16,000 given to him by Wilson’s tribal clients at the time Wilson worked with Abramoff. [“Who is Team Abramoff?” Washington Post, 12/12/2005; Dickson, “Kingston tossing Abramoff monies,” Georgia Times-Union, 1/10/2006]
Gov. Perdue serves as Vice Chair of the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA), which took in $500,000 in October 2002 from a PR-firm owned by Abramoff business partner Michael Scanlon. The RGA has said that they will not rid itself of half of the money until 2007. That means $250,000 in dirty Abramoff-Scanlon funds will be available for Gov. Perdue’s reelection this year.
Reed’s ties to Abramoff are already well documented – friends for over 20 years, a business relationship worth millions in funds, including gambling proceeds, for Reed, and a donation to Reed’s campaign for Chair of the Georgia GOP in 2001.
What would Gov. Perdue say to the following questions?
- At the time of Wilson’s hiring in February 2005, there were ongoing Senate and Justice Department investigations of Abramoff and his firm’s activities representing tribal clients. Before Wilson was hired, did Gov. Perdue ask about Wilson’s role, if any, in the scandal? If so, what did Wilson say? Presumably a decision was made that the scandal surrounding Wilson’s former colleague does not disqualify Wilson from taxpayer-funded employment. What factors were considered in that decision?
- Since the RGA isn’t returning $250,000 in funds from Scanlon’s firm until 2007, is Scanlon providing a zero-interest loan of $250,000 to the RGA for gubernatorial elections in 2006? Will Perdue accept financial assistance from the RGA while these funds are in its bank account?
- Ralph Reed, the man widely credited with orchestrating Gov. Perdue’s election in 2002, may well be the Governor’s running mate. What does the Governor think about Reed and his involvement in the Abramoff scandal? Is he indifferent to Reed’s candidacy, even with the cloud that surrounds him now?
Gov. Perdue’s involvement in this national scandal should come as no major surprise given his history of ethics problems. Gov. Perdue was the first governor in Georgia history to be found guilty of violating state ethics laws, forced to pay multiple civil fines totaling $1,900 from personal funds and to repay more than $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Gov. Perdue’s staff was caught lying about Gov. Perdue’s efforts to slip a provision into the ethics legislation in 2005 that would have helped him escape punishment for the violation for which he was convicted. He arrogantly believes that the rules he espouses apply only to others, as evidenced by his frequent violations of his own lobbyist gift ban. And just recently, Gov. Perdue orchestrated the firing of Georgia’s ethics watchdog, Teddy Lee. [Pettys, “Perdue fined, ordered to repay $18,000 for campaign violations,” Associated Press, 6/17/2005; Baxter and Galloway, “Political Insider: The Case of the Vanishing Clause: Ignorance might not have been the whole story,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/4/2005; Salzer, "Perdue took gifts from lobbyists," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/1/2005; “Booted for barking; Ethics watchdog Lee treated Dems and Republicans alike, which was more than Gov. Perdue could bear,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/6/2006]
“Gov. Perdue and Ralph Reed rode claims of cleaning up Georgia government to victory in 2002,” said Bobby Kahn, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Sadly, we now learn that they were just riding a Trojan Horse to power that let them bring the greed, corruption, hypocrisy and dishonesty of Washington here to the Gold Dome,” he continued.
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