Democrats file complaint over Schwarzenegger deal

[CountAllVotes]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Democrats filed a complaint on Tuesday against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state's political watchdog, alleging ethics violations related to his financial links to two fitness magazines.

Art Torres, California Democratic chairman, even raised the possibility the growing dispute could result in jail time. (ed. )

The Republican Schwarzenegger stepped down as executive editor of "Muscle & Fitness" and "Flex" magazines on Friday, foregoing a contract the company said was worth more than $13 million over five years.

Reuters first reported financial details of the deal with American Media Operations last Wednesday.

In the complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), Torres said the payment violated conflict of interest rules. In an interview, he raised the possibility the investigation could lead to a criminal conviction.

Got so excited, I forgot to post the link!

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=pol...

[sendero]

1. Link not working..

.... says "article not available". I don't know if there is an error in the link, or if they moved it or took it down

[CountAllVotes]

2. I just tried it

and it worked.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=pol...

try again? ...

[sendero]

3. Yes...

... it worked fine that time. Some glitch on the site - because it did get to the Reuters site before, just not the article

[sendero]

4. Nice article...

... looks like Ahnold has gotten himself into a sticky situation.

You can have enemies, or make mistakes - but not both

[CountAllVotes]

5. I like the "jail time" part

thats right - send this crook off to jail where he belongs with all of the other criminals!

Glad you go the link to work!

[onehandle]

6. Vat uh bunch ov girly men. Thees is not so fontastic. nt

[rocktivity]

7. All together now--BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Democrats say the...contract constituted a conflict of interest because the governor vetoed a bill last year that would have regulated nutritional supplements manufactured by the main advertisers in the muscle magazines.

"There is no conflict of interest,"...(a) Schwarzenegger spokeswoman ...said. "Under the Political Reform Act the governor has a financial interest in American Media but does not, by virtue of his contract, have an interest in those who advertise in their magazines."

But American Media has an interest in "those who advertise in their magazines," duh! And the more ad revenues they get, the more Arnold gets, since his salary was to be a percentage of the ad revenues.

But here's the real problem--Arnold signed this deal two days before his inaguration. He's supposed to living on his governor's salary only. His signing such a deal, especially after his veto of the dietary supplement regulation law, is arrogrant at best and unethical at worst. An investigation of the matter is very much in order, and must not be dismissed as a partisan hissy fit.

On edit: Hmmm, the link has disappeared again--I wonder if Arnie's camp is complaining. Maybe not--the story is still at ABC News.com, and here's a different one at SF Gate, which has this juicy tidbit:

Schwarzenegger reached a memorandum of understanding with Weider Publications two days before taking the oath of office in October 2003. The contract took effect the following January and was announced publicly in March 2004. It made Schwarzenegger executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines and required him to write a fitness column.

rocknation

[CountAllVotes]

8. you're right! gone it is!

Must be the Boobengrabber/Gropenfuhrer at work!

[goclark]

10. Yes! Keep it coming Democrats in my homestate!!

We have got to nail him on this terrible issue!

I thought he bragged about being SO RICH he didn't need more money from anybody.

[gratuitous]

9. I love that Torres mentioned jail time

That's the sort of comment that grabs the media's attention and gets it focused on the issue. It also paves the way for the obvious question, "Governor, are you worried that you might go to jail for this?" Let Ah-nuld grope for words instead of women for a change.

[CountAllVotes]

11. link is working again ! :) :) :)

<< Let Ah-nuld grope for words instead of women for a change. >>


lol!!!

The link IS working AGAIN!

[loftycity]

12. Hope CA can get this crude thing out of the way and

make him into "yesterday's news" and "water under the bridge."
He is a Fascist.