Today's Must Read - McCain, Public Land for Developer Friend, $$$$$$$

[L. Coyote]

Today's Must Read
By Paul Kiel - April 22, 2008 - http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/todays_must_read_322.php

You know the story: after surviving the Keating Five scandal, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) vowed to be incorruptible. Sure, he surrounds himself with lobbyists, but that is only to test his vigilance.

The New York Times tests the limits of McCain's vigilance in a piece today about McCain's decades-old ties to a wealthy Arizonan developer named Donald Diamond.

The main thrust is this: on a number of key occasions, McCain played a key role in helping Diamond, a major campaign contributor, make deals that made him millions of dollars. The piece focuses on three deals in particular: two of those involved bills (in 1991 and 1994) co-sponsored by McCain that swapped public land for Diamond's land, and the other involved McCain doing a couple personal favors in order to help Diamond land an incredibly lucrative piece of land owned by the Army. In each of those cases, Diamond was able to secure the assistance of other members of the Arizona delegation, and it's crystal clear from the piece that Diamond knows how to work his lawmakers.

Part of what makes the piece so amusing is that while the McCain camp was obviously keen to minimize McCain's assistance -- pointing out, for example, that McCain refused a number of Diamond's requests -- Diamond doesn't seem to have much patience for pussyfooting. For example:

" Mr. Diamond is close to most of Arizona's Congressional delegation and is candid about his expectations as a fund-raiser. "I want my money back, for Christ's sake. Do you know how many cocktail parties I have to go to?" ....."

...........

============
NYT: A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and JIM RUTENBERG
Published: April 22, 2008
For John McCain, who has pledged to avoid conflicts of interest in office, Donald R. Diamond can pose a test.