(DNC Release) Ohio: Exhibit A in the Republican Culture of Corruption

[MaineDem]

(Some good research here.)

For Immediate Release
January 18, 2006
Contact: Damien LaVera - 202-863-8148

Ohio: Exhibit A in the Republican Culture of Corruption

Washington, DC -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today
unveiled the national Democratic honest leadership reform agenda at a news
conference in Columbus, Ohio. Dean urged Ohioans and the American people to
join Democrats in demanding honest leadership by signing the national Honest
Leadership Petition at www.democrats.org/Honesty.

Today's news conference coincided with the unveiling of the Honest Leadership
and Open Government Act, a package of reforms being introduced in Washington by
the Democratic leadership in Congress. Dean chose to announce the Democratic
Honest Leadership reform initiative in Ohio to highlight the Republican culture
of corruption that has run rampant in Columbus under Republican leadership.

The following DNC Research document outlines the Republican culture of
corruption in Ohio.


Something Is Rotten in Ohio

The Republican culture of corruption has taken root in Ohio. Ohioans have seen
their Governor plead "no contest" to charges of accepting illegal gifts, one of
the senior members of their Congressional delegation lose a key Congressional
chairmanship after being revealed to have been a key player in Jack Abramoff's
pay to play scheme, and they even had their pension system raided by a Bush
Pioneer. Democrats are committed to cleaning up the Republican culture of
corruption.

Governor Taft: Accepted Illegal Gifts

Republican Governor of Ohio, Bob Taft, Pleaded No Contest To Charges of
Accepting Illegal Gifts, Fined $4,000. Republican Governor of Ohio, Bob Taft,
was indicted on charges of accepting $5,800 in illegal gifts and failing to
report them. These gifts include two golf trips with Thomas Noe, the Toledo
area business man who was accused of bilking the State pension fund of $13
million dollars, and funneling illegal campaign contributions to Republican
politicians including Bush. Taft pleaded no contest to the charges, and was
fined $4,000.

Congressman Bob Ney: Implicated in Abramoff Scandal

Abramoff and Ney Hit the Road. Jack Abramoff's Capitol Athletic Foundation paid
for the chartered jet that flew at least six people -- including Abramoff and
Ney to St. Andrews, Scotland and London in August 2002. According to House
rules, members of Congress are not allowed to receive trips that are paid for
by lobbyists. Abramoff also paid for members of Ney's staff to travel to the
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, as well as to the Super Bowl in Tampa.


Abramoff Wined and Dined Ney. Abramoff provided Ney with numerous tickets for
sporting events and concerts, and provided him with regular meals and drinks at
his restaurant, Signatures. Ney also used Abramoff's MCI Center box for
fundraisers and his chief of staff was later hired by Abramoff. Abramoff's
fundraising log shows an event for Ney at MCI Center on March 15, 2001.


Abramoff Gave Donations To and For Ney. Abramoff contributed $4,000 to Ney's
personal campaign committee in 2000 and provided a $10,000 donation to the NRCC
at Ney's request.

Pay: Foxcom Wireless Donated $50,000 to Abramoff's Charity, Hired Abramoff's
Firm. Foxcom Wireless donated $50,000 to a charitable foundation controlled by
Abramoff in 2001. Foxcom Wireless, now known as MobileAccess, registered to
lobby Congress in January 2003, and has since paid Greenberg Traurig at least
$240,000 since that time to represent the company.

Play: Ney Awarded Contract To Abramoff Client Through "Highly Politicized
Process." In 1999, the House of Representatives decided to place a series of
cell phone antennas in the Capitol and House Office Buildings, in order to
improve cell phone coverage. LGC Wireless was awarded the contract, and LGC
proceeded to work with Capitol officials for a year on a plan for the
implementation of the new system. In 2001, Ney became Chairman of the House
Administration Committee. Soon after, LGC was removed from the project and
replaced by Foxcom Wireless, an Israeli telecommunications company and an
Abramoff client. Foxcom had paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying and had donated
$50,000 to Abramoff's charity, The Capitol Athletic Foundation. Post, 10/18/05]

Capitol Officials Expressed Surprise At Sudden Change in Policy. "We were
really surprised, given all the work we put in with LGC in designing the system,
' said Henry F. 'Bud' Collins Jr., the senior network systems engineer for the
House. 'Then, all of a sudden this other company showed up. We had to go
through this whole thing again.'"

Pay: Ney Used Abramoff Skyboxes for Fundraisers. Ney used Abramoff's MCI Center
box for fundraisers and his chief of staff was later hired by Abramoff.
Abramoff's fundraising log shows an event for Ney at MCI Center on March 15,
2001.

Pay: Ney Collected Donations From Suncruz Owners. FEC records show that
Abramoff and three men associated with Suncruz each donated $1,000 to Ney on
March 15, 2001, a date that Ney used Abramoff's skybox. Abramoff personally
donated a total of $3,500 to Ney.

Play: Ney Helped Abramoff on Suncruz Cruise Line. FEC records show that
Abramoff and three men associated with him in a Florida-based casino cruise
line called Suncruz each donated $1,000 to Ney on March 15, 2001, the same day
he used the Abramoff skybox. Ney had been helpful to them the year before, when
Abramoff and a partner, Adam Kidan, were embroiled in acrimonious efforts to
buy Suncruz. In an unusual step, Ney criticized the cruise line's owner, Gus
Boulis, in statements placed in the March 30, 2000, Congressional Record,
putting pressure on Boulis to sell; he then praised Kidan as Suncruz's new
owner when the sale went through.

Pay: Ney Received Large Donations From the Tigua Indian Tribe. Ney's federal
PAC received $5,000 in donations from the Tigua tribe of El Paso and his non-
federal account received a $25,000 soft-money contribution. It also gave $3,000
to his campaign committee, $2,000 more than permitted at the time. Post, Editorial, 12/3/04]

Play: Ney Attempted to Insert Tigua Provision Into Unrelated Legislation. Ney
attempted to help re-open the casino of the Tigua Indian tribe represented by
Abramoff by attempting to slip a provision into the Help America Vote Act,
which Ney's committee had jurisdiction over. Tigua had paid Abramoff and his
associate Michael Scanlon $4.2 million in an effort to reopen their casino.


Bush Pioneer Thomas Noe: Raided Ohio Pension System

Republican Chairman Under at Least Six Separate Investigations. "He also
happened to be a dealer in rare coins. And in 1998, the Ohio Workers'
Compensation Bureau agreed to invest in a rare-coin fund that he controlled as
a way to hedge its holdings in stocks and bonds, an investment that experts
have called highly unorthodox. But this week, Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as
much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two funds
could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at
least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin
investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also
looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a 'Pioneer,
' raising more than $100,000."

While Noe Collected Millions, State Assets Went Missing. According to a Toledo
Blade investigation "two coins worth $300,000 had been lost in 2003. Then state
officials acknowledged that another 119 coins worth $93,000 were missing." It
is unclear to Ohio officials if Noe had the legal authority to invest the
state's money on collectibles or whether the state was even the rightful owner
of those items. During his time as administrator of the fund Noe collected over
$3 million in fees to the state.

Noe Attended White House Strategy Session With Ken Mehlman, and Possibly Karl
Rove, While His Wife Was an Ohio Elections Official. According to emails
released by Ohio Governor Bob Taft's office, Thomas Noe used his influence to
obtain an invitation to a White House ceremony honoring the Ohio State
University football team. The emails also revealed that once Noe had gotten
into the White House, he was invited to attend an "Ohio political strategy
session." The meeting was attended by Ken Mehlman and Collister "Coddy''
Johnson, Bush's campaign manager and field director. Karl Rove was also listed
as a possible attendant of the meeting. At the time Noe's wife Bernadette was
an official in Lucas County Ohio, an area that experienced extreme voting
difficulties during the 2004 election, causing Secretary of State Ken Blackwell
to ask for her resignation.

Noe Was "Man to See" in Northwest Ohio For Republicans. For nearly a decade,
Thomas Noe has been the Republican Party's man to see in northwest Ohio, a
confidant of governors and a prodigious fund-raiser for legislators, judges and
just about every Republican statewide elected official. 5/28/05]

Noe was Regional Chairman of Bush Cheney Campaign and Frequently Spoke with
Rove. As a regional chairman of the campaign, Mr. Noe had frequent contact with
Karl Rove, the architect of the President's re-election strategy. And Ohio, it
turned out, was the pivotal state in the election, narrowly pushing President
Bush to victory.

Bush Thanked Noe for "His Leadership". On October 29, 2004 at a campaign rally
in Toledo, Ohio, Bush singled out Noe for his work on the campaign. Bush said,
"I want to thank the grassroots activists. I want to thank my friend Bernadette
Noe and Tom Noe for their leadership in Lucas County." After the speech, Bush
and the first lady met with Noe and his wife backstage, to thank them for their
"work on the campaign." Toledo Blade, 10/30/04; Bush Remarks, 10/29/04]

Noe was Pioneer for Bush's Reelection and Raised at Least $100,000. According
to FEC filings Thomas Noe joined the elite ranks, and gained the access, of the
Bush Pioneers, raising at least $100,000 for Bush's reelection campaign. York Times, 5/28/05]

Noe Under Federal Investigation for Making Illegal Donations to Bush Campaign.
According to FEC regulations, individuals can only donate $2,000 to a
presidential candidate in the primary and another $2,000 in the general
election. Noe is under investigation for possibly laundering additional
contributions through other individuals, to skirt campaign finance rules.
According to the Toledo Blade, "Gregory A. White, U.S. attorney for the
Northern District of Ohio, confirmed that his office, in conjunction with the
FBI, is looking into Mr. Noe, who was chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in
northwest Ohio. 'We have publicly confirmed the investigation of Mr. Noe in
relation to some campaign contributions,' Mr. White said last night. He said
the investigation has been ongoing for a couple of months, but declined to
comment on its details. Officials with the U.S. Justice Department in
Washington are aware of the investigation, Mr. White said." 4/28/05]

Noe Was Recommended to Coinage Advisory Committee by Hastert and Nominated by
Secretary of Treasury John Snowe. On April 23, President Bush signed into law
the "American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act of 2003" (Public Law 108-15),
which established the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC). According to
a Treasury Department press release Noe was recommended by Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and nominated to this Committee by Snowe.

Voinovich Administration Approved Ohio's $25 Million Investment in Noe's Coin
Scheme. "In the 1990's, Mr. Noe, 50, was chairman of the Republican Party in
Lucas County, which includes Toledo. His wife held the same position until last
year. He was a friend of Gov. George V. Voinovich, now a senator, whose
administration first approved a $25 million investment in Mr. Noe's rare-coin
funds in 1998." Noe also has given $21,000 in the past two years to Voinovich.


Bush Pioneer Thomas Whatman: Under Federal Investigation

Ohio Bush Pioneer Forced to Turn Over Fundraising Records to Federal Agents.
Officials of the Ohio House Republican caucus' campaign committee have turned
over hundreds of records to federal agents as part of a widening federal
investigation into possible election-spending irregularities* Subpoenas have
been delivered to Republican campaign consultants Brett T. Buerck, Kyle S.
Sisk, Steven O. Weaver of WiredVoter, Sam Van Voorhis of Majority Strategies
and Thomas B. Whatman as treasurer for Informed Citizens of Ohio for various
campaign records and other documents.

###

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.
org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.

[Toots]

1. Very long but deserves to be read

:kick: