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Colorado GOPer Bob Schaffer Tied to Federal Criminal Investigation
Last we checked in with Bob Schaffer, the GOP's Senate candidate in Colorado was fending off news reports about parasailing in the Mariana Islands on Jack Abramoff's dime while supposedly personally investigating the plight of foreign workers there.
Now we learn about a federal criminal case in Colorado against former business and political associates of Schaffer's involving government contracts with a nonprofit foundation where Schaffer was a member of the board of directors.
Schaffer, a former House member who is battling with Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) to replace the retiring Sen. Wayne Allard, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But the federal prosecutor handling the case told TPMmuckraker in a telephone interview that Schaffer was added to a witness list in the federal fraud trial of Bill Orr, a Denver businessman accused of bilking the government out of more than $2 million.
Orr's trial is currently underway, and the jury has been deliberating since last week. Schaffer could still be called to testify in Orr's sentencing if Orr is convicted.
Orr successfully lobbied Congress in 2000 for a $3.6 million earmark, which he said he would use to develop a new clean-energy fuel that would emit less pollution. It's not yet known which member of Congress inserted Orr's earmark. Prosecutors say he "falsely represented" the scientific tests that convinced the EPA to turn over more than $2 million of the earmark money. Orr had created a separate not-for-profit group called the National Alternative Fuels Foundation to utilize the federal money.
And that's where Schaffer comes in. After leaving Congress, Schaffer was a "director" at the NAFF from October 2004 to March 2005, according to his Senate financial disclosure form. That's not a very long time, but it overlaps with the time frame when prosecutors say the NAFF was wrongfully accepting government cash -- from December 2001 through December 2004.
Schaffer's campaign did not respond to our call Monday for comment, but Schaffer's campaign manager, longtime GOP operative Dick Wadhams, told Roll Call in a story posted online today that Schaffer joined NAFF in part because of his interest in the development of alternative fuels:
Schaffer is "intrigued by the technology that the company was working on ... the fact is Bob has had a longstanding interest in renewable fuels technology," Wadhams said.Wadhams also said Schaffer's interest in NAFF -- and his decision to join the board in 2004 -- came about on the recommendation of longtime political associate Scott Shires.
Shires ran some of Schaffer's local and statewide political campaigns, including fundraising operations and campaign committees. ...
Wadhams said his departure was a direct result of news that federal investigators were looking into the group and Orr's handling of the earmark.
"As soon as he learned of the investigation, he resigned. He was barely on the board," Wadhams said.
Scott Shires was indicted in the case along with Orr back in 2006 and has since pleaded guilty to knowingly failing to file a tax return and agreed to testify against Orr. Shires was the treasurer for NAFF and the registering agent on Schaffer's successful campaign for the Colorado Board of Education in 2006. Shires has not yet been sentenced in the case.
Among the questions that remain: Did Schaffer play any part in securing the earmark for Orr in 2000, when Schaffer was still in the House? Among those also appearing on a witness list for the trial were Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA).
[Late Update: Schaffer was added to a defense witness list in the Orr case, not the prosecutors witness list, as reported in a previous version of this post]
Josh
Zachary
Go, Dick Wadhams! Way to take one scandal and tie it to yet another one...
Not long ago, Schaffer's bio at for his position as Vice-President of Business Development at CHx Capital emphasized his international oil and gas accomplishments; now, suddenly, his bio has been re-written to emphasize his supposed work in wind energy development - and lo and behold! A 527 has stepped in with an ad promoting Schaffer's support of alternative energy!
See my dKos diary for a list of the ways that Schaffer has stepped in it on these two (inter-related?) scandals.
May 27, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I examined the National Alternative Fuels Foundation's IRS-990 forms avilable at both Guidestar and Foundation Center. There are only two forms available - one from 2002 and one from 2003. I guess the organization's missing tax forms from 2004, 2005 and 2006 have something to do with Orr's indictment.
The 2002 and 2003 990's sure don't show a whole lot of work coming from NAFF. In fact, most of the money went to pay Orr's salary.
If you look at the 2002 filing, you can also see the actial award contracts from EPA. The EPA contract was awarded to NAFF's mailing address at 2338 Broadway #300, Boulder, CO.
Interestingly, Robin Hult is a CPA at that address. There's also a James M. Hult at that same address who is an attorney.
The address soon changes to Orr's home. Orr notes that he was charging NAFF $500/month rent for space use in his home. That's pretty bold!
May 27, 2008 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: the organization's missing tax forms
The tax form charges weren't for NAFF forms, but for the for-profit Octane, which purportedly held the patent to the vapor phase combustion alternative fuel, which NAFF was formed to test. (The fuel was a blend of gasoline, ethanol and a small amount of manganese.) Orr was also indicted on defrauding Octane investors.
May 27, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks.
I've since found the online indictment of William Orr. You can see all 23 pages here:
http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/upload/Orr_Indictment.pdf
May 27, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Octane International has been around since 1991 - all the time being a William Orr and Scott Shiers enterprise. You can see the Colorado incorporation records and filigs here:
http://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/BusinessEntityHistory.do?quitButtonDestination=BusinessEntityDetail&pi1=1&nameTyp=ENT&entityId2=19911074726&masterFileId=19911074726&srchTyp=ENTITY
Scott Shires also seems to run something called Shires Financial Group.
May 27, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shires is a longtime political operative in Colorado and has found himself at the center of several local scandals over the last few years:
http://coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=720
His company handles dozens of Colorado political committees, as well as corporations and the like. The federal indictment and subsequent plea bargain doesn't seem to have slowed his business. (The Republican chairman for Arapahoe County, in suburban Denver, is the attorney who defended Shires on his federal charges and arranged the plea bargain. The attorney's wife happens to be the Arapahoe County district attorney, too.)
May 27, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
And here's the online indictment of Scott Shires:
http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/upload/Information_Part_1.pdf
May 27, 2008 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, William C. "Bill" Orr used to be the President of the American Constitutional Law Foundation.
Bill Orr was a named petitioner in the US Supreme Court Case Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation.
I'm not familiar with Buckley but it had something to do with balancing individual States' abilities to set controls on the mechanics of how initiatatives can be put on ballots (ie only registered voters can be petition collectors, those petition collectors must have their home address on the petitions) versus first amendement protections.
Orr appears to have been against controls, which would be a normal GOP modus operandi.
Can someone give an analysis of Buckley, why it was important and what its impact has been? The case was decided in 1999.
Shires and Orr have been active together for some time.
May 27, 2008 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
R. Douglas Chiappetta was listed as the President of the National Alternative Fuels Association back on October 21, 1997.
Chiappetta testified before a "special hearing" Ted Stevens' and Arlen Spectors Committees in the Senate.
http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/hearings/105s/46160.txt
As you can see above by 2003, Chiapiatta was an officer in the nonprofit National Alternative Fuels Foundation.
And Bill Orr was Chairman of the National Alternative Fuels Association back in 1999. He delivered testimony to the House of Representatives ...
May 27, 2008 7:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://judiciary.house.gov/legacy/orr0701.htm
May 27, 2008 7:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
With the passage of draconian measures to restrict and intimidate petitioners, Colorado's Initiative and Referendum process was on the brink of extinction in the early/mid 90’s.
The ACLF was successful in saving the process by allowing the US Supreme Court to affirm that the right to peacefully petition for redress of grievances is a noble right derived by the people and not legislative (or executive) whim.
The basic concept of man’s rights to life, liberty and property is not about partisan politics. It is about our very survival as a free society.
Orr has been a quintessential Muckraker in his own right.
In 1999, on behalf of the National Alternative Fuels Association, Orr had the balls to sue the US EPA for using rigged data to justify the national “Tier II Sulfur” fuel regulation that is currently costing US energy consumers to the tune of $1.00 a gallon (see. www.altfuels.us) …Not to mention that the regulation has actually made our ozone problem worse (www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146345,00.html)
Meanwhile, the independent refining community has lost 335,000 barrels per day of finished gasoline capacity (www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/022503TierII.pdf) and the pain at the pump continues.
Other COINCIDENCES:
1) The timing the EPA’s random financial OIG audit (and subsequent Criminal Investigation) which began just a few days after the NAFA v EPA Tier II Lawsuit was set for Briefing before the US Court of Appeals DC;
2) EPA illegally obtaining the contents of Orr’s safety deposit box with out a search warrant (containing fuel formulations/patent applications, etc., related to NAFA’s Tier II suit) under the ruse of a possible “homeland security threat”.
3) EPA's unexpected/unilateral cancellation of the SwRI durability Fleet tests (that would have shown EPA's faulty science on Tier II) -- EPA's cancellation was the very same day grant funds are requested by NAFF to fund the SwRI tests under their congressional earmark. This was a few days after EPA stole the contents of ORR’s safety deposit box;
4) Commencement of criminal investigation of Orr on Eve of US Court of Appeals Arguments (and after EPA's unilateral cancellation of the SwRI tests);
5) 2-3 years of investigation where witnesses were threatened, intimidated and business relationships destroyed by rogue EPA investigator Cory Rumple. Many valuable patents were lost;
5) the untimely death of two (2) critical defense witnesses within just days of their anticipated testimony;
6) and now a Jury doing some rather unusual things...
Please Keep Mr. Orr in your prayers!
May 27, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can you elaborate on Nos. 5 and 6 please?
May 27, 2008 8:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.manchesterjournal.com/ci_9268858?source=most_viewed
May 27, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's an obituary for one Raymond Hatch, 71, who died of congestive heart failure. RIP. What's that got to do with Orr's trial?
May 27, 2008 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink