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Landrieu Responds to CREW Complaint, Post Story
Yesterday, the D.C. watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a criminal complaint against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), calling for an investigation of whether she'd been bribed to deliver a $2 million earmark. The basic facts, as laid out in a December 20th Washington Post piece, I said, "weren't pretty."
Well, late yesterday, Landrieu's office finally, after having remained silent for nearly three weeks, responded, providing a number of facts that substantially changed the story.
The story had been that Randy Best, the longtime Bush supporter who founded Voyager, had struggled to find a senator willing to give his company, the Voyager literacy program, funding for the Washington, D.C schools. In the fall of 2001, he finally landed an interview with Landrieu. Shortly after that, someone from Landrieu's office contacted him to see if he might host a fundraiser. He said yes, ultimately delivering $30,000 to Landrieu's campaign (despite his Republican ties) through Voyager executives; four days after that, he landed his earmark, which provided $2 million to the D.C. schools for use on Voyager... even though the schools hadn't asked for it. As far as things on the Hill go, it seemed like a pretty tidy quid pro quo.
But yesterday Landrieu's office provided a letter showing that, in April of 2001, Paul Vance, the superintendent of the D.C. public schools, had written Landrieu, then the ranking member on the D.C appropriations subcommittee, and Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), then the chair, to ask for funds for Voyager. And they produced another showing that three weeks later, on May 15, 2001, Landrieu wrote to DeWine to request $3.5 million for the program's use in D.C.
Landrieu suddenly became chairwoman of the subcommittee when Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT) left the Republican Party that same month in 2001, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats. That put her in a position to add the language to the appropriations bill herself -- which she did, Landrieu spokesman Adam Sharp told me. The subcommittee prepared the final version of that year's appropriations bill on October 15th, and it included $2 milllion for the Voyager program. Four days after that, Best hosted his fundraiser for Landrieu, during which the company's executives were so generous to their patron (they've continued to be generous ever since, delivering almost $80,000). In contrast to the Post's reporting, Sharp claimed that Best had first approached Landrieu about hosting a fundraiser for her -- not the other way around. My efforts to reach Best were unsuccessful.
Best's story seems to have changed since he first talked to the Post about this. The Post quoted him as saying that he'd been unable to obtain funding on the Senate side as of September, 2001. Now his story is jibing with Landrieu's, that the request for support came "many months before a fundraiser."
It's certainly not a flattering story for Landrieu, but now it looks a lot different.
Comments (15)
JubleJohnson wrote on January 9, 2008 7:22 PM:It's certainly not a flattering story for Landrieu, but now it looks a lot different
milo wrote on January 9, 2008 8:06 PM:*****Oh Yeah!being half pregnant is different from being pregnant.Even on the Dem side there rationalizing for corrutption.
$2 million in funding for literacy education is not flattering for Landrieu?
How much does it cost to launch a B-2 to fly by a football stadium?
I'll take Mary's priorities here.
GMFORD wrote on January 9, 2008 8:06 PM:Wouldn't that be legitimate for a superintendent of schools to request funding for an educational program?
RickD wrote on January 9, 2008 8:20 PM:People are realistic about the fact that one of the main functions of legislators is to bring money to their own district, right?
mac2151 wrote on January 10, 2008 12:07 AM:If memory serves me correctly, Mark Nowakowski of Ohio was charged with being part of the ecstasy ring associated with the raid on OJ Simpson's house. Jeri is named as an executive with Voyager.
Paul Vance came from the Montgomery County Maryland School District and was involved with the Abramoff school deals there.
The Vance name is also associated with:
Shield Security, gun-running in Iraq; and, Vance International, which teamed with Indian minority owned private security firm Chenega.
There appears to be shady written all over this.
Michael A wrote on January 10, 2008 7:30 AM:One has to wonder why a Lousiana politician is giving an earmark to dc? Add on top of it republicans doing a "fundraiser" for a dem senator that they have their sights on? Seems really, really strange. Hopefully, earmarks will go the way of the dinosaur when dems take the white house in November.
milo wrote on January 10, 2008 7:45 AM:Michael A wrote: "One has to wonder why a Lousiana politician is giving an earmark to dc?"
One has to wonder if Michael can name a Senator who represents DC.
Michael A wrote on January 10, 2008 8:37 AM:Ahhh, good point. Still don't like earmarks though and I still don't like the fact that the republicans were doing a fundraiser for her.
nellieh wrote on January 10, 2008 8:46 AM:Landrieu was/is on the sub-committee for DC appropriations. Part of her duties is to provide finances to DC. Is $2 mil for Schools an egregious earmark? Was responding to a request from the DC schools superintendent a corruptible activitity? This wasn't for her state and not NEAR Rep.Youngs earmark for the Florida that was changed from one interchange to another after the bill was voted on. Landrieu isn't one of my favoritesbut, in this case she is getting short shrift. How benign this appears compared to other REAL earmarks.
BimBeau wrote on January 10, 2008 9:10 AM:Sometimes the wrong act brings about the right reasoning. As Senator Landrieu is a member of the D.C. sub-com, she should have been there sooner. If she had to call someone to request a fund-raiser, blame a system that punishes anyone for funding activities legitimately. Josh is to be credited for getting into this story and not spinning the facts & details.
trippin wrote on January 10, 2008 10:00 AM:Uhhhh --- so based on this sequence of events, there's no quid pro quo?
Maybe in Louisiana.
Biggus Diggus wrote on January 10, 2008 10:49 AM:This whole Voyager program is basically a scam so well connected Republicans can make taxpayer money pimping a curriculum that doesn't work incredibly well. It's a smoke screen to line the pockets of the well-connected. Neil Bush was involved in a similar scam.
nellieh wrote on January 10, 2008 11:53 AM:I would die laughing if the DC school Superintendent was a "well connected Republican." I am not aware Voyager is a scam but, Neil Bush is a hands out kind of operator. Just taking money for who he is. Not for what he does, which is nothing worthy. It is an affliction of his family going back to Prescott. If Neil's Old lady had donated money to the school district and made it specifically for Voyager, then I would believe it's a scam.
judyinnm wrote on January 10, 2008 6:26 PM:A well connected Republican would have aksed for funds to buy Neil Bush's half-assed program, not Voyager...
Anonymous wrote on January 11, 2008 10:43 AM:Now that it's been re-writ, I'm struggling to find a story here...