FEC: February 2012 | TPMMuckraker

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FEC: February 2012

GOP Rep Michael Grimm: I'd Be 'Very Stupid' To Take Cash Near FBI Building

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2012, 4:25PM

House Speaker John Boehner said Friday that he was "not familiar with the details" of the unfolding campaign finance scandal involving Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY). Let's bring him up to speed.

The New York Times reported this week that Grimm worked closely with Ofer Biton (a top aide to the orthodox Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto) back in 2009 to recruit the rabbi's followers to donate to Grimm's campaign. Together, they collected more than $500,000 for his campaign, helping convince Republican leaders Grimm was a viable candidate.

Now Biton is now under investigation by the FBI, which just happens to be Grimm's former employer. Grimm himself is accused of accepting a cash donation of $5,000 "near the FBI building" and three followers of the rabbi told the New York Times that Grimm or Biton said they would find ways for the campaign to accept donations over the legal limit.

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Topics: Campaign Contributions, Campaign Donations, Campaign Finance, FBI, FEC, House of Representatives , John Boehner, Michael Grimm, New York, Republicans

Eric Massa

Long Gone From Congress, 'Tickler' Eric Massa Still Pays Wife With Campaign Cash

Nick R. Martin | February 1, 2012, 12:40PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.)

Eric Massa may be long gone from the US House, but that hasn't stopped the confessed congressional tickler from using leftover campaign cash to pay his wife a nice monthly salary.

The former New York congressman resigned two years ago amid a bizarre scandal in which he admitted to tickling and roughhousing with male staffers while insisting it wasn't sexual.

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Topics: Congress, Eric Massa, FEC, New York

James Bopp Jr.

Citizens United Lawyer: I Hate Super PACs Too

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2012, 10:38AM

The Republican lawyer on the case that arguably helped pave the way for the creation of so-called "super PACs" told TPM this week that he hopes politicians will realize that the contribution limits on their campaigns are putting them at a huge disadvantage, and will pass legislation dashing such restrictions.

An odd position for a key player in the opening of the anonymous-campaign-cash floodgates to have? James Bopp Jr. says no.

"I'm very hopeful and actually expect that incumbent politicians are going to look at themselves and say we are severely handicapped" in comparison to super PACs, Bopp told TPM, arguing that political campaigns were more accountable to voters than super PACs.