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Hillary Clinton

Strange Bedfellows: To Weaken Campaign-Finance Law, Starr's Group Defends Edwards Backer

Zachary Roth | November 19, 2009, 11:25AM

Ken Starr

A heavy-hitting group of conservative lawyers led by Ken Starr and Ed Meese is jumping to the defense of a Democratic trial lawyer and major John Edwards backer.

No, Starr, Meese et al. haven't suddenly undergone a political conversion. Instead, they see a chance to undermine campaign-finance laws they never supported in the first place.

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Topics: Bill Clinton, Campaign Finance, Ed Meese, FEC, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Ken Starr, Russ Feingold

Democratic Fundraiser Hsu Gets 24 Years In Fraud And Campaign Finance Cases

Justin Elliott | September 29, 2009, 4:49PM

Norman Hsu

Norman Hsu, the Democratic fundraiser whose criminal past became a scandal for Hillary Clinton during the primary in 2007, was sentenced to over 24 years in prison today for committing fraud and violating campaign finance laws, the AP reports.

Prosecutors said that Hsu used "straw donors" who he reimbursed to get around campaign finance limits. The Clinton campaign gave back over $800,000 in donations from sources linked to Hsu.

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Topics: Hillary Clinton, Norman Hsu

Terry McAuliffe

McAuliffe Mum On Ties To Nemazee

Zachary Roth | September 22, 2009, 6:24PM

Hassan Nemazee with Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Terry McAuliffe at book party for McAuliffe's "What a Party! My Life Among Democrats." January 22, 2007.

Powerhouse fundraiser Hassan Nemazee had a lot of friends in Democratic circles. And one of the most important appears to have been the party's money-man par excellence, Terry McAuliffe.

But since the news broke yesterday that Nemazee had been charged with running a $292 million Ponzi scheme, the normally loquacious McAuliffe hasn't been his usual voluble self.

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Topics: Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton, Terry McAuliffe

Hassan Nemazee

Nemazee Spent Millions On Luxury Car, Plane, Lots Of Real Estate

Justin Elliott | September 22, 2009, 4:08PM

Hassan Nemazee with Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Terry McAuliffe at book party for McAuliffe's "What a Party! My Life Among Democrats." January 22, 2007.

Besides showering Democratic politicians with hundreds of thousands dollars -- probably several million in all -- what was Hassan Nemazee spending all that money on?

Unlike Bernie Madoff or 'Sir' Allen Stanford, Nemazee's alleged Ponzi scheme did not involve bilking individual investors. The Feds put the fraud at $292 million since 1998. Even taking into account that some of the money was allegedly borrowed to pay off other loans, a person would have to spend hard and often, on more than just political donations, to burn through that kind of cash.

And, the indictment suggests, Nemazee did just that.

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Topics: Barbara Boxer, Cessna Model 680, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton, Maserati Quattroporte

Hassan Nemazee

As Democrats Reclaimed Power, Nemazee Was Key Fundraiser

Zachary Roth | September 22, 2009, 12:47PM

Hassan Nemazee

Hassan Nemazee may not be a household name. But as Democrats returned to power over the last few election cycles, the New York financier -- who yesterday was charged with running a $292 million Ponzi scheme -- has been among the most important players in drumming up the campaign funds that have enabled that success.

Let's start with the 2004 cycle. Nemazee had been a top fundraiser for the Clintons in the 1990s, but he appears to have courted John Kerry since at least 2002. By January 2004, he was described in news reports (via Nexis) as "one of Kerry's chief fundraisers." Subsequent reports from that year describe him as Kerry's "New York City finance chair."

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Topics: Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton

Hassan Nemazee

Flashback: Alleged Fraudster Was Wheeled Out To Defend Hillary Camp After Discovery Of Different Fraudster

Justin Elliott | September 22, 2009, 12:36PM

Hassan Nemazee and Norman Hsu

Remember the strange case of Norman Hsu that roiled the Hillary Clinton campaign during the Democratic primary back in 2007?

Hsu was a top bundler for the campaign who was found to have hidden his past as a crook and Hillary was forced to return over $800,000 in donations. He later plead guilty to a Ponzi scheme and was convicted on campaign finance charges.

Hsu, who currently resides in federal prison, reimbursed so-called "straw donors" drawn from his fraudulent business to get around contribution limits.

At the time of the crisis, Hassan Nemazee, indicted yesterday in his own alleged Ponzi scheme -- considerably larger than Hsu's $20 million operation -- was a national finance chair for the Hillary campaign.

And guess who the campaign dispatched to talk to reporters to tamp down the Hsu story? One Hassan Nemazee.

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Topics: Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton, Norman Hsu

Hassan Nemazee

Alleged Fraudster Nemazee Poured Dollars Into Dems' Coffers For Years

Justin Elliott | September 21, 2009, 6:36PM

Hassan Nemazee

Just how big a Democratic donor was Hassan Nemazee?

He and his wife (mostly he) gave the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees $191,700 over the past three election cycles, 2006, 2008, and 2010.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Harry Reid, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton

Justice Department

Big Dem Donor Nemazee Indicted In Alleged $292 Million Scheme

Zachary Roth | September 21, 2009, 6:10PM

Hassan Nemazee

Federal prosecutors have accused a major Democratic fundraiser with ties to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that involved swindling several major banks out of hundreds of millions of dollars, and using some of the proceeds to fund political candidates and PACs.

According to a Justice Department press release, Hassan Nemazee was indicted this afternoon by a grand jury, charged with using fake documents and signatures to bilk Citibank, Bank of America, and HSBC out of over $290 million, in an alleged scheme that dates back to 1998. Nemazee alleged used the Citibank money to repay the B of A loan, and vice versa. And even after being questioned by FBI agents about the Citibank loan last month, Nemazee allegedly went to HSBC to fraudulently draw down a line of credit, which he tried to access funds to pay back Citibank.

You can read the indictment here.

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Topics: Barack Obama, FBI, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton, Justice Department

Hassan Nemazee

Feds: Nemazee Swindled Two Other Banks

Zachary Roth | September 2, 2009, 4:06PM

Hassan Nemazee

It looks like that fraudulent $74 million loan that top Democratic fundraiser Hassan Nemazee allegedly obtained from Citigroup may have just been the tip of the iceberg.

In a letter to the judge in Nemazee's case, reported by Reuters, prosecutors claimed that Nemazee also ripped off two other banks.

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Topics: Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton, Wall Street

Hillary Clinton

Top Clinton Fundraiser Charged With Defrauding Citigroup

Zachary Roth | August 25, 2009, 3:41PM

Hassan Nemazee

The top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has been charged with fraudulently applying for a loan of over $74 million from Citigroup.

Federal prosecutors allege that Hassan Nemazee, a New York businessman who was national finance chair for the Clinton campaign, "submitted, and caused to be submitted to Citibank numerous documents that purported to establish the existence of accounts in Nemazee's name at various financial institutions containing many hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, those were fraudulent and forged documents."

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Topics: Citigroup, Hassan Nemazee, Hillary Clinton

AIPAC

Lanny Davis Now Lobbying In Support Of Honduran Coup

Zachary Roth | July 14, 2009, 4:46PM

It seems like just yesterday that Lanny Davis was making the rounds of every news outlet that would have him, talking up Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House -- and/or pushing the Reverend Wright story.

Not too long after, the former Clinton White House counsel popped up to do damage control for hawkish Democratic congresswoman Jane Harman over the AIPAC leak story.

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Topics: AIPAC, Hillary Clinton, Jane Harman, Lanny Davis, Lobbyists

John Ensign

Did A Shadowy Christian Group Help Keep Ensign's Secret?

Zachary Roth | June 22, 2009, 1:20PM

Senate Republicans, it's becoming clear, aren't exactly lining up to defend John Ensign.

Of course, that's not so surprising, given the damage that sex scandals have inflicted on the GOP in recent years. But could it be that the Ensign imbroglio poses a particularly thorny problem for some Republicans because, aside from the sex and jobs angle, the story threatens to shine an unflattering light on the role of the shadowy religious group to which the Nevada senator belongs?

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Topics: Hillary Clinton, John Ensign, Right-wing extremism, Sex

Philip Zelikow

Zelikow: I Think Cheney Tried To Destroy My Torture Memo

Zachary Roth | May 6, 2009, 12:01PM

Mother Jones has advanced the story of an alleged bid by the Bushies to destroy a memo, written by a top state department lawyer, that offered an alternative view on the legality of torture.

Last month, as we noted, Philip Zelikow, a top lawyer for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, wrote that the Bush White House "attempted to collect and destroy all copies" of the memo. But he hadn't said who at the White House he suspected of being behind that effort.

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Topics: Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton, Philip Zelikow, Torture

Hillary Clinton

Congress Seeking Zelikow's "Alternative" Torture Memo

Zachary Roth | May 4, 2009, 2:01PM

Congress has asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a 2005 memo written by a top State Department lawyer, which is said to have taken an alternative view on the legality of torture to that famously offered by DOJ lawyers.

In a letter to Clinton, Reps John Conyers and Howard Berman, who chair, respectively, the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees wrote that the memo "may shed important light on the process by which these interrogation practices were evaluated, approved, ad implemented by the former Administration." Reps Jerry Nadler and Bill Delahunt, who chair subcommittees of Judiciary and Foreign Affairs, respectively, also signed on.

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Topics: Condi Rice, Hillary Clinton, House Judiciary, Jerrold Nadler, John Conyers, Justice Department, Torture

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton Rents Out Donor List To... Hillary Clinton

Moe Tkacik | April 29, 2009, 12:20PM

Here's a cool way to get out of debt most Americans probably wish they had as an option: Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign made $2.5 million this year renting out its list of supporters to Hillary Clinton's campaign for Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports today, following up on last week's Politico item. That's enough to pay back the $2.3 million the campaign still owes to her campaign strategist Mark Penn.

Clinton's now-dormant political action committee, Hill PAC, also paid $822,000 to rent the list, and the William J. Clinton Foundation paid "more than $274,000" to rent the list. Why the sweetheart deal for her husband? Maybe it wasn't as valuable to an entity that already has a 2,922-page list of its own. The campaign tells the Journal the prices were set by outside appraisers. It made another $1 million renting out the list to 18 other customers, which paid an average of $50,000 apiece.

The significance of this, apart from "campaign finance is complicated," according to the Journal, is that Hillary is "holding onto" the list in "part of a plan that looks to retain an element of [her] political operation while she serves as secretary of state."

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Topics: Hillary Clinton

Barack Obama

White House Won't Say Whether It'll Back Effort To Roll Back State Secrets Privilege

Zachary Roth | April 13, 2009, 9:51AM

A good advance on the state secrets story, from Greg Sargent over at the Plum Line.

Greg reports that the White House declined to tell him whether it would support a Democratic effort to roll back the use of the state secrets privilege.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Justice Department, Pat Leahy, State Secrets

Blackwater

Will Hillary Follow Through On Campaign Pledge To Ban 'Private Mercenaries'?

Justin Elliott | December 15, 2008, 6:36PM

Back in February, Senator Hillary Clinton cosponsored legislation calling for the Secretary of State to ban the use of private contractors like Blackwater from guarding State Department employees -- a position that takes on new significance now that she is Secretary Of State designate.

It was about three weeks after Super Tuesday in the heat of the Democratic primary -- and five months after the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square by now-indicted Blackwater employees working for the State Department -- when Clinton took an aggressive stand against the use of private forces. A strongly-worded statement issued by her office lashed out at "private mercenary firms":

From this war's very beginning, this administration has permitted thousands of heavily-armed military contractors to march through Iraq without any law or court to rein them in or hold them accountable. These private security contractors have been reckless and have compromised our mission in Iraq. The time to show these contractors the door is long past due.

And in late February, Clinton became the sole Senate cosponsor of a bill, S.2398, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act that had been introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

In a major speech on Iraq a couple of weeks later, Hillary reiterated her support for removing private contractors from "combat-oriented and security functions in Iraq."