Allen Stanford

Through Obscure Non-Profit, Stanford Wooed Lawmakers

Zachary Roth | February 20, 2009, 6:58PM

By now, we've all seen those pictures of Allen Stanford hobnobbing with lawmakers in Antigua. But, with the exception of one trip by Sen. John Cornyn, it wasn't Stanford himself who picked up the tab for these jaunts -- it was an obscure outfit called the Inter-American Economic Council.

And taking a closer look at the IAEC, and its ties to Stanford, sheds some light on how the Texas billionaire gained access to all those members of Congress -- and what he hoped to gain by doing so.

The IAEC's website says that the Washington-based group was founded in 1999 and that it aims to "provide senior Government Officials, leading Business Executives, and Academic Professionals the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about current and future economic strategies in the Hemisphere." And in 2003, the Associated Press reported (via Nexis) that, according to IAEC president Barry Featherman, the organization "relies mostly on contributions from U.S. corporations."

But the group appears to have remarkably close ties to Stanford himself. In this 2006 report, Bloomberg described Stanford as a "principal backer" of the organization. And Stanford Financial told Bloomberg that it had "donated the use of its aircraft" to the IAEC for one 2006 trip to Jamaica that four Democratic lawmakers went on.

That same year, the IAEC gave Stanford its "Excellence in Leadership" award. A press release put out by the group (since removed from its website) declared that Stanford "has strongly supported the work that the IAEC is doing in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Stanford also appears to have taken advantage of IAEC-funded events by showing up personally to schmooze lawmakers. We already posted these shots of current or former lawmakers including Katherine Harris, Pete Sessions, Tom Feeney, James Clyburn, and John Sweeney chilling with Stanford and Caribbean dignitaries in Antigua in 2005.

But there's also another set of interesting shots from the previous year, showing Stanford breaking bread with, and addressing, lawmakers -- including former GOP congressman Bob Ney (since jailed for taking bribes from Jack Abramoff) -- at an IAEC-sponsored event in Washington.

(You can see the slideshow of photographs from that event here.)

What was Stanford talking to lawmakers about? An IAEC press release from (via Nexis) from the event gives a hint. It says that in his speech, Stanford "addressed the need to streamline regulatory regimes that make it difficult for investors to take advantage of all of the opportunities that exist in the region."

And that same year, Newsday reported (via Nexis) on an IAEC-sponsored trip to Jamaica that included Democratic congressman Gregory Meeks. The IAEC, said the paper, hoped to "ease Patriot Act restrictions on offshore banking," and that according to Meeks, "the trip was an effort by the Inter-American Economic Council to explain the hardships the act has imposed on Caribbean banks."

In other words, Stanford and the IAEC used these events to try to convince lawmakers not to crack down on tax loopholes that work to benefit offshore banking -- exactly the loopholes that allowed Stanford to operate his alleged multi-billion-dollar scam, free from regulatory scrutiny, for so long .

In fact, the IAEC even seems to have used its clout to create a new congressional caucus -- the Caribbean Caucus -- made up of may of the lawmakers who went on the IAEC-backed trips.

After one such trip in 2003, attended by then-Rep. Phil Crane (R-IL), among others, Featherman, the IAEC president, revealed that "Congress is expected to form an informal, bipartisan Caribbean caucus to focus on issues of interest to the region," according to the AP (via Nexis).

The Caribbean Caucus would at various times include, among others, Ney, Meeks, Sweeney, Sessions, Feeney, Charlie Rangel, Mel Watt, Donald Payne, Phil English, Steve Chabot, Donna Christensen, Diane Watson, and Al Wynn, all of whom went to events on IAEC's dime.

Indeed, Stanford seems to have had some sway not only over the IAEC, but over the membership of the Caribbean Caucus itself. That Bloomberg story from 2006 reports that it was Stanford himself who asked Sessions to become a member of the caucus. Sessions seems to have agreed.

The IAEC is staying mum about its relationship to Stanford -- it hasn't returned either of TPMmuckraker's calls over the last few days. And the office of Rep. Payne, who was at one time listed as a co-chair, along with Ney, of the Caribbean Caucus, declined to make anyone available to answer TPMmuckraker's questions.

Allen Stanford

Lawmakers' Caribbean Junket With Allen Stanford: The Pictures That Reveal All

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2009, 2:45PM

We've put together a slideshow of that 2005 junket that a group of lawmakers -- including Katherine Harris, Tom Feeney, John Sweeney, James Clyburn, and Pete Sessions, went on to Antigua, paid for by an organization with close ties to Stanford.

Our favorite is the one of Harris and Sir Allen gazing into each other's eyes.

Check it out...

Allen Stanford

Six Degrees Of Allen Stanford

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2009, 2:24PM

Here at TPMmuckraker, the more we think about the Allen Stanford saga, the more it seems like a kind of harmonic convergence of recent high-profile muck.

The emerging story's range of ties -- some incidental, some more substantive -- to some other high-profile scandals of the past few years, from Bermard Madoff to Jack Abramoff to Rod Blagojevich -- is pretty striking.

First, Madoff.

It's not just that questions about the pace of the SEC's Stanford investigation -- including whether the agency's decision to bring charges yesterday was prompted in part by recent news reports -- have to be considered in light of the SEC's well-documented missteps on the Madoff case.

It's also that, according to the SEC complaint, Stanford's investors were exposed to losses via Madoff -- but falsely assured them they weren't.

From the complaint:

In a December 2008 Monthly Report, the bank told investors that their money was safe because SID "had no direct or indirect exposure to any of [Bernard] Madoffs investments."

But, contrary to this statement, at least $400,000 in Tier 2 was invested in Meridian, a New York-based hedge fund that used Tremont Partners as its asset manager. Tremont invested approximately 6-8% of the SIB assets they indirectly managed with Madoffs investment firm.

Pendergest, Davis and Stanford knew about this exposure to loss relating to the Meridian investment. On December 15, 2008, an Analyst informed Pendergast, Davis and Stanford in a weekly report that his "rough estimate is a loss of $400k ... based on the indirect exposure" to Madoff'.

As for Abramoff, we reported yesterday that a bevvy lawmakers with ties to the crooked lobbyist or a history of other ethical problems - including then-GOP members of Congress Bob Ney, Katherine Harris, Tom Feeney, and John Sweeney, as well as current Rep. Charlie Rangel -- went on a 2005 junket to Antigua that was funded by an organization with close links to Stanford.

Indeed, until yesterday, that organization, the Inter-American Economic Council, had photographs from the trip -- showing Harris, Feeney, and pals hobnobbing in splendor with Antiguan dignitaries -- posted on its website. It's since removed them, but not before we saved them. You can see the slideshow here.

And there's also another congressional angle which, though not on a par with the Abramoff sleaze, nonetheless appears to reflect the cynical money-for-access culture that has characterized Washington politics in recent years:

In 2002, as we reported yesterday, after lobbying from Stanford's firm, the Democratic-controlled Senate killed a bill designed to bolster efforts to catch financial fraud. During that cycle, Stanford's company had given an eye-popping $800,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And according to campaign finance records examined by TPMmuckraker, it had also given generously to key Democrats on the Senate Banking committee: $8000 to Chuck Schumer, $6000 to Chris Dodd, and $1000 to then-chair Paul Sarbanes.

So there's that.

What about Blago?

Well, it turns out that, according to lobby disclosure reports examined by TPMmuckraker, one of Stanford's paid lobbyists in 2002 -- the year that the firm was lobbying on the anti-financial-fraud bill -- was John Wyma. One form lists Wyma and his team's work as "Helping them address legislature (sic) which involves financial services companies."

In case you'd forgotten, Wyma used to be one of Blagojevich's closest aides, before cooperating with Pat Fitzgerald's investigation by secretly recording conversations with the then governor.

The two were apparently think as thieves at one time. The Chicago Tribune reported at the time of Blago's arrest:

The governor routinely reported exchanging personal gifts and often appeared at Wyma-sponsored fundraisers where Wyma's clients hobnobbed with the governor before turning over checks for his campaign fund.

Now all we need is a link to the U.S. Attorney firings, and we'll be all set.

Duke Cunningham

Who Did Mitchell Wade Finger? And How Much Does It Matter?

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2008, 11:35AM

On Monday we noted a court filing made recently by defense lawyers for Mitchell Wade, the Duke Cunningham crony who's about to be sentenced in connection with his role in bribery scandal that felled the GOP congressman.

In arguing for a lenient sentence, Wade's lawyers claimed that their client had helped prosecutors' probe "at least five other members of Congress" who were under investigation for "corruption similar to that of Mr. Cunningham."

The blogger and Cunningham expert Seth Hettena named Katherine Harris, the former Florida congresswoman, and Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode as two of those members.

And now Hettena says he's identified the other three: Sen. Dan Inouye (D-HI), Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV), and Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA).

Hettena told Marcus Stern, the former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter who broke much of the Duke Cunningham story and now writes for Pro Publica, that those identifications are based on "information I developed and confirmed with two sources with knowledge of the investigation."

But what does all this amount to? According to Stern, perhaps not much. He writes:

No charges have been filed against any of the five lawmakers, and there is no evidence of any current criminal investigations against any of them. Lewis, Goode, Mollohan and Harris have all come up in the case before and have all denied wrongdoing. As for Inouye, we have called his office for comment. (We'll update the post as soon as we hear back.)

Stern also give us a rundown on what we already know about the alleged involvement of all of these lawmakers:

Lewis, former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, had been under investigation beginning in 2006 by the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles. That case, which focused on Lewis' role in helping lobbyist Bill Lowery get earmarks for his clients (including Cunningham co-conspirator Brent Wilkes), is cold without any charges being filed.

Goode and Harris both were beneficiaries of a combined $78,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Wade and helped Wade in his efforts to get multimillion-dollar military intelligence contracts through earmarks.

But prosecutors have repeatedly said there was no evidence the two lawmakers knew the contributions were illegal and they are not the targets of any current investigations. Harris left the House to pursue a quixotic and failed bid in 2006 to win a seat in the U.S. Senate. Goode is awaiting a recount in his 2008 House race, with the initial tally showing he narrowly lost.

Mollohan received $23,000 in campaign contributions and gifts to a family foundation from Wade's company, MZM Inc., and another firm that did business with MZM, Hettena wrote in his blog on Monday, adding that in October 2002, MZM gave $20,000 to Mollohan's Summit PAC. The legality of those contributions has never been challenged.

The link to Inouye, set to take over the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, is less clear but appears to involve the activities of one of Wade's co-conspirators, defense contractor Brent Wilkes, according to Hettena. There are no known allegations of misconduct against Inouye in connection with the Cunningham scandal.

But don't despair, fellow scandal junkies. Stern notes that a memo filed by prosecutors in the Wade case said that Wade had provided information for a "large an important corruption investigation" unrelated to the Cunningham matter.

Worth keeping an eye on...

Duke Cunningham

Lawyers: Wade Helped Prosecutors Probe Five Other Members Of Congress

Zachary Roth | December 1, 2008, 1:50PM

Could we see more members of Congress charged in connection with the investigation into the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal?

Lawyers for Mitchell Wade, the former defense contractor who pleaded guilty in 2006 to bribing his friend Cunningham, filed a "sentencing memo" last week claiming that Wade had helped prosecutors' efforts to look into "at least five other members of Congress" who were under investigation for "corruption similar to that of Mr. Cunningham."

The Washington Post adds:

Although none of those members is named, two are under investigation, according to the memorandum, and "three others have come under scrutiny for their receipt of straw contributions" from former Wade employees and one for the possible receipt of undisclosed gifts.

The existence of the memo -- which argued for a more lenient sentence for Wade -- was first reported on the blog of the investigative reporter Seth Hettena, who has published a book on the Cunningham scandal.

Hettena writes that former GOP Florida congresswoman Katherine Harris (yes, that Katherine Harris), and Virginia Republican Rep. Virgil Goode -- who has apparently lost his Virginia seat -- are likely on that list of five. (We told you about Harris' and Goode's connections to the scandal back in 2006).

Hettena adds: "Wade wanted to open facilities in their districts and made $78,000 in "straw" contributions to grease the wheels. Neither Harris nor Goode has been charged with wrongdoing."

Katherine Harris

Pink Sugar Update: It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...

Paul Kiel | February 5, 2007, 12:04PM

...to such a sweet parking spot. From Roll Call's Heard on the Hill column (sub. req.):

As an incredulous HOH tipster put it — under the subject line “WTF?” — “Katherine Harris still parks her $100,000 BMW convertible in the Cannon HOB parking garage.”

HOH believes the value of Harris’ lovely BMW 645ci convertible coupe is probably more like $70,000, but he can confirm that the ex-lawmaker has indeed been parking it regularly in the Cannon House Office Building since she lost her day job. The car was there Friday evening, in the same spot where she always parked when she actually worked in that building.

Is that kosher? The car still had a medallion hanging in it from the 109th Congress, and a House Administration aide said Friday that House officials were still in the process of distributing parking permits for the 110th Congress. So for now, cars with permits from the 109th are being allowed in the garages. After that, Harris may have to find somewhere else to park the car when she’s visiting her old digs. HOH misses her already.

Harris was, of course, last spotted handing out business cards before the State of The Union address. Business cards for what, however, we don't know, since our determined efforts to procure one came up empty. So if anyone happened to get one....

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Goodbye's Too Good a Word, Dear

Justin Rood | December 15, 2006, 11:47AM

Starting today, it looks like we'll be all out of Pink Sugar.

Former Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) taxpayer-funded telephone lines at her 13th District office will be cut off today, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. The failed GOP senatorial candidate said it is a "new beginning."

(Since I read that comment, I've been scouring the Web to find a clip of the Dana Carvey Saturday Night Live sketch in which he performs the original song, "New Beginning," but I just can't find it. Does anybody know if one exists online?)

Katherine -- thanks for the memories.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Don't Call It a Comeback!

Justin Rood | November 27, 2006, 10:44AM

Rumors are flying that Katherine "Pink Sugar" Harris may try to re-take her House seat in 2008, Roll Call's "Heard on the Hill" column reports (sub. req.).

Harris gave up the seat, which represents Florida's 13th District, in order to mount her disastrous Senate bid. That district is now the scene of a hotly contested election. Republicans say their candidate, Vern Buchanan, won the seat by a few hundred votes; Democrats charge voting machine glitches illegally prevented thousands of Democratic votes from being counted.

Needless to say, Buchanan would need to lose this fight so Harris could run in '08. And the federal investigation into Harris would need to conclude without indictment. So for now, us rakers can only wait. .. and hope.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: It's Getting Dark, Too Dark to See

Justin Rood | November 7, 2006, 8:19PM

With a handful of votes counted in Florida, CNN is already calling Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) a loser in her Senate race.

She'll always be Pink Sugar to us.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Feds Still Probing

Justin Rood | November 2, 2006, 10:40AM

The St. Petersburg Times reports:

Federal investigators have interviewed at least two more former chiefs of staff to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris as part of a federal inquiry into her relationship with a convicted defense contractor.

Dan Berger and Ben McKay, who both worked for Harris in her first term and are now lobbyists in Washington, confirmed the interviews this week and said it was their understanding all congressional staff would likely be questioned. The two spoke separately to three investigators from the FBI and the Defense Department in Washington several weeks ago.

Two more former staffers interviewed, plus four that were earlier reported -- that makes at least six former Harris staffers questioned by the FBI.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: The Divine Secrets of One Seriously Ya-Ya Sister

Justin Rood | October 31, 2006, 11:39AM

Oh, Katie. We're going to miss you.

Our "Pink Sugar" stormed through the Washington Post Style section this morning, throwing crazy comments every which way like so many uprooted palm trees in a hurricane, insisting she will beat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) in next Tuesday's election, despite trailing by a jillion points in every poll ever taken.

But how crazy is she? We sense a subtext to her madness.

Harris is a "wannabe" Jew, did you know that? Israelis mistake her for being Jewish, and sometimes talk to her in Hebrew, she says. "I can remember riding my bike to piano lessons and thinking about Israel," she says of her youth. "I thought I was adopted for a while." (Subtext: do you forgive me yet, Palm Beach County?)

Perhaps worried that she was being out-crazied by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), who's blamed his recent troubles with the FBI on a complicated left-wing conspiracy, Harris alleges she's beseiged by an even more complicated meta-conspiracy, "encompassing both the 'liberal media' and the Republican 'elite,'" as the Post describes it. (Subtext: I'm a uniter, not a divider.)

Do you remember her promises to spend her $10 million inheritance getting elected? Then she said, no, she's going to sell all of her assets and spend that on her campaign as well. Then she said she wasn't spending her inheritance, just her assets, which totaled $10 million so what's the difference? Now, she tells the Post that the $3 million she's put in is all she's going to spend. "[That's] everything that I have liquid," she told the paper. (Subtext: I'm frugal -- maybe give me a seat on Appropriations?)

But the greatest news of all is, Pink Sugar's writing a book! It will detail the multitudinous indignities visited upon her during her Senate run -- by fellow GOPers, the press, and possibly the Starbucks barista who didn't make her coffee hot enough. "It's going to be great," she promises. (Subtext: Give me C-SPAN, or I'm taking Oprah hostage.)

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: I'm Sellin' My House... I Swear!

Paul Kiel | October 18, 2006, 5:16PM

The stage is set for Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) dramatic last minute comeback. She's down 20 points in the polls. Her campaign is way behind in fundraising ($1 million in the bank compared to Sen. Bill Nelson's $6.8 million). She's a national laughingstock. But she's not giving up. She won't ever give up. In fact, she's even going to sell her Washington D.C. house.

That's right. To prove that she's "committed," Harris has said that she's selling her home to generate campaign funds.

All she has to do is find the right buyer. But as The Orlando Sentinel notes, Pink Sugar seems to be taking her own sweet time:

Harris has talked about selling her Washington, D.C. home for months, but former staffers have said they saw no sign she was preparing to do so. On Tuesday, two Washington real-estate agents said there is no indication the four-bedroom house near Capitol Hill was ever placed in the multiple-listing service, a database of properties for sale.

Harris' spokeswoman tells the paper that Harris isn't going the realtor route, but that doesn't mean it's not for sale:

Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks said Harris is not using a multiple-listing service. She said Harris has already shown the home to potential buyers and has someone available to show the home when she is not in Washington.

"She's hopeful she'll be able to sell her Washington residence shortly," Marks said.

Hmm. A cynic would note that it's probably a good move for Harris to sell her Washington home regardless -- since she'll likely be out of office by January. But with only three weeks left in the campaign, she doesn't seem to be in much of a rush.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" A Legend At the Festival

Justin Rood | October 11, 2006, 9:04AM

We don't even get to write our own punch lines now. This latest from Central Florida News 13:

If you navigate to U.S. Senate Candidate Katherine Harris' website, you will notice the top headline/press release reads, "Harris Beats Nelson -- Leads 54%-45%.

However, it's not until clicking on the link that you're informed the results came from a straw poll taken at the Lakeland Bi-Annual Politics in the Park.

In the rest of Florida, she's trailing incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) by over 30 points.

Update: The "straw poll" was worse than I thought. Apparently, you had to pay $25 to vote in it. And that even goes for the 6-year-olds. Also, Harris trails by slightly less than 30 points, not "over 30 points," as I wrote earlier.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: No One Here Gets Out Alive

Justin Rood | September 26, 2006, 9:45AM

We've long observed how Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) has succeeded in setting fire to her own political ambitions. But speculation is growing that she could cause casualties beyond her own Senate dreams.

Harris has trailed by as many as 30 percentage points behind incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). Although we note with admiration that she has recently trimmed his lead to a mere 18 points now, no one outside the Harris campaign expects the gap to disappear -- or switch to Harris' favor.

Now the New York Times reports that Harris may claim casualties beyond herself. The House seat she gave up to run for Senate, once a sure thing for Republicans, is now in danger of falling into Democratic hands.

Read more »

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Yet More Evidence That Politics Is Like Junior High

Justin Rood | September 20, 2006, 6:04PM

Ouch. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) -- our Pink Sugar, bless her heart -- wasn't slated to appear at a campaign rally with Gov. Jeb Bush and the GOP candidate to replace him, Charlie Christ. Rumors swirl she wasn't invited.

At the last minute, Harris added the event to her schedule, and the fellas graciously made a place for her. The two men "denied there had been any effort. . . to keep Harris away from the event." Yeah, right. The old, 'I thought he was going to invite you.' 'No, I thought you were going to invite her!'

Man, I bet the kids used to pull that on her in the sixth grade. It still hurts.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Katie Wins Primary

Justin Rood | September 6, 2006, 8:28AM

AP reports:

Rep. Katherine Harris, who as secretary of state oversaw Florida's 2000 recount that gave George Bush the presidency, easily won the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Bill Nelson, shrugging off critics who derided her campaign as spectacularly inept.

"Tonight I say to Bill Nelson: Come home, Bill. Enough is enough," Harris said Tuesday.

Also, apparently it's now okay for mainstream reporters to state as fact that Harris is "widely ridiculed" -- that's generally the kind of observation journos like to hedge behind a quote. Anyway, Katie, I'm glad you're still with us. On to November!

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" Pushes God, as the Money Runs out

Justin Rood | August 26, 2006, 1:10PM

Oh, Katie.

Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) has set fire to her own ambitions yet again, this time declaring to reporters, "if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin."

It's increasingly clear to observers that the Harris for Senate campaign has become, in essence, a Civil War re-enactment of Sherman's march through Atlanta, with Harris playing Sherman and her campaign playing Atlanta. Even the tone of media coverage of her antics seems to have shifted, to be no more or less than a somber and respectfully brief, unflourished recounting of the mayhem that she has caused.

That's probably because she's down roughly 30 points in recent polls, so her self-immolating displays hardly matter. Hence reporters are more likely to give only a spare report of the facts, insert an obligatory Democratic "outrage" quote, make a sympathetic call to Harris' spokeswoman for whatever clean-up statement she's allowed to give, and call it a day.

What's more, it turns out Harris may not even have the money to fund her own self-destruction. The $10 million of her own money she promised to pour into her campaign -- which was necessary, because she couldn't raise outside funds to keep going -- doesn't exist, according to a new report.

Read more »

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Aide, Zen Riddler, Quits Campaign

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 8:32AM

Rhyan Metzler, the Harris campaign aide who reported a fallen tree despite no one else having heard or seen it come down, left soon after questions were raised about the incident.

The backstory: on Thursday, Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) held a rally for her struggling Senate campaign in an airport hangar -- a building which dwarfed the meager 40-person crowd that showed up.

When asked why about the rally's size, "Harris blamed the paltry turnout . . . on a last-minute location change caused by a falling tree," the Palm Beach Post reported.

Reporters checked with the airport and were told there had been no reports of any trees falling there.

When the inconsistency was noted to the Harris campaign, spokeswoman Jennifer Marks blamed Metzler, the political director, for telling Harris the tree story.

When the Post reached Metzler by phone, "He said the tree incident was 'not necessarily' the reason for his quitting. He hung up when asked for further reasons," the paper reported.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Campaign Bravely Toes Line between Farce, Tragedy

Justin Rood | August 18, 2006, 2:58PM

The Orlando Sentinel's Jim Stratton brings us scenes from what's left of the Harris campaign Thursday, which hosted a campaign rally at which none of the nine elected officials listed on the event's flyer showed up.

Stratton, whose comic sensibility appears matched only by his eye for tragic detail, reports that one official, State Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, insists he never endorsed Harris nor promised to attend any rally. Harris insisted the man was lying.

"They called back twice and said he'd be here," Harris told the Sentinel. "He said he was going to be here on the stage with me today."

As a result, Stratton reports, "the most prominent official on hand was former state Rep. Allen Trovillion, who left office four years ago." Trovillion appears not to have been listed on the flyer.

Without the nine guest stars, Harris was alone in addressing a crowd of about 40 people -- and that number includes the reporters and campaign aides.

Read more »

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: You Can Pick -- Your Friends, Nose; You Can't Pick: Your Primary Endorsements

Justin Rood | August 17, 2006, 8:43AM

From the St. Pete (Fla.) Times:

In the U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Katherine Harris has been touting key political endorsements from fellow Republican lawmakers. The problem is, some of them never endorsed her.

Several members of the U.S. House called the Harris campaign to complain Wednesday after the St. Petersburg Times notified them of the endorsements listed on Harris' Web site. Minutes later, their names were removed.

The list of politicians whose names came down includes Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville, Cliff Stearns of Ocala, Mark Foley of West Palm Beach and Jeff Miller of the Panhandle. . . .

Chris Ingram and Glenn Hodas, who both recently worked on the Harris campaign, said Harris told them to use the endorsements of members even if they hadn't confirmed their support in writing.

Porter Goss

Latte Alert: Former Bush CIA Chief Drinks 'Em

Justin Rood | August 14, 2006, 9:58AM

Since learning that Rep. Katherine Harris drinks Starbucks lattes, we've put the word out to our network of Washington informants: if you see anyone important ordering coffee, we want to know.

The Muckphone rang a little after nine this morning: Recently deposed CIA chief Porter Goss was just in a Starbucks on Capitol Hill, a reliable tipster told me. I saw him order a grande latte.

Fascinating. The former GOP House intelligence committee chairman, hand-picked by Bush to bring the CIA to heel, sips Starbucks?

Interesting trivia, to be sure. But with two prominent GOP partisans quaffing Starbucks brew -- and big ones, at that -- let me put this question out there: isn't it about time to put to rest this canard that only liberals sip lattes?

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch EXTRA EXTRA! Evidence Mounts "Pink Sugar" Not So Sweet

Justin Rood | August 11, 2006, 2:32PM

Man! Y'all are getting a triple venti extra-hot non-fat serving of Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) news today. Hope you got your pink sugar ready!

Over at Election Central, Michael Powell catches even more news today of minion mistreatment by the Recount Queen.

Watch out, it's strong stuff. Here's just a taste:

Once, she threw her cell phone at a wall. Another time she slammed a computer keyboard into a desk... To younger staffers, she would say "What are you, stupid?" or "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard" while complaining the campaign did not have enough Ivy League-educated employees. To older staffers, she would say, "You ruined my life."

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch EXTRA! Ex-Con Drives the Pink Sugarmobile

Justin Rood | August 11, 2006, 11:45AM

That's right: Driving Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) around for her Florida campaign is a man thrice accused and twice convicted of embezzlement, the Miami Herald reports.

Bruce Carlton Jordan, now 42, was first accused of stealing from his employer in 1998, but paid back the $5,000 his coworkers said he'd taken.

In 2003, Jordan -- who's said to be a longtime friend of Harris', as well as of Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Christ -- made over $6,500 worth of unauthorized purchases on a credit card belonging to the Florida Funeral Directors' Association, of which he was executive director. He also wrote himself nearly $3,500 in checks from the group's PAC.

In 2005, while on probation for those lapses in judgement, Jordan bamboozled over $3,000 out of his new employer, Florida Workers' Advocates, by abusing his boss' credit card, falsifying expense statements, and writing fake checks drawing on the organization's accounts.

Jordan now works as a volunteer on Harris' campaign, as her driver and "personal assistant," the paper reports. They did not confirm if he had access to the campaign's funds.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" to Debate Self

Justin Rood | August 11, 2006, 8:30AM

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports -- with bonus revenge quote from former Harris staffer:

Katherine Harris won't have to worry about her opponents in the U.S. Senate race taking more shots at her during a candidates' "showdown" in Jacksonville today.

They weren't invited.

Although the Florida League of Cities promoted its forum today as one of the first to bring all of the gubernatorial and Senate candidates together, the nonpartisan group didn't invite any of the three Republicans challenging Harris on the Sept. 5 ballot. They did, however, invite Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary. . . . Nelson has already said he won't be able to attend.

"It's a one-person debate," said Chris Ingram, a former Harris spokesman, who is now the spokesman for LeRoy Collins, one of Harris' three Republican challengers. "I hope she doesn't lose."

Katherine Harris

Harris Update: Blame the Long-Gone Staffers Edition

Paul Kiel | August 9, 2006, 1:03PM

It's 1 o'clock; do you know where your Katherine Harris update is?

Right here. One of Harris' primary opponents is blasting Harris for a campaign mailer sent out in June, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Titled "Campaign 2006: Fact and Fiction," the mailer is an upbeat take on Harris' chances in November.

To bolster that case, the mailer cites the endorsements of Jeb Bush and Florida Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan. And it cites a poll showing Harris trailing Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) by a mere 3.9 percentage points.

Except, well, none of that is true. Bush and Jordan haven't endorsed Harris - quite the opposite. Jordan has asked Harris to drop out of the race. And that poll is more than ten months old. Harris trails Nelson by approximately thirty points.

Harris responds, her head held high:

"It has been brought to our attention that a letter was drafted and distributed by former campaign staff members, without the Congresswoman's knowledge or approval, making false claims regarding endorsements. This type of negligent behavior is a primary example of why Congresswoman Harris has been forced to let many of her former staff members go; their lack of professionalism and integrity continues to haunt her to this day...."

Hmm. There was a mass departure of staffers in July (it wasn't the first), but we've never heard of Harris firing any of them. So it seems that not only has she blamed the problem on the staffers who fled the sinking ship of her campaign, but it sounds like she's trying to spin their departure as some sort of housecleaning, as if her campaign weren't desperate for aides. Maybe she fired them after they quit?

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Did "Pink Sugar" Play the Race Card?

Justin Rood | August 8, 2006, 9:27AM

From the NBC affiliate in Ft. Myers, Fla.:

[At a local Republican meeting, Will] McBride [Harris' leading opponent in the GOP primary] became upset after a Harris supporter posed a particular question to him that he felt was over the line.

"She asked me why I changed my name to McBride to hide the fact that I was Hispanic," said McBride. "I've been William Richard McBride my whole life. I'm proud of my Hispanic culture."

But what may have concerned him more than the question itself was the person he believes was behind it - a Harris staff member named "Eddie." . . .

"After the meeting, I went with a Miami Herald reporter and I asked her, 'Who put you up to that question,' and she said, 'I'm sorry Mr. McBride. It wasn't my idea. It was the campaign. It was the Harris campaign,'" said McBride. . . .

"Nothing can be farther from the truth," said Harris. "If anyone has been found to do that, they would be fired immediately. But no one in my staff has done such behavior."

But when she was asked specifically about Eddie, Harris would not give a direct answer.

Reporter: "Was Eddie fired?"
Harris: "We will not condone any behavior like that."
Reporter: "But was he fired?"
Harris: "Thank you. Thank you."

Katherine Harris

The Collateral Damage of a Harris Defeat

Justin Rood | August 4, 2006, 11:00AM

A couple days ago, Reader JS wrote in with this observation:

It looks to be a given that [Rep. Katherine] Harris [(R-FL)] will (a) get the [GOP Senate] nomination; and (b) lose big. But I haven't seen any speculation on whether she will be a drag on Republican chances in Congressional races in FL.

An interesting observation, I thought. What do the experts think? I checked around, and it turns out JS was on to something. Harris' tenacity is perilous for at least one GOP House candidate in Florida.

Here's what I learned: as a Senate candidate, Harris is poised to ride near the top of the Florida Republican ticket. Unfortunately, she's expected to boost turnout statewide by Democrats eager to vote against her -- and she's thought to have the reverse effect on Florida Republicans, who seem increasingly concerned about sending this erratic, scandal-tainted character back to Washington, lest she provide a bigger embarrassment to their party.

Most Florida races are all but locked up. But one -- ironically, Palm Beach County's 22nd District -- is neck-and-neck. And the GOP incumbent, Clay Shaw Jr., is said to be deeply concerned about the political price he may pay for Harris' candidacy. ("So Shaw's really biting his nails over this?" I asked one professional election-watcher. "To the bone," she replied.)

A Democratic victory in the FL-22 race, by the way, is thought by some to be key to the party's takeover of the House.

Update: An earlier version of this post was written under the delusion there was no FL governor's race this year.

Katherine Harris

Feds' Queries into Harris Grow

Justin Rood | August 3, 2006, 7:20PM

At least four former aides to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) have now been contacted or interviewed by the FBI as part of a widening investigation into wrongdoing by lawmakers and special interests.

We learned yesterday that Harris' former chief of staff (Fred Asbell) and a top campaign adviser (Ed Rollins) spoke with investigators curious to know more about Harris' involvement with Mitchell Wade, the man who has admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). Harris took thousands of dollars from Wade, and attempted to win his company an earmark. (She failed.)

Now, AP reports that two more former staffers -- one from the Hill, one from the campaign -- have been interviewed by the Feds:

[T]he FBI this week called a former congressional staff member and asked if she would talk about Harris. The woman said she would cooperate, but an interview was not scheduled. A former campaign staff member said he also was contacted by the FBI Wednesday, but has not yet been interviewed. Neither wanted to give their names because of the continuing investigation.

Harris continues to maintain she is not a subject of the investigation.

Katherine Harris

Harris: I Didn't Report Subpoena Because I Didn't Have To

Justin Rood | August 2, 2006, 7:10PM

I just spoke with Jennifer Marks, the campaign spokeswoman for Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) Senate bid. Responding to my question this morning -- why didn't Harris report her subpoena to the Speaker of the House, as House rules require, Marks gave the following statement:

"It is important to point out that the Department of Justice has informed Congresswoman Harris she is not a target of the investigation. Our campaign has helped the Department of Justice in every way they have asked, and there have been no requests of the congresswoman personally, or of her congressional office, that would require a report to the House Speaker."

Marks repeatedly declined my requests to elaborate beyond that statement.

Katherine Harris

Did Harris Break Rule, Hide Subpoena from House Leaders?

Justin Rood | August 2, 2006, 11:52AM

It's unfortunate that after receiving a federal grand jury subpoena, Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) declined to mention it to her Senate campaign staff.

But it appears she also declined to share it with the Speaker of the House -- and that's a violation of House rules.

As we've seen most recently in the case of Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) heavily-subpoenaed office (wham, bam, thank you and ma'am), any representative or staffer receiving a subpoena concerning any work-related issue must disclose it, and an announcement is subsequently published in the Congressional Record. It's called "House Rule VIII," and it's cited in just about every disclosure.

Yet a search of the Record turns up no mention of a subpoena for Harris.

"The rule's pretty clear," Andrew Herman, a Washington, D.C. defense lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics and investigations, told me. "I don't think this is a close question. She got subpoenaed, they're investigating, it's her obligation" to disclose the matter to the House leadership.

A spokesman in her Capitol Hill office referred my questions to Harris' Florida campaign staff. There, a spokeswoman took a message and promised to look into the matter. My call to the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) wasn't immediately returned.

If Harris indeed violated Rule VIII, she likely faces little more than a slap on the wrist. Violations of House rules are handled by the House Ethics Committee, which hasn't shown a compulsion to do much enforcing of anything.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" Hid Subpoena from Staff

Justin Rood | August 2, 2006, 8:26AM

Good morning! Here's your steaming mug of Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL):

U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators and concealed the fact from top campaign advisers hired to help her deflect negative publicity, her former campaign manager has disclosed.

"Yes, there was a subpoena. She didn't tell us," said Glenn Hodas, Harris' third and most recent campaign manager. He said he learned of it in June while reviewing invoices from powerhouse Washington lawyer Benjamin J. Ginsberg and confronted his boss.

The story, from today's Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, notes a couple other new details in Harris' case:

- In addition to interviewing former Harris strategist Ed Rollins, the Feds have now also interviewed Fred Asbell, Harris' former chief of staff on Capitol Hill.

- Harris is no longer represented by her high-paid D.C. insider lawyer, Benjamin Ginsburg. There's no mention of who replaced him.

Katherine Harris

Florida GOP to Harris: We Never Loved You

Paul Kiel | July 31, 2006, 3:04PM

The AP reveals today that the Florida Republican Party did all they could back in May to convince Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) to drop her bid for the U.S. Senate -- even sent her a letter revoking its support. Harris, of course, was undeterred.

From the AP:

Party Chairman Carole Jean Jordan made a last-ditch attempt in the confidential May 7 letter to force Harris out of the race for the nomination to challenge Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record).....

The letter was also signed by national committeewoman Sharon Day and national committeeman Paul Senft.

"Katherine, though it causes us much anguish, we have determined that your campaign faces irreparable damage," the letter said. "We feel that we have no other choice but to revoke our support."

"The polls tell us that no matter how you run this race, you will not be successful in beating Bill Nelson, who would otherwise be a vulnerable incumbent if forced to face a stronger candidate," it said...."

The state Republican Party confirmed the letter's contents Monday. In a statement, Jordan said she was "disappointed" that the private letter had been made public but added that "our concerns about the race and Congresswoman Harris' campaign still exist."

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" Picks Fourth Campaign Manager

Justin Rood | July 28, 2006, 1:05PM

Rep. Katherine "Pink Sugar" Harris (R-FL) just hired her fourth manager to run her calamitous Senate campaign. Reports the Tampa Tribune:

In a statement, Harris said she was "delighted" to have [Bryan] Rudnick on her team, saying he "has over 10 years of experience in Florida politics."

That seemed to be a bit of a stretch, since Rudnick was a senior at Brandeis University in the spring of 2000.

OK, so maybe not 10 years of experience -- but he does appear to have been politically active. News accounts in 2000 show he fought (successfully) to bring NRA spokesman/Moses impersonator Charlton Heston to speak on campus. The school balked at first, saying security costs would be too high, but Rudnick didn't back down, the Boston Herald reported:

"They paid $126,000 for security for the Dali Lama [sic] but are only willing to pay $5,000 for Heston's," said Bryan Rudnick, one of the conservative kids trying to bring Charlton to campus.

Yeah, what's up with that? Maybe if the Dalai LAma packed heat the way Charlie does, he wouldn't need so much security.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Former Flack Joins Enemy Camp

Justin Rood | July 27, 2006, 10:55AM

The Bradenton (Fla.) Herald reports:

Katherine Harris' former communications director has joined the campaign of one of her Republican opponents for the U.S. Senate, LeRoy Collins Jr.

Katherine Harris

Katherine Harris' Starbucks Order, Decoded!

Justin Rood | July 26, 2006, 5:24PM

With the help of numerous readers, the Starbucks Web site and a Washington, D.C.-area barista, we've cracked the code of Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) coffee order -- "Triple Venti, no fat, no foam, extra hot, with pink sugar."

Triple Venti : Likely a latte with three shots of espresso in it. A Starbucks "venti" latte and its smaller cousin, the "grande" latte, both have two shots of espresso; thus a "triple" would add another shot.

No Fat: Skim milk. Should properly be ordered as "non-fat," according to Starbucks. Reporter may have mis-heard.

No Foam: Just what it means. (I should note that some traditionalists believe (rightly, I posit) that a latte should have no foam at all, making this qualifier redundant. Starbucks baristas, however, are ordered to include a "quarter-inch" of foam on their latte creations "to create a delicate first impression," according to the company Web site.)

Extra Hot: I'm not sure Starbucks really has an extra-hot coffee; I believe their machines -- and corporate lawyers -- regulate their temperatures precisely and absolutely. My guess is, baristas hear this and go "uh-huh," because it's easier than fighting with a customer. Especially if, well, the customer terrifies you.

with Pink Sugar: "A fancy way to say Sweet and Low," as one reader commented.

You can say a lot of things, pardner. But you can't say that's a quitter's drink. That's an in-it-to-win-it special.

Late Update: Starbucks does indeed make "extra-hot" lattes for those who request one, according to a company spokesman. "[T]hey will receive a beverage at approximately 180 degrees. Starbucks milk-based beverages are normally prepared at temperatures between 150-170 degrees," Alan Hilowitz told me in an email.

Reader HD, a barista, chimes in: "We call drinks like hers 'princess drinks' at my store."

Katherine Harris

What Katherine Harris Orders at Starbucks

Justin Rood | July 26, 2006, 3:01PM

"Triple Venti, no fat, no foam, extra hot, with pink sugar." I'm not kidding.

Update: Pink sugar?

Late Update: My astute colleague Paul notes that Starbucks has been a source of friction between Harris and her staff in the past. ("Everything is someone else's fault," Ed Rollins, a strategist who left the campaign in April, told the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger earlier this month. "If there's not a Starbucks coffee house within distance, it's someone else's fault.")

Also, Paul wonders, what's a "Triple Venti"? Is that three Ventis? Wouldn't that require, like, a wheelbarrow?

Late, Late Update: Reader LM thinks he's solved the "pink sugar" mystery: "Surely, she must be referring to Sweet N Low, which comes in a pink-colored packet."

Duke Cunningham

Congress Drags Feet, Impedes Cunningham Probe

Justin Rood | July 26, 2006, 2:17PM

It has been nearly five months since Justice Department prosecutors working the Duke Cunningham corruption case first requested information from three key House committees. To date, they haven't got a scrap of paper in return, nor a single interview with a staffer, Roll Call's John Bresnahan reports today.

In May, if you recall, anonymous Hill denizens whined to the media that if they really tried to comply, Congress would "shut down."

DoJ wants information stretching back to 1997, and requests that broad could lead them to knock on many new doors. Independent reports have already confirmed that as offshoots of the Cunningham probe, the DoJ is looking into Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Katherine Harris (R-FL), and possibly others, as well as former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) -- and, of course, Cunningham himself.

What would ten years of records and information about a corrupt congressman uncover? Apparently, that's for Congress to know, and the rest of America to wonder about -- for a while. Congress' August recess is coming up, which provides another reason for them to do nothing. Will Justice let them get away with it?

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Recount Queen Now Down by 38 Points

Justin Rood | July 26, 2006, 8:54AM

New polls are out for the Florida Senate race, and they show support for Rep. Katherine Harris dropping -- among the hardcore GOP voters, especially.

Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, said "it is apparent" that the Harris campaign has "gone into a free fall."

A new Strategic Vision poll, meanwhile, puts Nelson up by 38 points. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

But perhaps more striking than Nelson's lead is the crumbling of support for Harris, R-Longboat Key, among party members likely to vote in the GOP primary.

Just 36 percent now say they would vote for Harris, down from 72 percent four months ago, according to Mason-Dixon.

As usual, the view from inside Harris' campaign is markedly different from the one outside.

Inside: Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks dismissed the poll numbers, saying Harris had a "history of gracefully rebounding despite negative predictions and questionable polls."

Outside: "I've never seen a candidate implode in slow motion, like she has," said Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "She's become this walking, talking political time bomb, and she lit the fuse herself."

Virgil Goode

VA Lawmaker: Despite MZM Dealings, Still No Call from Feds

Justin Rood | July 25, 2006, 12:39PM

Last week we learned the Feds have hit up Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) for information about her dealings with Mitchell Wade, the fraudster who's confessed to giving fraudulent "straw" donations to Harris, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), and a third lawmaker: Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA).

Bad news hit Goode's re-election campaign this weekend, when an employee of Wade's old company, MZM, pleaded guilty to making fraudulent contributions to Goode's campaign, and agreed to cooperate with investigators. To date, Justice has stated only that they do not have any indication Goode was aware the donations were fake. But the plea deal from senior MZM exec Richard Berglund raises the question: what if he knows something?

Duke's in jail, of course; and Harris is clearly an object of scrutiny for the Feds. But Goode, who took something close to $90,000 from Wade and other employees of his company, MZM -- and helped win them a sweet deal for a Defense Department facility in Goode's district -- insists the Feds have yet to reach his doorstep.

"He has not been" contacted by the DoJ, Goode spokesman Linwood Duncan told me this morning. That's about as flat a denial as one could ask for. Duncan had been more shaded in his comments to reporters this weekend, saying only that "as far as I know, nothing has changed" since March, when Goode had that he hadn't been contacted by investigators.

Katherine Harris

Whispers: Harris Could Still Drop From FL Senate Race. Right?

Justin Rood | July 25, 2006, 9:07AM

It sounds like some GOPers are wheeling out a new wishful deus ex machina to keep their hopes alive for the Florida Senate race: Harris might drop out as soon as she wins the GOP primary. Courtesy of the Bradenton (FL) Herald:

An interesting rumor floating around both local and D.C. political circles has a little bit of intrigue and one big hole.

If Katherine Harris can win the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, and then drop out, then the Republican Party of Florida would be permitted to enter a candidate of its own choosing against Democrat Bill Nelson who, one year ago, was referred to as vulnerable, but is now cruising with a 30-point lead in the polls.

Hm. Sound familiar?

(The aforementioned "hole" in the rumor is, of course, that Harris shows no sign of getting out, despite months of overt and covert pressure from her party.)