Will “Frontline” Dems Accept Tainted Cash from Their “Wall Street Guy” Corzine?
FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: Tim Bishop (NY-01), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Russ Carnahan (MO-03), Ben Chandler (KY-06), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Mark Critz (PA-12), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Jim Matheson (UT-02), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Bill Owens (NY-23), Gary Peters (MI-09), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Tim Walz (MN-01)
DCCC Has Received $130,000 from Jon Corzine, Who is Now Under FBI Investigation for Losing Over $1B in Customer Money and Potentially Breaking the Law
Washington — A high-profile Democrat leader and fundraiser who helped Democrats like Jim Matheson is now under investigation by the FBI for potentially violating Wall Street rules after over a billion dollars of his customers’ money went missing. Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is now set to testify in front of the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday for allegedly breaking the law and squandering his customers’ money. Will Matheson continue to accept this tainted cash as a member of the DCCC “Frontline” program, or will he recognize that taking money from the same people who manipulate the system is partly why Americans are so disenchanted with Washington?
“Jim Matheson would be demonstrating the exact hypocrisy Americans have come to despise in Washington if he keeps accepting tainted money from the Democrats’ disgraced ‘Wall Street guy’ Jon Corzine,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Matheson and his party benefitted from Corzine’s arrogance and greed, but Ameircan families and small businesses are paying the price for his incompetent and risky bet with their investment. With the shamed ex-governor returning to Capitol Hill, this time to testify rather than fundraise for Congressional Democrats, Matheson should use this opportunity to pressure his Democrat leaders at the DCCC to return the $130,000 in dirty money.”
The DCCC has received $130,000 in donations from Jon Corzine. (CQMoneyLine, accessed 11/03/11)
Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was a prolific fundraiser for Washington Democrats:
“The investigation into Corzine’s firm, MF Global, was triggered by reports of hundreds of millions of dollars in missing funds and findings by regulators that MF Global may have broken rules requiring it to keep client’s money and company funds in separate accounts.”
(Michael Isikoff, “Corzine, top Obama fundraiser, under FBI investigation,” MSNBC’s First Read Blog, 11/2/11)President Obama even referred to Corzine as the Democrats’ “Wall Street guy” back in 2008:
But the FBI investigation into Corzine’s risky Enron-style bet has brought increased scrutiny of the political allies he financed:
“The House Agriculture Committee wants Corzine to explain the financial collapse of MF Global and what may have happened to clients’ investments.
“A former U.S. senator from New Jersey and governor of that state, Corzine is a longtime leader of the Democratic Party who served as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2004.”
(Alexander Bolton, “Corzine ties put Dems in tricky position,” The Hill, 12/04/11)Jim Matheson has no excuse to accept the DCCC’s Jon Corzine money while he is under investigation by the FBI. Matheson should either reject the DCCC’s help or compel his leaders there to return their $130,000 haul in tainted money.