Just One Example Of Tainted Tim's Ethical Lapses Exposed In The Below Article: Teva Pharmaceuticals gave
him $12,000 for travel to the August 2006 Democratic Governors Association
meeting in Aspen. The Israeli drug company lobbied the state government and
later bought a facility in Forest, Virginia.
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Kaine accepted clothes, vacation as gifts
By Isaac Arnsdorf
The former Virginia governor's $160,000 in
disclosures could be a political liability for Clinton's leading VP pick.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine took advantage of the
state’s lax gift laws to receive an $18,000 Caribbean vacation, $5,500 in
clothes and a trip to watch George Mason University play in the NCAA basketball
Final Four during his years as lieutenant governor and governor, according to
disclosures he filed.
Now a leading contender to be Hillary
Clinton’s running mate, Kaine reported more than $160,000 in gifts from 2001 to
2009, mostly for travel to and from political events and conferences, according
to disclosures compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. The givers
included political supporters, a drug company that soon after bought a facility
in Virginia, and Dominion, the state’s biggest provider of electricity.
While legal under Virginia’s unusually
permissive ethics rules, the gifts could become attack-ad fodder after similar
presents led to corruption charges for Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose conviction the
Supreme Court overturned Monday. Republicans could also use the records to
portray Kaine as part of the self-dealing establishment in a cycle animated by
hostility toward the political class.
...
Virginia’s standards are widely perceived
as too permissive, especially in the wake of the McDonnell case. And even the
appearance of lower standards could become an issue in the national spotlight.
“The danger here is that there’s already a
narrative on Hillary Clinton: It’s crooked cronyism, and any pick or any other
action that drives that narrative is going to be bad for her,” said Matt Moon,
a former Republican National Committee deputy research director, communications
director for the 2014 reelection campaign of Governor Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and
now executive vice president of opposition research consulting firm Delve. “If
you’re on the Clinton campaign side, you want to look at potential
vulnerabilities in how a VP pick would drive an opposition narrative.”
Kaine has acknowledged the defects with his
state’s policies, especially compared with the federal restrictions he now
faces as senator. “With no limit on the amount of such gifts and with the
exceptions for friends and family so broad, Virginia’s system is all but
guaranteed to create problems,” he wrote in a 2013 Washington Post op-ed. “The benefits
of the federal rule are obvious. I regret that I didn’t propose adopting it
when I was governor.”
Shortly after winning the governorship in
2005, Kaine and his family vacationed on the exclusive West Indies island of
Mustique in a house belonging to Charlottesville-area investor James B. Murray
Jr. Murray made a fortune investing in cellphones together with Kaine’s Senate
predecessor, Mark Warner. Murray invited Kaine to spend a week at his house to
relax after the campaign.
“I didn’t consider it a gift: There was no
cash, I just let him use a house,” Murray said in an interview with Politico.
“There was no quid pro quo. I don’t have any business with him.”
For the purpose of the disclosure, Kaine’s
staff determined that $18,000 was the fair market value of a week’s stay. Kaine
paid all his own expenses besides lodging.
“It’s just the kind of thing you do for a
friend, but who’s to draw the line?” Murray said. “It’s probably better to
declare everything.”
Kaine also accepted $5,500 worth of clothes
in 2003 and 2005 from Stuart C. Siegel, a close friend and campaign booster who
was then chairman of a Virginia-based discount menswear company. The disclosure
also lists a baccarat crystal vase, valued at $0. Siegel didn’t answer a
request for comment through a foundation of which he’s a board member.
Most of the gifts came in the form of travel
to conferences or campaign events. President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign gave
Kaine $45,000 for airfare and lodging. Kaine’s own leadership committee, Moving
Virginia Forward, footed $20,000 of travel expenses. The Democratic Party of
Virginia paid almost $11,000.
Richmond-based power company Dominion gave
Kaine $2,000 for travel to meetings of the Democratic Governors Association and
Southern Governors Association and to watch George Mason University play in the
NCAA Final Four in 2006. Kaine rode on Dominion’s jet because he missed the
commercial flight he booked to attend a state legislator’s funeral. A regulated
utility, Dominion lobbies the state on energy policy.
Teva Pharmaceuticals gave him $12,000 for
travel to the August 2006 Democratic Governors Association meeting in Aspen.
The Israeli drug company lobbied the state government and later bought a
facility in Forest, Virginia. BET co-founder Sheila C. Johnson treated him to
$4,250 for two dinners, travel to a charity benefit and a trip to Denver. ADR
Software CEO E. Scott Kasprowicz, a conservationist and an environmental
advocate, paid $3,000 for travel to political and charity galas.
By contrast, Kaine’s successor, Bob
McDonnell, along with his wife, Maureen, accepted — and failed to disclose —
loans and gifts totaling more than $175,000, including vacations, clothes and a
Rolex watch, all from Jonnie Williams, a businessman who wanted government help
promoting a tobacco-based dietary supplement.
In McDonnell’s defense, his lawyers tried to
argue that Kaine accepted more gifts. But as the details of McDonnell’s
indulgences emerged at trial, a jury convicted McDonnell on 11 felony counts in
2014. Before sentencing, Kaine was among many political leaders of both parties
who sent letters asking the judge for leniency, citing McDonnell’s efforts to
restore felons’ voting rights.
“It seems fair to examine any request for
mercy by exploring whether the petitioner has been merciful in similar
circumstances,” Kaine wrote. “I am convinced that Governor McDonnell showed
mercy to convicted felons not for political reasons or because he had anything
personally to gain by doing so.”
McDonnell was sentenced to two years in
prison but appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. This week the justices
vacated the conviction, reasoning that hosting an event or setting up a meeting
didn’t amount to an official act, like a vote, grant or rule, in order to
qualify as corruption.
The original gift disclosures by Kaine that
generated the Virginia Public Access Project’s data were collected by the
Secretary of the Commonwealth but routinely purged after five years.
Donovan Harrell contributed to this report.
________________
Even
before he was picked, Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine was met with
progressive anger for his views on banks, trade, abortion and other positions out of step with the
base she needs to attract. Here’s the greatest
hits from night one:
“Liberal
Groups Were Teed Up To Criticize The Pick” Of Kaine
The Huffington Post: “(Clinton’s) Choice
Could Also Aggravate The Elizabeth Warren Wing Of The Democrat Party…” “Kaine may help
Clinton carry that state, but her choice could also aggravate the Elizabeth
Warren wing of the Democrat Party, which sees the Virginian as a
business-friendly centrist unlikely to champion their top financial reform
goals.” (The
Huffington Post, 7/22/16)
The Washington Post: “Liberal Groups
Were Teed Up To Criticize The Pick” Of Kaine. “Even before Sen.
Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) was unveiled Friday as Hillary Clinton’s running mate,
liberal groups were teed up to criticize the pick.” (The
Washington Post, 7/22/16)
Charles Chamberlain Of Democracy For America
Said Kaine’s Support For Wall Street Should Be “Disqualifying.” “On Thursday, as
speculation was mounting that Kaine would be Clinton’s choice, Charles
Chamberlain, executive director of the activist network Democracy for America,
which backed Sanders in the primaries, said that it should be ‘disqualifying’
for any potential Democratic vice-presidential nominee to ‘help banks dodge
consumer protection standards.’ That was based in part on a bipartisan letter
that Kaine signed on Monday urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to
‘carefully tailor its rulemaking’ regarding community banks and credit unions
so as not to ‘unduly burden’ these institutions with regulations aimed at
commercial banks.” (John
Wagner, “Kaine’s VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups,” The
Washington Post, 7/22/16)
“On Friday, Norman Solomon, The Coordinator
Of A Group Billing Itself As The Bernie Delegates Network, Called Kaine ‘A
Loyal Servant Of Oligarchy.’” (John Wagner, “Kaine’s VP Pick Greeted By
Blowback From Progressive Groups,” The
Washington Post, 7/22/16)
·
“The
Group Has Threatened To Protest During The Democratic Convention If Kaine Is
The Pick.” (John
Wagner, “Kaine’s VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups,” The
Washington Post, 7/22/16)
The Washington Post Headline: “Kaine’s VP
Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups” (The
Washington Post, 7/22/16)
Los Angeles Times Headline:
“Progressive Groups Have Already Warned They Aren't Ready For Tim Kaine” (Los
Angeles Times, 7/22/16)
Politico: “Kaine’s Selection Likely
Won’t Satisfy The Liberal Wing Of The Party…” “Kaine’s selection
likely won’t satisfy the liberal wing of the party, which had pushed for Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) or another liberal stalwart to balance out Clinton.”
(Politico,
7/22/16)
Washington Examiner’s Byron York: “MSNBC
Debate: Kaine Is A Progressive. No, He's Not.” (Twitter.com,
7/22/16)
Los Angeles Times: “Some Progressives
And Former Backers Of (Sanders’) Presidential Candidacy Signaled Their
Dissatisfaction With The Choice Of Sen. Tim Kaine…” “Some progressives
and former backers of Bernie Sanders' presidential candidacy signaled their
dissatisfaction with the choice of Sen. Tim Kaine as Hillary Clinton's running
mate before it was even announced.” (Los
Angeles Times, 7/22/16)
Adam Green, Founder Of The Progressive Change
Campaign Committee, Questioned The Choice Of Kaine And Attacked His Support For
TPP. “Adam
Green, founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which was neutral
in the primary but has ties to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, questioned
the choice of a running mate who supports the Trans Pacific Partnership. ‘It
will be very ironic if voters go into election day thinking Donald Trump is
better on the TPP issues than the Democratic Party,’ he said.” (Michael A. Memoli And
Evan Halper, “Progressive Groups Have Already Warned They Aren't Ready For Tim
Kaine,” Los
Angeles Times, 7/22/16)
Slate’s Nora Caplan-Bricker
Called Kaine’s Selection “A Symbolic Kick In The Teeth For The Feminist
Organizations That Faithfully Championed Hillary Over Bernie Throughout The
Long Primary Season.” “It’s not just that Kaine, like all 47 veeps in our
nation’s history, is a white dude, not a ‘first’ who could have driven home
just how historic Hillary’s candidacy is. He’s also, at least in his personal
views, opposed to abortion due to his Catholic faith—a symbolic kick in the
teeth for the feminist organizations that faithfully championed Hillary over
Bernie throughout the long primary season.” (Slate,
7/22/16)
Complied by the RNC
