Earlier this summer, we wrote about GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan getting hit with a consumer fraud lawsuit by ex-employees of his various auto dealerships in Florida. Things have gotten even more interesting in recent days, as two ex-employees behind the lawsuit are detailing additional allegations that they faced pressure to donate to Buchanan’s congressional campaign in 2006, and were offered cash gifts and other favors as inducements:
Bell, the former finance director at Venice Nissan Dodge, said the day he made a $1,000 donation to the Buchanan campaign, he was given $1,000 in cash from his boss at the auto dealership.
Bell gave the Herald-Tribune bank records, which included copies of a canceled check dated Sept. 17, 2005, to the Buchanan campaign for $1,000 and a cash deposit made to his account the same day for $960. He said he took the rest as spending money.
“I was told I was going to be reimbursed,” Bell said. “I either had to do this, or I was told I wouldn’t be considered a team player. I took it as a threat. There was no gray area.”
This sort of thing is, of course, very illegal:
Federal election law prohibits “using coercion, such as the threat of a detrimental job action, the threat of any other financial reprisal, or the threat of force, to urge any individual to make a contribution or engage in fundraising activities on behalf of a candidate or political committee.”
The law also prohibits a candidate’s giving cash or other reimbursements to a donor in exchange for a contribution.
There’s more:
Kezer, the former finance director at another Buchanan dealership, Sarasota Ford, wrote a $2,000 check to the Buchanan campaign after he said he was told it was important to support the candidate. In exchange for the donation, Kezer said, Buchanan personally promised him a week at Buchanan’s Vail, Colo., resort home. Buchanan sold the home last month for $6.5 million.
“He put his arm around me and promised I could use his house in Vail if I donated,” Kezer said.
Kezer, 50, said he never went to Buchanan’s Colorado home because he feared it was a violation.
Buchanan’s camp is pushing back aggressively against the chargest, but it’s unclear what, if anything, will come of all this. One thing is certain: this isn’t exactly the kind of press that Buchanan wants to have as he heads into the final months of his first re-election campaign.
SSP currently rates this race as Likely Republican.
I hope this is getting local media attention over there big time. I hope these scandals blow up even bigger and are found to be 100% reliable. Democrats and Jennings got screwed in 2006 with the “voting machines,” and to see justice come in 2008 would really put a smile on my face.
Pulled exactly the same stunt in Westchester County, NY and was booted from office in the next election. And yes it involved auto dealership employeed forced to contribute illegally. His successor in this once solidly Republican district, Nita Lowey, is still serving in the House. DioGuardi keeps running for Congress in adjoining districts but gets nowhere. The auto dealer was forced to sell out his chain.
Buchanan is both worse (he is the employer as well) and has more room (DioGuardi is a CPA and asdvertised himself as an accountant in Congress). The similarity is astounding.
of GOPers who need to go down this year. This seat more than any other I am sure was stolen from us. The House ethics committee, if not the DoJ, needs to look into this. How is Christine Jennings’ fundraising?
The 2006 FL-13 election is the most obvious case of a stolen election I think I’ve ever seen. I’d love to see Jennings win this seas (AGAIN) this year.
I’m just trying to understand how a race we lost by 600 votes last time gets rated a Likely Republican. I was looking at the fundraising and it looked pretty steady for Jennings. Not stellar but decent. Am I missing a poll or two?