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On Heels of 9/11, Clinton Fundraiser Raises Eyebrows
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ShareSeptember 11, 2007 12:02 PM
Just days after the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Hillary Clinton and several Democratic lawmakers will be getting uncomfortably cozy with moneyed interests who have stood to reap billions in post-9/11 homeland security spending, watchdog groups say.
On the sixth anniversary of the attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is slated to attend a sober memorial service near Manhattan's Ground Zero.
One week later, the junior New York senator is scheduled to speak at a homeland security-themed, $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for her campaign in the downtown Washington, D.C. offices of a powerful legal firm.
"Being a week after 9/11, it appears unseemly and politically opportunistic," said Steve Ellis, a former Coast Guard officer who is now vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington, D.C. good government group.
Clinton's fundraising audience is expected to include many of the government contractors and lobbyists whose fortunes have soared in the years since the attacks, which triggered a massive government reorganization and billions in new government spending.
But that's not the only objectionable feature of the event, critics say.
For the price of a ticket -- from a $1,000 personal donation to a $25,000 bundle –- attendees will get a special treat after the luncheon: an opportunity to participate in small, hour-long "breakout sessions" hosted by key Democratic lawmakers, many of whom chair important subcommittees on the Homeland Security committee.
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"It's an outrage," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Washington, D.C. good-government group Project on Government Oversight.
"You never want to see lawmakers trading on their national security credentials...to people making large donations," Ellis concurred.
The break-out sessions include:
First Responders, with Reps. Henry Cuellar, Texas (chair, Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response Subcommittee of Homeland Security Committee) and Nita Lowey, N.Y. (Appropriations, Homeland Security Committee)
Intelligence and Information Sharing, with Reps. Jane Harman, Calif. (chair, Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment Subcommittee of Homeland Security Committee) and C. A. "Dutch" Ruppersburger, Md. (chair, Technical and Tactical Intelligence Subcommittee of intelligence committee)
Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, with Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas (chair, Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee of Homeland Security Committee) and Jerrold Nadler, N.Y. (Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Judiciary Committee)
Science and Technology, with Reps. Jim Langevin, R.I. (chair, Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology Subcommittee of Homeland Security Committee; intelligence committee) and Ellen Tauscher, Calif. (chair, Strategic Forces Subcommittee of Armed Services Committee)
National Security, with Reps. Kendrick Meek, Fla. (Armed Services Committee) and Joseph Sestak, Pa. (Armed Services Committee)
"Political fundraising should have no relationship to policy recommendations," said Brian, a former policy analyst for Congress. "Most of these [participants] are seasoned policymakers. How can they not see this as wrong?" It only made things worse, she said, that the event was centered around so sensitive and vital a topic as homeland security.
The Clinton campaign and most lawmakers participating in the event did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
One participant, Rep. C. A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, D-Md., said he didn't see anything wrong with the event.
"I very strongly feel that it's time we get politics out of national security," he said in an interview Monday. "It's more important than ever that we keep discussing national security."
"The unfortunate part of our [political] system is that to get your message out, you have to raise money," Ruppersberger said. "Until that system is changed, you have to have the ability to raise money so people know what you are and who you are."
September 11, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (102)
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I just amazing how the Clintons get away with this stuff and no one asks the hard questions. I hope the FBI nails them once they finish interrogating HSU
Posted by: Sam | Sep 11, 2007 12:49:11 PM
Clinton won't vote the crook out. Fred Thompson
Posted by: Freddie | Sep 11, 2007 1:27:41 PM
Sam - don't hold your breath. It is astonishing that these people get away with everything.
Posted by: Bill | Sep 11, 2007 1:31:11 PM
FOR SALE: The Congress and the Presidency.
Everybody with money is invited. Be the first to sign-up and you get to define your own earmark! Pay enough and you are guaranteed a get-out-of-jail free presidential pardon (i.e. the Marc Rich option) or other presidential favor of your choice! (Remember, with a clinton, the White House bedrooms are always available for the right price!). Don't be left out of this gross violation of ethics, integrity and basic honesty. Hurray in to get the best deals. NO REASONABLE OFFER REFUSED!
Posted by: ALEX H. | Sep 11, 2007 1:51:58 PM
Notice how the user comments are just about non-existent this far for this article, but every other article bashing the president and republicans are overflowing with idiotic nonsense. Just goes to show how liberal ABC is, I'm surprised there even bringing this up.
Posted by: DT | Sep 11, 2007 1:55:18 PM
What do we expect? If citizens won't pay for people good people to run, corporations are more than happy to pay them off. This country is on a permanent down slope.
Posted by: Greg | Sep 11, 2007 1:57:01 PM
Heaven please help us.
Posted by: gman | Sep 11, 2007 2:01:57 PM
"Being a week after 9/11, it appears unseemly and politically opportunistic," said Steve Ellis, a former Coast Guard officer who is now vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington, D.C. good government group."
What?! Unseemly and politically opportunistic?! Are you surprised?! Hillary's a CLINTON! Being unseemly and politically opportunistic is their stock-in-trade.
Posted by: Scott | Sep 11, 2007 2:09:10 PM
It would seem not only the Lincoln bedroom is for sale with the Clintons.
Posted by: Don | Sep 11, 2007 2:15:06 PM
9/11 has reaped 100's of millions of dollars that Sen. Clinton and Sen. Schumer have delivered for a select group of contractors and lobbyists. Mind you this is our taxpayer money. New Yorkers have seen nothing for their money. Prices increase, property tax, train, subway, bridges and now the $8 dollars to enter Manhattan and $4 dollars to get out. And ohhh the state continues to reap a fortune on gas tax whenever a price of oil goes up. With this success, in reaping 100's of millions for a select group, Schumer and Clinton have been given their recognition with sizable donations from these new constituents, national recognition by their party and become the secret proponents of Americas War economy. Meanwhile nothing is done to ease the tax burdens of New Yorkers (and I mean the whole state) or job creation and development between Albany and Buffalo. Yes, there is more to New York State than New York City. Clinton and Schumer live the game... with money you get YOUR message out. And money allows you to manipulate the message and therefore manipulate the masses. And thats why they get away with it.
Posted by: John | Sep 11, 2007 2:22:34 PM
why should this raise eyebrows? noone is shocked or suprised by anything the Clinton mafia does. It is all about power . Here are dems and some Repubs calling a 4 star general a liar and you have Hillarme returning 850,000
Posted by: jack | Sep 11, 2007 2:24:01 PM
Just wondering - Has Hillary found those FBI / Travel Office files from 1993 and will she bring back all the dishes, paintings, and furniture that she and her disbarred lawyer husband stole from the White House.
Posted by: Poster Child | Sep 11, 2007 2:25:14 PM
This is utterly sickening, and proof that no matter how much every day republicans bash every day democrats and vice versa, both sides are wrong because the whole system is flawed. The wealthiest 2% of humans control 50% of the world's wealth, and this is how it will stay as long as we allow money to dictate policy. I don't see why middle-class citizens (who get screwed daily by both parties) can't get past their partisan bickering to the root of it all.
Posted by: andy | Sep 11, 2007 2:27:35 PM
Gee, it's a shock that Hillary would be labeled "Unseemly and politically opportunistic". If it weren't for being unseemly and politically opportunistic, she would not have a political career.
Posted by: Mike Garcia | Sep 11, 2007 2:27:43 PM
So now we know where Norman was heading with his bundles. This is par for the current bribe-minded congress so no one should be surprised. The only surprise was not seeing Murtha's name, but maybe he is playing enforcer at this party.
Posted by: Drommm | Sep 11, 2007 2:29:06 PM
As a die hard Republican, Clinton 2.0 makes me fume. With her vast experience in the Senate (her first elected office) the Hill lovers totally ignore any of her actions or lack of action. The Clinton’s seem to be the slickest people I have ever heard of, I would not doubt that they put a Neon sign in the front yard of the White House announcing the vacancies of the Lincoln bedroom. She can do not wrong in the eyes of her supporters and could have the fund raiser on the site of the World Trade center and her supporters would justify her actions.
Posted by: Jeff In Miami | Sep 11, 2007 2:29:08 PM
DT...YOU ARE SO RIGHT....The Dan Rathers are running wild....where is Dan these days...?
I watch or read off of FOX NEWS 99% of the time, you will get more of what goes on....both sides
Posted by: Freddie | Sep 11, 2007 2:29:14 PM
This is Clinton, are you really shocked or amazed at what they will do for money and power???
Oh and sex when he can get away with it.
Posted by: Eric | Sep 11, 2007 2:41:55 PM
And everyone is supposed to be surprised and shocked by this ?
Please....if the Clintons are nothing else, they are consistent.
Posted by: eric | Sep 11, 2007 2:45:12 PM
I think we decided after Monica, that character didn't matter for the president. Honesty cannot exist without having character. The Clintons have no character and are therefor prone to dishonesty. We make jokes about all of Hillary's "little fibs", like being named after Sir Edmund Hillary, but it happens so often that its pathological. But hey, this is what America wants as their president because "character doesn't matter".
Posted by: Dave | Sep 11, 2007 2:45:37 PM
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