What the Audits Show
The Federal Election Commission has posted a copy of the audit done on the 2003-2004 reelection campaign of former U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook, a Republican.
The audit is available here.
Readers can make up their own minds about some of Istook’s expenses that the FEC determined to be personal, rather than campaign-related.
For instance, Istook said he accidentally used his campaign credit card for some expenses that were clearly not for the campaign, including jewelry and groceries. Which raises the questions: How many times can that mistake happen and, if it did happen, why wasn’t it caught by Istook or the campaign before the FEC had to step in?…
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Scooter and Stipe
Three years ago, former Oklahoma state Senator Gene Stipe stood in the same courthouse in Washington as Scooter Libby did on Tuesday, facing sentencing for similar federal offenses.
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, got 30 months in prison. Stipe got no prison time.
The crux of the case against both was that they lied and obstructed a federal investigation into wrongdoing.
Stipe lied to the Federal Election Commission regarding his schemes to funnel illegal money into a 1998 congressional campaign.…
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Political joke?
Driving south on Lincoln Blvd. this morning, astute commuters might have noticed something noticeably out of place at Republican Party Headquarters.
Sitting outside the building, flanked by President Bush signs and a Republican elephant symbol in the windows, was a large yellow papier-mache dog donning an American flag top hat and scarf. To top it off, the dog was holding a ‘Brad Henry for Governor’ sign.
Yes, you read that right, in front of the Republican party was a yellow dog holding a Henry sign.…
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More on Passports
Members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation have been dealing with hundreds of constituents whose passport applications have been delayed by the backlog created by new requirements for traveling by air to Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jim Luetkemeyer, press secretary for Rep. Frank Lucas, passed on this information, which may help some people, though caution is urged.
A member of Lucas’ staff attended a conference recently in San Diego, where the passport issue came up, and she learned that people whose passports have been delayed can board flights if they have documentation (such as a receipt for a passport fee) showing they tried to obtain a passport.…
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