Tag Archives: Tom Delay

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McNerney stands strong against corrupt lobbyists

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dengre at DailyKos, who has been tracking the Northern Marianas Islands-Tom Delay scandal like a bloodhound, has an excellent diary up.  I recommend reading it, but the key element for California politics is that Jerry McNerney is standing strong against corrupt lobbyists.

Basic upshot is that Jerry raised hell about FroshPAC, the PAC dedicated to re-electing our 41 Freshman Democrats in Congress, hiring an uber-lobbyist with ties to the “Pirates of Saipan” to run the PAC.  Jerry was adamant about refusing to take money from the PAC until the lobbyist was let go–and Jerry won, as the lobbyist in question, William Oldaker, was just let go.

Score yet another one for Jerry, who continues to stand strong on principle and make CA-11 proud.

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CA-04: John Doolittle’s Corruption and the 2008 Campaign

John Doolittle’s corruption sure is getting lots of play in the press. First, in district with the three part cover story in the Sacramento News and Review (1, 2, 3 — complete with Doolittlepoly PDF) and Doolittle’s meltdown in the Auburn Journal.

And now DC is paying attention. Tomorrow’s edition of The Hill has a story on Doolittle’s Alberto Gonzalez conspiracy. And tonight, Congressional Quarterly took a look at the race with a piece entitled, Skies Haven’t Brightened for California Rep. Doolittle Since ’06 Close Call.

Which is bad news for Doolittle, because in 2006 the inside-the-beltway crowd didn’t realize this was a race. Sure, Karl Rove could smell the fear and sent Bush out and the NRCC spent a pretty penny, yet the pundits and DCCC didn’t catch on until too late. But both the pundits and the DCCC are all over CA-04 now.

Speaking of the DCCC, check out their great new video and view their timeline of the scandal:

April 16, 2007 — The Washington Post reports that Kevin Ring is resigning from his law firm, Barnes & Thornburg. [Washington Post, 4/15/07]

April 13, 2007 — The FBI searches Doolittle’s home in northern Virginia that he shares with his wife, Julie. [The Hill, 4/18/07]

March 12, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

February 28, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

February 13, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,016.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

January 30, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

January 23, 2007 — Doolittle announces that he wants his wife to continue raising money for his political action committee. [Associated Press, 1/24/07]

January 12, 2007 — Doolittle writes in an op-ed that he will no longer employ his wife as his campaign fundraiser, and instead would hire an outside fundraiser. [Associated Press, 1/12/07]

December 11, 2006 — Doolittle pays $20,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/09/07]

November 15, 2006 — Doolittle pays $40,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

October 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,009.61 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

October 2, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,007.14 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

September 30, 2006 — Doolittle pays $19,306.38 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

August 31, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.77 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. He also pays $10,916.10 in legal fees to Williams Mullen. [FEC, 2/05/07]

August 10, 2006 — Doolittle pays $11,002.15 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. He also pays $8,156 in legal fees to Williams Mullen. [FEC, 2/05/07]

July 20, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.92 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

May 28, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,008.55 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

May 5, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,274.60 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

April 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

April 3, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

March 28, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,006.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

March 2, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.85 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

February 21, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.75 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

January 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $10,000 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

January 3, 2006 — Abramoff pleads guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. [Associated Press, 1/05/06]

December 6, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,001.55 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/25/07]

November 10, 2005 — Doolittle pays $2,004.90 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/25/07]

November 2005 — Doolittle acknowledges that his wife has been subpoenaed in the grand jury investigating Abramoff’s activities. [New York Times, 11/20/05; Sacramento Bee, 11/30/05]

September 6, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,003.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

August 10, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,003.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

June 20, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,017.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

June 8, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

October 2003 — Doolittle writes a letter to the Interior Secretary appealing for quicker action for a Massachusetts tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag, seeking federal recognition. The tribe is an Abramoff client. [Associated Press, 1/29/06]

June 2003 — Doolittle writes a letter to the Interior Secretary criticizing the Bureau of Indian Affairs for “undermining” a recall effort on the Meskwaki settlement. [Sacramento Bee, 2/12/06]

Early June, 2003 — Kevin Ring brings members of the Iowa Meskwaki tribe to meet with Doolittle in his office. [Sacramento Bee, 2/12/06]

November 2002 — Fred Black is demoted and told not to conduct any further investigations. [National Public Radio, 3/14/07]

November 2002 — Fred Black, U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana islands, subpoenas Jack Abramoff. [National Public Radio, 3/14/07]

August 2002 — Doolittle’s wife Julie Doolittle begins doing fundraising work for Abramoff. [New York Times, 11/20/05; Sacramento Bee, 11/30/05]

February 27, 2002 — Doolittle signs a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton regarding implementation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. One of Abramoff’s clients, the Coushatta Tribe, opposed a plan by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to open a casino at a non-reservation site, expected at the time to be outside Shreveport, La., not far from a casino owned by the Coushattas. The letter signed by Doolittle tells Norton she should reject the Jena casino. [Vitter Letter to Secretary Norton, 2/27/02; Washington Post, 3/13/05; 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]

December 31, 2001 — Abramoff’s contract with the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands is terminated. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Reports]

December 28, 2001 — Abramoff gives his last $1,000 contribution to Doolittle for Congress. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Reports; Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

July 2001 — Doolittle’s Chief of Staff, David Lopez, takes a week long “fact-finding” trip to Puerto Rico. The trip costs $1,352 and is paid for by Abramoff’s firm, Greenberg Traurig. House rules prohibit lawmakers and staff from taking trips paid for by registered lobbyists or lobbying firms. [Scripps Howard News Service, 2/9/06]

May 25, 2001 — A letter written by Doolittle is published in the Saipan Tribune. In it, Doolittle reflects on Tom DeLay’s $150,000 earmark for Northern Marianas ports in 2000 and says he will pick up the torch and work towards seeking funding for the studies. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; Saipan Tribune, 5/22/01, 5/25/05]

May 23, 2001 –Abramoff contributes his third $1,000 to Doolittle’s campaign, the same amount that Doolittle had contributed to Fitial six days before. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Report; Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

May 22, 2001 — Fitial hails federal ‘help’ coming for Marianas Islands port projects detailed in a letter he received from Doolittle. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; Saipan Tribune, 5/22/01, 5/25/05]

May 17, 2001 — Doolittle for Congress contributes $1,000 to Fitial’s campaign. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Report]

March 22, 2001 — Doolittle’s “Dear Colleague” letter concludes from an Occupational Health and Safety Administration report that there has been significant improvements in the garment industry in the Northern Marinas. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

March 12, 2001 — Kevin Ring, Abramoff’s client manager for the firm’s lobbying account with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Doolittle’s former aide and legislative director, works with Doolittle’s office “regarding letter on OSHA report.” [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

July 17, 2000 — Despite being a vocal opponent of gambling, Doolittle votes to kill a ban on Internet Gaming. The legislation is opposed by both the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery, both Abramoff Clients. [Washington Post, 3/16/05; HR 3125, #404, 7/17/00]

May 29, 2000 — Doolittle receives a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

On or About October 24, 1999 — Doolittle writes a letter to Benigne Fitial, a key Abramoff supporter and former legislator, endorsing his election to the Northern Marianas Islands legislature. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

Oct. 3, 1999 — Doolittle receives a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

1999 — Doolittle takes a trip to the Northern Marinas Islands, a major Abramoff client, where the garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops. Doolittle says that he saw none of the abuses or “reported inhumane working conditions.” [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

February 25, 1999 — Doolittle uses a luxury box belonging to Abramoff at Washington’s MCI Center for a fundraiser. He neither paid to rent the box nor reported its value as an in-kind contribution. [Washington Post, 12/26/04]

September 16, 1998 — Doolittle gives a floor speech praising a client of Abramoff, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. [Sacramento Bee, 2/19/06; Congressional Record, 2/16/98]

It is great to see the DCCC so aggressive, so early, in CA-04

California

Help stop sex slavery and forced abortions in the Marianas

(I love diaries with maps… – promoted by blogswarm)

As we speak, hundreds of young immigrant women and children are being sexually abused in the US Territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, and our government has done little to stop this from continuing.

In 2005, it was discovered that numerous lawmakers in the House of Representatives were being essentially bribed by a lobbyist representing the Marianas. The lobbyist was none other than Jack Abramoff. Mr. Abramoff, who is now in prison for bribing public officials for votes benefiting his clients, lobbied key Congressmen such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, John Doolittle and Richard Pombo to kill or halt legislation that would have forced the Marianas to comply with US labor and immigration laws. In exchange for supporting the causes that literally put lives in danger, Abramoff and his clients gave considerable donations to the re-election campaigns of these GOP leaders.

There are horrific human rights abuses on these tiny Pacific Islands under US supervision. Workers in the garment industry work roughly 18 hour days locked into cramped spaces with no restroom facilities. Men are literally beaten by their employers for no reason. Women are told if they get pregnant they could face imprisonment or deportation, so they resort to back-alley abortions to keep their jobs. Children barely 13 years old are pulled from their sweatshop jobs and sold into virtual sex slavery as go-go dancers in “karaoke” clubs in the Marianas’ capital of Saipan. They are too ashamed to tell their families in mainland China, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or the Philippines of their experiences in the “American Islands”. Culturally, they are in a position to be completely cut off from their families and loved ones if they speak out in their letters home.

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Situations like these are happening right this moment all around the world. We see sexual abuse all throughout the globe. Forced abortions happen all around in the third world. Sweatshops have been discovered in Panama City, Nairobi, Beijing and New York City.

But the Marianas are different.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has been a US Territory since 1978. During World War II, the Japanese Empire had a firm grip on the Marianas. A garrison of nearly 30,000 Japanese soldiers under Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito had been deeply entrenched on the islands. Admiral Chester Nimitz led the Pacific Fleet on a brutal campaign to free the Marianas from Japan in 1943. By June of 1944, Saito abandoned his hold on the Marianas’ main airfield. By July of that year, Saito was killed in a final charge against the Americans, along with a majority of the final 3,000 Japanese soldiers that had survived nearly two months of intense fighting. When all was said and done, 3,426 Marines lost their lives in the taking of Saipan and the Northern Marianas. American blood was spilled for the freedom of the CNMI.

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In 1952, Japan officially gave up all claims to the Marianas at the Treaty of San Francisco, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was created, with the United States as the administering authority. On January 1978 the Northern Mariana Islands became self-governing in political union with the United States under the terms of a covenant negotiated between the two government and the area’s first elected governor took office.

Over the last 5 decades, our tax dollars have gone into repairing the damage inflicted on the Marianas from the war. Almost every law and regulation observed in the United States is observed on the Marianas, with the conspicuous exceptions of labor and immigration control. With these exceptions, major corporations have ended up taking advantage of these small islands. Garment factories from mainland China started making their way to the islands, some run and owned by suspected Chinese mafia families. No tariffs and duty-free, clothing produced in China are sent to the Marianas where “Made in the USA” labels are sewn onto the foreign-made garments. Those garments are then sent to the United States for consumption by an unwitting public.

From a security standpoint, we should all be concerned about the Marianas’ lax immigration and labor practices. Our ports are frighteningly insecure, and a potential threat to our country is highly likely to come from such a place. With the Marianas a virtual “middle man” to the rest of Southeast Asia, and little inspection or security in places like Long Beach and Seattle, any type of weaponry or other foreign agents could potentially be smuggled to the US.

The situation on the Marianas could become a threat to the stability and integrity of this nation. We must do what is necessary to right the years of wrongs done to these islands. Ripples of Hope aims to do just that.

My name is Neil Pople. I served as Deputy Communications Director for the Charlie Brown for Congress campaign in California’s 4th Congressional District. My friend and former co-worker, Nick Shepard, served as Field Director on the Brown campaign. Together, we are in the process of starting up a non-profit organization called “Ripples of Hope.”  We are basing our organization on a simple thought, a quote from a speech Senator Robert F. Kennedy gave in South Africa in 1966:

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope; and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

This simple notion, that we stand up and take action whenever and wherever we see problems, has been part of the backbone of American idealism since its inception. Action, on the other hand, has not been as popular as the intention… but we hope to change that.

The most effective way to address the issue is to force our government to recognize the problem. Because the CNMI is a US territory, the United States Congress has ultimate authority over the islands. It can pass legislation to help stop the abuses but has thus far been unwilling to do so other than Congressman George Miller’s minimum wage bill passed last week.  A great first step would be for everyone who hears about this to write to Congress and ask them to look into the issue and what needs to be done on a governmental oversight basis to help. Then, visit our webite at www.ripplesofhope.org and email us at [email protected] to be put on our contact list.

We would be proud to have your support in our endeavors if at all possible. Nick and I are still in the process of getting the group official 501(c)3 status. However, money has become an issue. To put it simply, a lack of money means that we cannot get started just yet. In the meantime, we have been active on the internet by spreading word about the Marianas on blog sites like DailyKos and Calitics. We’ve been contacting potential board members and donors, and planning our first fundraiser once we get cleared with the IRS. A pledge to our group will help ensure that we will have the financial means to get the work done that needs to be accomplished in the Marianas.

We would love to have your input on Ripples of Hope and what should be done with this group. Please feel free to email us with any questions, comments or concerns you might have.

Thank You,
Neil Pople
Co-Founder, Ripples of Hope
[email protected]

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Doolittle and Abramoff – It’s Official

(Bumped for visibility – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Today’s Sacramento Bee front pages Representative John Doolittle’s (CA-4) connection with Jack Abramoff. David Whitney of the Bee’s Washington bureau details the close relationship between Abramoff contributions and Doolittle’s intervention in the internal politics of the Northern Mariana Islands.

John Doolittle helped Jack Abramoff secure a lucrative lobbying contract with the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1999 and then assisted the now-disgraced lobbyist’s efforts to route federal money to the islands and defend its garment industry, newly obtained documents show.

More “real” news about Doolittle and Abramoff follows:

Abramoff’s primary mission as a lobbyist was the protection of the Mariana’s garment industry from government regulation and reasonable worker protection.

The commonwealth is a U.S. territory east of the Philippines whose garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops employing Chinese, Filipino and other immigrant workers at subminimum wages. Clothing from these plants is sold tariff-free in the United States under a “Made in the USA” label.

Workers there have complained of living in prison-like conditions. Women have said they were shunted into the bustling sex industry. Chinese women told U.S. investigators that they were forced to have abortions after becoming pregnant. 

At the time Doolittle was a member of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the commonwealth.  Abramoff lobbied to stop reforms from passing in the U.S. Congress that would impose U.S. immigration and wage laws. Efforts to enact those laws have been bipartisan and continue today.

Doolittle has been a leading opponent of the reforms, saying the reported abuses could be halted with aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws already on the books. He stood in lock step on the issue with his mentor, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, then the Republican whip and later the House majority leader, who called the Mariana Islands a “Petri dish for capitalism.”

Doolittle’s relationship with Abramoff extends far beyond the work he did for his “friend” in the Marianas, but this is the only case where Abramoff’s financial support to Doolittle was direct, not through others.

Whitney lays out the timeline of Abramoff contributions and ties them directly to Doolittle actions. It is classic pay to play politics, facilitated by Doolittle’s former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, who had direct responsibility for the Marianas account when he join Abramoff’s lobbying firm.

After he moved his operation to the Greenberg Traurig law firm and had the commonwealth contract extended for 2001, Abramoff appointed former Doolittle aide Kevin Ring to manage the account.

Over the next 10 months, according to billing records, Ring met or contacted Doolittle or his staffers 19 times to talk about Mariana Islands issues, including appropriations for the islands.

From the beginning when Abramoff needed leverage in internal Marianas politics, he turned to Doolittle. After loosing his Mariana’s lobbying contract in 1998, Abramoff used Doolittle to help get a candidate friendly to his interests, Benigne Fitial, elected to the commonwealth’s legislature.

After losing the commonwealth contract in 1998, Abramoff campaigned in 1999 to get it renewed. Key to his strategy was Benigne Fitial, a supporter and former legislator who for the last decade had been vice president of Tan Holdings Group, operator of garment plants and publisher of the Saipan Tribune, according to published reports.

On Oct. 3, 1999, Doolittle received a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff, the first from the star lobbyist. Three weeks later, Doolittle wrote a letter to Fitial praising his entry into the race and endorsing his election to the commonwealth’s Legislature.

One of Benigne’s first acts after his election was to push “through the commonwealth’s house legislation directing the government to hire Abramoff’s firm, Preston Gates.”

Doolittle was in Abramoff’s pocket and from 1999 on could be counted upon to provide support to Abramoff’s interests in the Marianas.

This is the issue that is going to begin to dismantle Doolittle’s house of corruption.

For more background check with Dump Doolittle and this story over at TPM Muckraker.

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Doolittle’s Home Business

Northern California’s powerful Republican congressman, John Doolittle (CA-4), won’t find anything positive to say about an article out today in the San Diego Union Tribune. In a front page story, reporter Dean Calbreath, connects the dots between Doolittle and Cunningham co-conspirator, Brent Wilkes.

Many of those connections go directly through Doolittle’s wife, Julie, who ran a one-person fundraising business out of the couple’s Virginia home. Her primary client, John Doolittle.

Acting as her husband’s campaign consultant, Julie Doolittle charged his campaign and his Superior California Political Action Committee a 15 percent commission on any contribution she helped bring in.

As a member of two key committees in the House – Appropriations and Administration – Doolittle is well-positioned to help contractors gain funding through congressional earmarks. Between 2002 and 2005, Wilkes and his associates and lobbyists gave Doolittle’s campaign and political action committee $118,000, more than they gave any other politician, including Cunningham.

More on how to start a money-making home business follows.

Julie Doolittle’s business, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, operates out of the couple’s home in an affluent Washington, D.C. suburb. Although she claims to have other clients, the only identified patrons of her services represent a who’s who of disgraced lobbyist elite.

…Greenberg Traurig, the lobbying firm that employed Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax-evasion charges. The second was Abramoff’s Washington restaurant, Signatures. The third was the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, founded by Ed Buckham, one-time chief of staff for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. 

The Korean group, which lobbied for improved U.S.-Korean relations, was based at the headquarters of Buckham’s Alexander Strategy Group, which dissolved in January because of negative publicity over its ties to Abramoff. Wilkes also was an Alexander Strategy client.


Julie Doolittle’s home business earned her over $180,000 in commissions from campaign contributions to John Doolittle’s Superior California Political Action Committee.  Money that, based on community property laws, also belongs to her husband, Representative John Doolittle. The Doolittle’s jumped on this particular gravy train virtually the day John Doolittle became a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Julie Doolittle launched Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions in March 2001, two months after her husband was named to the Appropriations Committee.

The business, which is based at the couple’s home in Oakton, Va., has no phone listing or Web site. The firm has no known employees other than Julie Doolittle. The congressman’s office would not specify what previous fundraising experience she had.

Within months of its opening, the firm was receiving commissions from her husband’s campaign. Within the next two years, it was planning fundraising events for Abramoff and handling bookkeeping for the Korean lobbying group in Buckham’s office suite, where DeLay’s wife, Christine, also was working.

.

Brent Wilkes connection with the Doolittle’s lines up closely with Doolittle ascension to power.

Julie Doolittle was working at Buckham’s offices in 2002 when Buckham introduced Brent Wilkes to her husband. Federal contracts for his flagship company, ADCS Inc., were drying up, partly because the Pentagon had been telling Congress it had little need for the company’s document-scanning technology. So Wilkes was trying to get funding for two new businesses.

[…]

In October 2002, as Doolittle pushed for funding for PerfectWave, Wilkes and his associates donated $7,000 to his campaign and $10,000 to his political action committee. Julie Doolittle made $1,500 from Wilkes’ contributions.

[…]

In November 2003, Wilkes held a fundraising dinner for Doolittle at ADCS’ headquarters in Poway that was catered by Wilkes’ wife, Regina, who ran a catering company based in the corporate cafeteria. The 15 guests on Wilkes’ invitation were all ADCS employees or partners on projects Wilkes was trying to get funded, together with their spouses.

Over the next four months, members of the group gave a total of $50,000 to Doolittle’s political action committee.

Guess who got a 15% commission on every penny of that $50,000? Yes, Julie Doolittle’s company, run out of the congressman’s home in Virginia. A $7,500 payday for going to a political dinner that was organized and financed by a contractor trying to influence Representative Doolittle to earmark funds for his companies. According to numerous sources, this November dinner was organized and catered by Brent Wilkes wife, Regina.

In May 2004, vehement anti-gambling crusader, John Doolittle held a major fundraiser for his political action committee at a Las Vegas casino-resort. Brent Wilkes was there and, as always, Julie Doolittle’s home business was raking in a piece of the action for the family bank account.

John Doolittle’s last known meeting with Wilkes came in May 2004, when Wilkes flew to Las Vegas to attend a fundraiser for the congressman’s political action committee. Wilkes used his corporate jet to bring the keynote speaker, Tom DeLay, and one of DeLay’s staffers.

Federal election records show that Julie Doolittle took a 15 percent commission for contributions made during the event at The Venetian hotel-casino, including an estimated $1,650 from the $11,000 donated by Wilkes, ADCS and Karl Gallant, a Buckham employee who was then lobbying on Wilkes’ behalf.

To say that Doolittle is running a perfect scam would be an understatement. It’s not the big league bribery and extortion that put Wilkes’ other partner, Randy “Duke” Cunningham in jail, but it is a scam that nets Doolittle a nice income directly from his political action committee, with no strings attached and no reporting requirements.

Considering Doolittle’s position of power on a key congressional committee, how much effort is required to keep funds flowing?

“After several years on the Appropriations Committee, John Doolittle has reached the point in his career where fundraising should be on autopilot,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that monitors campaign fundraising. “He shouldn’t have to rely on his wife or anyone else to keep his coffers full.”

Perhaps it is true that John Doolittle doesn’t have to rely on his wife to keep money flowing into his political action committee, but it is nice to have her depositing PAC money directly into the family bank account.