Republican Convicted For Illegal Contributions to Bush

Another conviction of a Republican for election fraud:

Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio’s biggest political scandal in a generation, was sentenced today to 27 months in a federal prison for illegally funneling money into President Bush’s re-election campaign.

U.S. District Court Judge David Katz also ordered Noe to pay $136,200 in fines for sending more than $45,000 into a 2003 Bush fund-raiser by using two dozen friends and associates — including several current and former local Republican elected officials — in violation of federal election laws.

Noe even implicated the White House:

Noe said he arranged the scheme because “in 2003 I was pressured by Bush-Cheney officials to become a Pioneer,” a name the campaign gives to people who raise $100,000.

The scandal may have an impact on this fall’s elections:

The fallout from the Noe scandal has been far reaching. It contributed to the historic plunge of Governor Taft’s approval rating and emboldened Democrats to mount — for the first time in years — substantial campaigns for numerous statewide offices.

The scandal also contributed to the political downfall of Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, who lost to Ken Blackwell in the Republican primary for governor. Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery, a frequent target of Democrats as the scandal unfolded, dropped out of the governor’s race and ran instead for her old job of attorney general. All had received Noe campaign cash.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    I_Must_B_Wrong says:

    It’s funny how conservatives always do bad things and we liberals never do anything wrong. It’s because we’re diverse and tolerant.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    The difference is the institutionalization of corruption in the Republican Party. There may be isolated cases of Democrats who get convicted of such crimes, but there is a long list of Republicans who have been convicted or have been indicted for various crimes.

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