Candidate Zack Space Breaks His Own Ethics Pledge

by Matt Margolis :: April 26, 2006 9:04 PM

On April 4, 2006, Zack Space, a Democrat candidate for Congress in the 18th Congressional District of Ohio, declared, "I am the only candidate running in Ohio’s 18th District that has signed a far-reaching ethics pledge not to accept dinners, gifts or junkets from lobbyists if elected to Congress. We need a clean start because it is time to get back to doing the people’s business." Taking cues from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Space has been making ethics a big part of his campaign. “Corruption has been engrained and bribery institutionalized by existing ethics provisions and campaign finance laws. [...] We need honest representation now more than ever, yet our current leaders continue to serve special interests rather than the working families that have elected them.”

That is what Zack Space says. But what does Zack Space do?

According to a recent FEC report, Space took a $2,000 donation from John Cafaro who pled guilty in 2001 to bribing Rep. Jim Traficant. [Click here for the indictment] Cafaro got 15 months probation and a $150,000 fine.

Besides taking dirty money, Zack Space has also broken his clean ethics pledge by accepting money and other favors from PACs. He received $1,000 from the SecureUS PAC on April 11, 2006... This was just a week after he had been invited to an event in Washington hosted by SecureUS PAC... which Space egotisticaly brags about on his website.

SecureUS PAC is funded by registered lobbyists and Hollywood liberals.

It must be really hard for Zack Space to run on an ethics platform while running away from his own ethical lapses.

UPDATE: Zack Space claims ignorance.

Zack Space has made ethics a centerpiece of his campaign for the Democratic party's nomination to run against incumbent GOP congressman Bob Ney of Licking County, whose ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff are being probed by federal investigators. Space, who serves as Dover's city law director, even held a press conference in January, where he pledged that he wouldn't be "bought off by lobbyists or special interests."

That didn't keep him from accepting a $2,000 campaign contribution from John J. Cafaro of Youngstown, who pleaded guilty to illegally giving cash and gifts to former congressman Jim Traficant and was fined $150,000. When Space's campaign was asked about Cafaro's donation today, a staffer said he'll return it.

"Zack isn't a politician and he didn't really follow all the intricacies of what Cafaro was involved in," said Space campaign spokesman John Rowley.

The Cafaro family's involvement in the Traficant case has come up repeatedly in another high-profile Democratic primary race. It has dogged John Cafaro's daughter, Capri, as she tries to win the Democratic nomination for the 13th District congressional seat currently held by Sherrod Brown. Capri Cafaro received immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony in federal court, but maintains she did nothing wrong. Her campaign has hired a lawyer to threaten to sue anyone who incorrectly describes her immunity deal.

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Pelosi Helped Donor To PAC

by Matt Margolis :: April 15, 2005 4:52 PM

Why isn't Nancy under investigation by the House Ethics Committee?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers.

Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.

But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program.

According to campaign records, WestStart-CALSTART Chief Executive Officer John R. Boesel also gave $1,000 to one of Mrs. Pelosi's political action committees in 2003 and $1,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Of course, Pelosi's spokeswoman claims, "This trip was completely within the House rules. The two projects were long-standing projects we've worked on."

An anonymous Republican lawmaker was quoted saying, "Given the actions of the minority leader vis-a-vis the majority leader and other Republicans, I'm having a little trouble finding where the outrage is coming from these groups that continue to pound on Republican members."

So am I.

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Oh Mandy...

by Jason Smith :: April 13, 2005 6:37 PM

Florida State Senator Mandy Dawson is under investigation for soliciting support from nine lobbyists to pay for a trip to South Africa for her and a male companion. Even more stunning than the fact that she serves on the Ethics Committee is the language she used in her solicitation letter... acknowledging that her request was improper and instructing donors to work around the rules.

I need to raise funds to help defray the cost. As a longtime supporter of mine, I am asking if you would consider helping to sponsor my trip. I would like to request $2,500, if at all possible. Due to ethics regulations, the check should be made out to the Florida Caucus of Black State Legislators.

Obviously she knew that Florida law prohibits legislators from soliciting "gifts" from lobbyists "for the personal benefit of the Senator or any member of the Senator's immediate family." The law also bars legislators from taking gifts worth more than $100 from lobbyists, committees of continuous existence, or principals. So she simply asked them to give the money to the Black Caucus so they could effectively launder the money for her.

The trip took place in 2 months ago, and since there's an investigation pending, I won't comment on the fact that she remains a Florida Senator because of this incident....

However, upon further investigation, I found this tidbit:

Florida Sen. Mandy Dawson has made headlines for all the wrong reasons before. In 2002 she was arrested and charged with prescription drug fraud.

She was re-elected on November 2, 2004.

I bet Florida voters would also be curious to know that according to www.publicdata.com, Muriel A. "Mandy" Dawson was also convicted in 1984 for violating statute 832.05(2)(a) by passing worthless checks.

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That's One Heck of an Allowance

by Matt Margolis :: April 7, 2005 12:49 PM

It's nice when mommy has her own political action committee isn't it?

Disclosure statements also show that Senator Barbara Boxer, ... directed $15,000 from her political action committee in 2003 to a consulting firm run by her son.

Roll Call also reported in May of 2003 that "Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) funneled $115,000 last cycle to Douglas Boxer & Associates, a company run by her son, from PAC For A Change, her leadership political action committee."

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How Does Pelosi Explain This?

by Matt Margolis :: April 5, 2005 3:05 PM

All that money leaves a trail...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers.

Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.

But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program.

An anonymous senior Republican lawmaker said, "Given the actions of the minority leader vis-a-vis the majority leader and other Republicans, I'm having a little trouble finding where the outrage is coming from these groups that continue to pound on Republican members." I couldn't agree more.

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That's What Big Brothers Are For

by Matt Margolis :: February 13, 2005 11:36 PM

Howard Dean had his brother take over as chairman of his PAC.. Yearrrrggggh!

Shortly after Dean's election, it was announced that his younger brother, Jim, would take over as chairman of Democracy for America, the political action committee the former governor started last year after leaving the presidential race.

What are big brothers for, right?

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