Special Memo to the Senate Panel Looking at Abramoff, Reed, and Norquist
by Bill Simon
I previously reported about the article in the Kansas City Star regarding a likely new investigation into Jack Abramoff using non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations to launder money from Indian casinos to people like [tag]Ralph Reed[tag].
In that Star article (see post below), Ralph is quoted as denying he ever knew the true source of the funds that were being laundered through Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform organization to the Alabama Christian Coalition, and then to Ralph’s own pocket.
There are some obvious questions that should be asked by the panel. One would be “How/Why did this laundering operation have to take place if Ralph thought the money was all ‘legit?”
And, “Why couldn’t the money be paid directly to him OR be paid directly to the Alabama Christian Coalition to be paid to Reed, instead of being run through Norquist’s ATR organization?
Now, to those of you who haven’t quite been “up” on my coverage of Ralph Reed, I wrote a story in May 2005 that took strong shots at both Ralph and Grover. In that story, I wrote about the 1999 phone conversation between an employee of Ralph’s company (Century Strategies) and the owner of a mailhouse which had been sub-contracted by Ralph’s company to offload some of the direct-mail demand for the Alabama anti-lottery efforts.
That phone conversation produced the knowledge that Ralph Reed had to have known exactly what the money’s true source was.
In fact, I encourage you to read this story for yourself...maybe some legislative underlings to some senators on this new panel will read it and consider subpoenaing Mark Davis to testify as to what happened during the conversation AND, most importantly, revealing to the panel who he spoke to so that they can subpoena that person. I know who the person is, but his identity is not up to me to reveal since I was not a direct witness to the event.
Technorati Tags: Americans for Tax Reform, Alabama Christian Coalition, Century Strategies
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:26 am
All I can say is, “it’s about time”. I hope someone DOES call me (and some other folks many of us know) to testify.
I’ll tell you what puzzles me though – still to this day. Why hasn’t anyone investigated Ralph’s financial improprieties while serving as State Party Chairman? I wish somebody would call me (and some other folks many of us know) to testify about THAT too!
For the record – I quit doing business with Ralph YEARS ago when I finally realized exactly what kind of person I was dealing with.
I know some reading this still believe in Ralph and are still supporting his bid for Lt. Governor. I strongly urge you to reconsider. If he gets the nomination, he’ll weigh down our entire ticket like a boat anchor. Please join me in urging him to withdraw from the race for the good of our entire party.
Mark Davis