The latest stem from the pending sentencing of a Big Arm man.
William C. Weimar, who in August pleaded guilty to a pair of felony charges in the same political corruption probe that swallowed up Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens earlier this week, has contributed more than $7,000 to Democratic political campaigns since moving from Alaska to the west shore of Flathead Lake.
His biggest beneficiary - $4,600 worth - had been Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C.
The Obama campaign had already returned another $3,600 from Weimar because it exceeded the federal limit for contributions from an individual, according to the center.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Obama's Montana campaign said the other $4,600 would be donated to charity.
“It happens that he donated long before he pled guilty, and subsequent to that we decided to donate it all to charity,” Caleb Weaver said. “We certainly had no idea at the time the donation was made, and once we found out, the decision was made.”
The same records show that Weimar, 68, of Big Arm, gave $2,100 to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's campaign in 2006, and $250 each to the congressional campaigns of Democrats Monica Lindeen in 2006 and Jim Hunt in 2008.
The contributions were all properly reported, and all were made before Weimar was indicted in Alaska.
“Mr. Weimer contributed two years ago, and pleaded guilty to a crime two weeks ago,” Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said Thursday. “We wish we had a crystal ball to see into the future, but we don't.”
Murphy said Tester has never met Weimar, and that the senator planned to give the $2,100 Weimar contributed to his campaign to charity.
Lindeen is currently running for state auditor.
“I certainly don't want to keep money from a convicted felon,” said Lindeen, who also said she did not know Weimar personally. “Since my congressional campaign account has long been closed out, I'm going to have to look into my options, one of which, I guess, will be to write a personal check and donate it to charity.”
Hunt, a Helena attorney, was defeated by John Driscoll in June's Democratic primary.
“A lot of people contributed to my campaign,” Hunt said Thursday. “I certainly don't recognize (Weimar's) name, but I will look into the contribution. If there's any problem with it, I will return the money, even though my campaign is shut down and all the funds have been distributed.”
Kevin O'Brien, a spokesman for the Montana Democratic Party who initially returned a phone message left with the Lindeen campaign, noted that Democrats aren't the only ones who received contributions from now-admitted and convicted felons associated with corruption in Alaska politics.
O'Brien said U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., received $1,000 from Alaska contractor Bill Allen, who last year pleaded guilty to felony bribery and conspiracy charges connected to the Stevens case, and $700 from Jim Clark, a one-time aide to former Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski. Clark pleaded guilty to felonious fraud in connection with the same case.
Allen's money, however, was donated 12 years ago to Rehberg's unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. Clark contributed $500 to that campaign, and $200 to Rehberg's successful run for Congress in 2000.
Allen was front-and-center during the trial in which Stevens was convicted of seven felonies earlier this week for failing to report gifts and services received while in office, and O'Brien said Rehberg is “one of the only members of Congress who isn't giving the money back.”
“I can't understand why Congressman Rehberg is so adamant about hanging on to campaign cash from a guy that so brazenly broke the law, bribed members of Congress, and has one foot inside federal prison,” O'Brien said.
Rehberg's '96 Senate campaign account was closed out years ago, noted Montana Republican party communications director Bridger Pierce. He said Thursday that Rehberg would give the $200 donated by Clark to his 2000 congressional race to charity.
“It's unfortunate that in Kevin O'Brien's overzealousness to point fingers, he forgot to look in the mirror,” Pierce said.
Bill Allen also gave $2,000 in 2005 to the re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, who was defeated by Tester.
While a part of the same corruption investigation by federal officials that resulted in the indictments of Allen, Clark and Stevens, Weimar's case is entirely separate.
Weimar is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 12 for illegally funneling $20,000 to a consultant to what is believed to be a Republican Alaska state Senate campaign in 2004 - $17,000 of it in cash that Weimar withdrew from a Polson bank.
By pleading guilty, Weimar - the former owner of a corrections services company that operated halfway houses in Alaska - admitted he stood to realize $5.5 million in “contingent interest” from a proposed private prison project that the Republican candidate backed, federal court documents say.
Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23, 2004, the documents outline a number of phone conversations Weimar had with the candidate and the consultant, both of whom are unnamed in the charging documents.
On Aug. 17, the consultant told Weimar the campaign was running out of money, and suggested a quick infusion of “10 grand” was needed.
“There's no legal way to do that,” Weimar responded. “At least not on that scale.”
Later that day, the documents state, Weimar told the candidate he would pay for the candidate's next advertising mailer.
Three days after that, Weimar told the candidate about an outstanding $20,000 bill the candidate had with the consultant. The candidate responded that he only had $300 to $400 remaining in his campaign fund.
On Aug. 23, Weimar made arrangements to pay off the $20,000 debt with the consultant.
“I need you to send me a bill for $3,000 for campaign, er Š for poll analysis Š on the initial deal,” Weimar told the consultant. “And then, the rest of this, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to send you cash Š Two separate payments of $8,500 each and one of those I will get out today.”
Weimar then called the candidate to tell him there would be no more bills arriving from the consultant.
On the same day, court documents state, Weimar mailed a $3,000 check to the consultant. He also presented a check made out to himself for $8,500, and drawn on his own account at Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, to a Polson bank, which cashed it. Weimar sent the cash to the consultant by express mail.
On Aug. 24, Weimar repeated the same steps, writing another check to himself for $8,500, cashing it at the same Polson bank, and sending it to the consultant too.
Federal prosecutors charged Weimar with concealing the $20,000 by breaking it into three payments to avoid the required reporting of transactions over $10,000, failing to route the money through the candidate's campaign, and failing to report the $20,000 to the Alaska election commission.
On Aug. 12 of this year, Weimar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud, and for manipulating and structuring the illegal payments to avoid currency reporting requirements for financial institutions under federal law.
The conspiracy charge, prosecutors say, stems from a plan to get the Texas-based company proposing the private prisons to also contribute to the candidate.
Weimar faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in less than two weeks. Prosecutors have recommended Weimar be sentenced to 10 to 16 months in federal prison, although the judge is not bound by that.
Now a Big Arm resident, Weimar once owned Allvest Inc., which operated the Alaska halfway houses and at one time had government corrections contracts worth $10 million per year.
In 1998, Allvest sold five halfway houses to the Texas company believed to be the one referred to in the indictment, for $21 million.
Allvest declared bankruptcy in 2002, citing judgments against it in civil suits.
The Texas company had proposed several prison projects in Alaska that the Republican state senate candidate supported, and from which Weimar stood to gain financially.
Since moving to Montana, Weimar has contributed exclusively to Democratic candidates, at least on the state and national levels. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he has donated money to Obama's campaign since 2007, in 11 separate contributions ranging from $200 to $1,000.
He also contributed $1,500 to Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean in 2004, and $2,000 to Democratic nominee John Kerry.
While living in Alaska, Weimer also contributed mostly to Democrats. He gave $2,000 to Bill Clinton's re-election campaign in 1996, and $750 to one-time U.S. Senate candidate Tony Smith, but he also gave $1,000 to Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young's campaign in 1998.
Over the years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Weimar has also donated money to the Democratic National Committee, Democracy for America (a grass-roots Democratic political organization founded by Dean) and Emily's List (which supports pro-choice Democratic women running for office).
Weimar did not return a phone message left at his Big Arm residence.
According to the Department of Justice, he was the 11th person indicted in the ongoing investigation into political corruption in Alaska.
Nine criminal convictions have resulted so far. In addition to Weimar and Stevens, they include:
- Thomas T. Anderson, a former member of the Alaska House of Representatives, who was convicted in July 2007 and sentenced to five years in prison for extortion, conspiracy, bribery and money laundering;
- Peter Kott, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, who was convicted in September 2007 and sentenced to six years in prison for extortion, bribery and conspiracy;
- Victor H. Kohring, former member of the Alaska House of Representatives, convicted in November of 2007 and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for extortion, bribery and conspiracy;
- Anchorage lobbyist William Bobrick, who pleaded guilty in May 2007 to felony corruption charges;
- And Clark, former Gov. Murkowski's chief of staff, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud.
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S. Samsel wrote on Nov 1, 2008 11:02 AM: