61° CLEAR, Group alleges violation in race
Complaint filed over Buchanan's 2005 run
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:51 p.m.
MIAMI - Two former employees of Vern Buchanan and a political watchdog group have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Buchanan broke campaign finance law by pressuring employees at his car dealerships for money and reimbursing some for their contributions.
The complaint filed Tuesday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and two former dealership employees claims that at least seven employees at two Buchanan-owned dealerships were either reimbursed or coerced into making $1,000 campaign contributions.
The complaint does not say that Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, directly asked for the contributions. But he did know about them, said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of the watchdog group.
"It's our understanding that Vern Buchanan was involved. These are Vern Buchanan's dealerships, so none of this could have been happening without Vern Buchanan knowing about it," Sloan said.
The Herald-Tribune reported last month that former employees Carlo A. Bell and Joe D. Kezer said they were pressured to donate to Buchanan's 2006 congressional campaign and offered cash and gifts.
Bell and Kezer are suing Buchanan, claiming that his dealerships cheated customers. The alleged violations of campaign finance laws are not part of the suits. The former employees went public with the claims after Buchanan's lawyers rejected their $43 million offer to settle.
Buchanan faces Democrat Christine Jennings in November. Buchanan narrowly defeated Jennings in 2006.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Buchanan responded that it is the campaign's policy "that all contributions comply fully with FEC regulations."
"No one in the campaign advised anyone to make improper donations," campaign spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts wrote in an e-mail
This story appeared in print on page BN1
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Comments
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August 20, 2008 4:35:59 am
RE: http://www.heraldtribune.com/a...20/ARTICLE/808200357
Nothing new here, same allegations as before. You have a couple of former disgruntled employees that were trying to make a quick buck off of Vern by trying to sue him for $43 million for wrongful termination right before an election and when Vern says no they come out with stories of being forced to donate.
This is extortion and they are the ones that should be written about.
This is exactley what Jennings promised as this is a calculated and coordinated effort by the democrats to inflict as much pain of Vern as possible before the election.
When are we going to talk about the issues that matter in this race.
August 20, 2008 4:47:07 am
I agree that this seems like sour grapes. One would have to wonder about the timing of filing this suit. It definitely stinks of politics as usual.I agree with jonos, we need to focus on the issues that are facing our country, not election trickery.
August 20, 2008 4:49:30 am
That's nice. Going negative whether we like it or not, just as Jennings said she would do. I guess it doesn't matter if the suits would get tossed by any judge with a brain; all that matters is that it's a great story in the meantime. I'm not buying it, and neither should the voters in this race. It's a shame that Democrats don't have a candidate they can get behind who can win on the issues rather than just sling mud. But the national party has forced Jennings on them, and now we need to make sure they don't force her bitterness and say anything attitude on the rest of us.
August 20, 2008 5:14:16 am
ROFL
Like employees who were victims of Vern's criminal activities would be anything other than disgruntled.
August 20, 2008 5:19:22 am
I know y'all would like to play it that way... But you do not know what is going on as does anyone else at this point��.
However, you sure know what the answer isâ?¦
â??It is all the doing of Christine Jennings...â?ť
Easy for you to say butâ?¦.
Where is the connection?Where's your proof.When where did she say is would do this?
It sure is all "sour grape" chargesâ?¦.
And all are coming your y'all...
Two separate and independent sources have done an investigative report on the Buchanan mess.....They report the "facts" they uncoveredâ?¦
http://www.americannewsproject.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...op-con_n_119907.html
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/33776
All you offer is the lame clichĂ© â??politically motivatedâ?ť
To blame someone else for Vern's problems.
If this is untrue and politically motivate as you say
Why canâ??t Vern come out and publicly deny the allegationsâ?¦.And explain why this is all one big plot designed to "frame" him?
This has been going on for months now and all Vern can say isâ??See my lawyerâ?ť
August 20, 2008 5:32:53 am
It appears the H-T forgot part of this story. According to the Bradenton Herald, Buchanan is not the only one who is facing a complaint to the FEC:
http://www.bradenton.com/847/story/821593.html
Buchanan, Jennings face complaints on finances
By DUANE MARSTELLERQUOTES FROM ARTICLE:"Also on Tuesday, independent candidate Jan Schneider filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force the FEC to act on her complaint against Christine Jennings, a Democrat."
"Schneider's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, said the FEC has not acted on her complaint against Jennings within 120 days of its filing, as required by federal law."
"The complaint, filed in March, alleges Jennings' 2004 and 2006 congressional campaigns violated election laws by diverting payroll taxes for other campaign expenses. Schneider, who beat Jennings in the 2004 Democratic primary but lost to her in the party's 2006 primary, said that unfairly injured her campaigns."
August 20, 2008 5:48:06 am
Have you seen these independent investigative reports that have done on the Buchanan mess.....
They both are comprehensive and pull all the "facts" uncovered all in one reportâ?¦
http://www.americannewsproject.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...op-con_n_119907.html
August 20, 2008 6:51:11 am
Calling Huffington Post's form of journalism "comprehensive" and factual is like calling Joseph Goebbels a reliable authority on the history of Jewish culture.
August 20, 2008 6:55:18 am
Blame the messenger when you can't dispute a single fact.
August 20, 2008 7:16:47 am
I was doing some research to see if I could find out some more information available on the â??net about our Congressman Vern Buchanan. For those who are interested I found a very comprehensive Bio and business interest with citations at:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind...?title=Vern_Buchanan
http://www.corporationwiki.com...L-34236-a282011.aspx
It may help answer the question we all seem to have�..�Who is Vern Buchanan��
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