Monday, April 30, 2007

Blunt donates Ney, Foley campaign contributions to charity




The April financial disclosure form filed by Missourians for Matt Blunt with the Missouri Ethics Commission shows that contributions from disgraced Congressmen Mark Foley, R-Fla. and Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to the governor's campaign were donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Missouri in October.

The announcement that the governor was going to donate the Foley contribution to charity was made in early October, but I don't recall a similar announcement being made for the Ney contribution.

As I noted in the Sept. 30, 2006, Turner Report, Federal Election Commission documents showed that Ney's American Liberty PAC donated $1,200, at that time the maximum amount allowed by Missouri law, to Governor Matt Blunt's 2004 campaign. The donation was one of a number of contributions from K Street lobbyists, elected officials, and special interests, who had little connection to Missouri, but had good reason to do a favor for the governor's father, Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt.

Ney was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in September after pleading guilty to trading political favors for gifts and campaign contributions.

The decision to return the Foley contribution was prompted after Fired Up Missouri, a blog ran by former Carnahan aide Roy Temple, picked up on another Sept. 30 Turner Report post in which the contribution from Foley's Friends of Mark Foley committee was revealed.

The Florida Congressman resigned his seat after ABC News reported he had sent suggestive e-mails to a teenage male page and other reports of inappropriate activity with male pages began to surface.

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