Edwards ties to GateHouse Media owner troubling

An article in Saturday's Washington Post brings to light disturbing connections between presidential candidate John Edwards, D-N.C. and the owners of GateHouse Media.

Edwards was hired by Fortress Investment Group in 2005 after running for president in 2004 and being a part of the losing Kerry-Edwards ticket. In his campaign stump speeches, he refers to America as a country with two economies- "one for wealthy insiders and then one for everybody else."

The article notes:

A midsize but growing player in the hedge fund industry with more than $30 billion in assets, Fortress was the first hedge fund manager to go public, thereby subjecting itself to far more scrutiny. But it was an unusual choice of employment for Edwards, who for years has decried offshore tax shelters as part of his broader campaign to reduce inequality. While Fortress was incorporated in Delaware, its hedge funds were incorporated in the Cayman Islands, enabling its partners and foreign investors to defer or avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Fortress announced Edwards's hiring as an adviser in a brief statement in October 2005. Neither Edwards -- who ended his consulting deal when he launched his presidential campaign in December -- nor the firm will say how much he earned or what he did.

He is still reaping the benefits of his employment, however:

But his ties to Fortress were suggested by the first round of campaign finance reports released last week. They showed that Edwards raised $167,460 in donations from Fortress employees for his 2008 presidential campaign, his largest source of support from a single company.

Nearly 100 Fortress employees or their family members donated to Edwards around the time of a fundraiser his campaign held at the firm in mid-March. Senior executives, individual fund managers, lawyers and a secretary gave the maximum $2,300 donation. Three administrative or executive assistants gave smaller amounts.

Though it was not noted in the article or in the documents provided by the Washington Post, Federal Election Commission records show that on March 17, Michael Reed, GateHouse Media CEO, donated $2,300 to Edwards' campaign.

GateHouse Media owns the Carthage Press, Neosho Daily News, Big Nickel and the Neosho Post in this area.