Around the Nation
Around the Nation
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Campaigns May Have Clothed More Candidates
It turns out Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not the only candidate this year with donor-financed duds. At least five candidates used campaign money for clothing, according to a complaint that a watchdog group filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
The campaigns of Democratic Reps. Loretta Sanchez of California and Robert E. Andrews of New Jersey, Republican candidates Bill Dew of Utah and William Breazeale of North Carolina, and Libertarian presidential candidate Robert L. Barr Jr. each spent hundreds of dollars on clothing, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The group says such expenditures violate a ban on personal use of campaign money. Earlier, the group filed a complaint against the Republican National Committee for buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of clothing for Palin, the party's vice presidential nominee. The RNC and Palin have said they did nothing wrong. And the McCain-Palin campaign has said some of the clothing was returned to stores soon after its purchase.
The RNC has received and inventoried remaining items, and they "will be appropriately dispersed to various charities," spokesman Alex Conant said.
CREW's review of campaign finance reports found that Dew's campaign spent $1,089 on clothing for him at Men's Wearhouse; Sanchez's campaign spent about $189 on "meeting clothing" for her and $145 on clothing for an aide; Breazeale's campaign bought $1,000 in clothing for him at a men's store in North Carolina; and Andrews's campaign purchased $954 in clothing after the candidate's luggage was lost. Barr aide Andrew MacPherson received a $500 clothing allowance from Barr's campaign, a filing with the FEC shows.
Gotti Case Returned to N.Y.
NEW YORK -- A federal judge in Florida ordered the latest prosecution of John "Junior" Gotti returned to New York, finding that the government left the "unmistakeable and disquieting impression" that it had shopped for a trial location. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday said an indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge that had failed to result in a conviction after three trials in Manhattan.
Clintons' Ex-Neighbor Sentenced
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A man who lived a few doors down from Bill and Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, N.Y., was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his wife.
