The Hill,
a publication that covers congressional events in Washington DC, ran a
front page story about a lawsuit filed by Leftist blogger
Lane Hudson. Hudson, notable for exposing the non-sex scandal
involving former Congressman Mark Foley, filed a complaint with the
Federal Election Commission against former Senator and all-but-announced
presidential candidate Fred Thompson. His complaint accused Thompson of
breaking the law by violating the FEC’s "Testing
the Waters” clause. It seems Mr. Hudson now fancies himself some
sort of unofficial political "watch-poodle.”
The
interesting thing about this is that Hudson’s partisan and rather
obnoxious complaint over Thompson’s candidacy (or non-candidacy) was
filed within the context of one of the murkier FEC regulations. It is
apparent that the mere mention of Thompson’s name catapulted what should
have been simple blog fodder to the front page of a respectable
political publication.
Another
interesting aspect – and perhaps a more troubling one – is that the
complaint is based on an as of yet unsubstantiated accusation of
campaign malfeasance. It infers malfeasance.
This
brings to the forefront a logical question. When does the accusation
of malfeasance trump the actual adjudication of campaign finance
fraud, in particular the biggest case of campaign finance fraud in US
history? The answer: When the person at the center of that campaign
finance fraud has the surname of Clinton.
As
outlined in detail in the seven part series,
The Fraudulent Senator, Hollywood businessman Peter F. Paul
underwrote a gala event and fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s 2000
senatorial campaign in return for a promise that Bill Clinton would act
as a rainmaker for his private company after leaving office. The event
netted a sorely needed $1 million in hard money donations for Hillary
Clinton’s campaign, donations needed to keep the campaign from going
broke.
An FEC
investigation into documents filed by the Clinton campaign found the
amount reported from this event to be grossly under-reported.
Adjudications were made and fines were assessed to that effect.
Inexplicably, the US Department of Justice never investigated any of the
crimes associated with the campaign finance fraud, the largest case of
campaign finance fraud in US history.
Ironically, the Clintons never came through for Mr. Paul and his
privately held company collapsed a short time after. There is currently
a lawsuit pending in California in which Senator Hillary Clinton
will be called to testify, barring any legal wrangling to exempt her
from fulfilling her obligation to the courts.
Critics of
Mr. Paul – many in the mainstream media and left-wing political advocacy
communities – point to the fact that he is a convicted felon and
routinely dismiss his validated accusations. They completely disregard
the fact that when Hillary Clinton was taking the money
facilitated by Mr. Paul she never blinked an eye. Neither did she
return the money received from the event underwritten by Mr. Paul.
Those who
use the "convicted felon” argument in attempting to discredit Mr. Paul’s
assertions are relativistic. The federal government routinely uses the
testimony of convicted felons and criminals to achieve favorable
outcomes in trials. You need only to look at the two border agents
sitting in jail thanks to the testimony of a confessed drug smuggler and
border jumper to prove this point.
Further,
the fact that Mr. Paul is a convicted felon (an interesting story in its
own right) is irrelevant due to the fact that the FEC documents and
investigation proving the campaign finance fraud committed by Hillary
Clinton’s 2000 senatorial campaign are independent of Mr. Paul. The
adjudication of campaign finance malfeasance is based on documents filed
and testimony given, generated during an FEC sanctioned investigation.
Mr. Paul’s felon status has little, if anything to do with the FEC
investigation. It is a smoke-screen for those attempting to deflect the
public’s sitcom attention span away from the crime that was committed.
Where Mr.
Hudson’s complaint against Senator Thompson is concerned, we can chalk
it up to one of two things and maybe a little bit of both. One, he is
exhibiting the sad societal norm of being grossly and haughtily
impatient, in this instance where the presidential campaign feasibility
process is concerned. And two, it is the by-product of a campaign cycle
initiated literally a year too early.
In the
end, Senator Thompson’s exploratory staff will be found to have
committed no crimes and no campaign malfeasance and Mr. Hudson will have
gotten his name back into the media. I suspect that the latter was the
overall goal from the start.
But
Hudson’s attempt at grabbing the media spotlight by trying to smear a
good man for politically opportunist reasons brings to the forefront two
disturbing questions. Why didn’t the Justice Department pursue criminal
charges against Hillary Clinton – and those of her Senate 2000 campaign
staff judged guilty by the FEC – for having perpetrated the largest case
of campaign finance fraud in US history? And why does an allegation
from a Leftist blogger against a Republican presidential
frontrunner – announced or not – get front page attention from a
respected political publication when the biggest case of campaign
finance fraud in US history did not?