Kerry campaign received illegal cash from contractor

[T_i_B]

Story in UK Guardian :scared:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1152066,00.html

The campaign of the Democratic frontrunner, John Kerry, was put on the defensive yesterday when it emerged that he had lobbied the Pentagon on behalf of a defence contractor who had made illegal contributions to his campaign for re-election as a Massachusetts senator.

The Los Angeles Times said Parthasarathi Majumder, whose firm was working on a missile project, had pleaded guilty last week to breaking campaign finance law by instructing his employees to make donations, totalling $25,000 (£13,190), to Senator Kerry between 1993 and 1998 and then reimbursing them.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. That's a shortened version of the story

The LAT article also stated anyone they donated to could not have known and that Kerry's campaigns gave the money to charity when they realized the donations would be considered illegal. It was for a business in Massachusetts and did involve jobs.

[T_i_B]

2. Which begs a request

LAT link please. :-)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. A link , a snip ;-) and an update from today

yesterday's paper

Federal prosecutors initially determined that $13,000 of the donations were illegally reimbursed, but they now say that nearly all of the money was tainted. They said there was no evidence Kerry or other members of Congress would have known that.

Asked what he did to repay the money, Kerry's campaign said Wednesday he had donated $13,000 to charity on Feb. 9 — which was two days before Majumder's guilty plea.

Kerry's campaign said the candidate's actions had nothing to do with the campaign contributions. One of the subcontractors working on the guided missile project, Millitech Inc., was based in Northampton, Mass.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-kerry19feb19,1,6557157.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

Follow up from today:

THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Kerry Denies Donations Fueled Lobbying for Contractor

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-kerrymoney20feb20,1,402693.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

This one has a more interesting tone since a female republican employee makes it look inappropriate while others attending an event claimed there was no pressure.