House Ethics Committee #Fail, Buck McKeon Gets Off on a Technicality

We already knew that Congress had a pretty low approval rating by the American public. In fact, 2012 has seen the lowest approval since Gallup has been keeping records and the trend doesn’t look good.

Approval is at 18% right now, but we anticipate that to tank after the bungled fiscal cliff negotiations. But aside from the low job approval ratings, the American people don’t think Members of Congress are very honest. In a December Gallup poll most Americans gave members of Congress as having “low/very low” ethical standards, lower than car salesmen, HMO managers, and stockbrokers. Only 7% of those polled thought Members of Congress were ethical.

If that wasn’t bad enough already, the 112th Congress will go down in history as one of the least productive in history, passing even fewer bills than the “Do Nothing Congress” coined by President Harry Truman in 1947.

There is one thing that both parties in Congress agree on, passing the buck on ethics investigations. The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which is the only government body outside of Congress with the charge of investigating Members of Congress, will be essentially dismantled in 2013. Leaders in both parties have yet to appoint new board members to the OCE. Without board members, the OCE will be gutted of any ability to act. The OCE was formed 4 years ago when House leaders said they wanted to “drain the swamp” of scandals and corruption in Washington after public embarrassments from former Reps. Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

While the OCE is the only government watchdog for ethics outside of Congress, the House Ethics Committee and Senate Select Committee on Ethics are within Congress. These Congressional committees are the only bodies that can actually hold members accountable. Since its inception, the OCE has completed more than 100 investigations into lawmakers, which yielded 37 referrals to the House Ethics Committee for action. The ethics committees are frequently criticized for taking no action since they are investigating their own members. There’s no better example of that conflict of interest leading to inaction than the recent refusal to bring charges against House members involved in the Countrywide mortgage loan scandal.

Several Members of Congress were caught being bribed by Countrywide Financial with discount mortgages and waived fees. The poster boy in this scandal was Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conducted a nearly yearlong investigation resulting in this 135 page report. Buck McKeon was the subject of several pages of this report, which outline how he was notified he was receiving special treatment (pages 43- 45) and contained copies of correspondence (pages 60-63) between him and the “VIP” loan unit at Countrywide, called the “Friends of Angelo” after then-CEO Angelo Mozilo.

Listen to Committee Chair Darrell Issa describe the kinds of bribes lawmakers got from Countrywide:



Mozilo personally ordered the terms of McKeon’s loan, “take off 1 point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc.” He didn’t come about this loan the normal way that you or I would get a loan, by a loan officer or a mortgage broker. He met with Mike Farrell, a lobbyist for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, who’s job was to get Members of Congress to vote to raise the FHA loan limits. Farrell referred McKeon to the Friends of Angelo program for a refinance of his home and McKeon vote to raise the FHA loan limit 1 day before his loan was approved, and several more times thereafter.

Let’s look at the deal McKeon got. He purchased his home for $261,000 in 1997, then in 1998 after choosing his own appraiser, refinanced the home in the Countrywide VIP program for $315,000. That calculates to an increase in his home value of 21% in a little over a year. The LA Times reported he pocketed a net of $46,894 in cash. Then just five months later he took out a second mortgage for $30,000 in cash, making the home value jump a total of 32% in a 1 ½ years.

If that isn’t evidence enough, the House Ethics Committee refused to bring charges against McKeon and other involved because “many of the allegations pertain to actions outside the Ethics Committee's statute of limitations-- greater than three Congresses ago-- and many of those accused are no longer working in Congress either as members or staffers.”

Understandably, Rep. Darrell Issa is not happy that the Ethics Committee threw away a year of his committee’s work. He said although the Ethics Committee took no action, it’s other statements "clearly indicated that Countrywide’s efforts were inconsistent with House rules."

So it looks like Lucky Bucky got off scot-free from any official Congressional ethics disciplinary action. He may have broken federal law and could be at risk of prosecution. But in the meanwhile, 2014 is the next chance the voters will have to judge Buck McKeon. His 2012 opponent who held him to his narrowest win in his 20 year career, used the Countrywide scandal to his advantage and produced a TV ad and material here (www.payitbackbuck.com). Let’s hope the voters in CA-25 wise up in 2014 to Buck’s unscrupulous behavior in Congress.

Oh, and in case you wondered how Buck McKeon voted on the 2008 bill to establish the Office of Congressional Ethics, it was “Nay.” Perhaps he knew something?

Criminals On Wall Street? Who Could Have Guessed? And What About Capitol Hill?

Today in So. Lancaster; tomorrow Palmdale

I hope you read the Muppets post and watched the 60 Minutes segment with Goldman Sachs whistleblower Gregg Smith that we embedded Wednesday morning. In the pathology of the 1 percent, criminal behavior from the elites of High Finance are, to put it mildly, predictable. Enabling it for a cut of the action-- which is, after all, the Republican Party agenda for Wall Street "reform"-- is just as pathological. That same day, we saw Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $5 million fine for gaming the system to benefit himself.

Gupta was convicted in June of spilling boardroom secrets to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the former Galleon hedge fund tycoon who was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison for his role at the center of an insider trading ring.

In addition to his spot on the Goldman Sachs board, Gupta had been head of the renowned consultancy McKinsey & Co, and a director of Procter & Gamble, making him one of the most successful Indian immigrants in the United States.

With his conviction after a three-week trial, he became the biggest scalp for fellow Indian immigrant Preet Bharara, the chief Manhattan federal prosecutor who has made a name for himself with a crackdown on Rajaratnam’s insider network.

Another teensy weensie tip of the iceberg. Far more interesting Wednesday was the suit announced by federal prosecutors against Countrywide parent Bank of America. All that's missing is an indictment of the last remaining Member of Congress who took bribes to greenlight the scheme that nearly drove the entire world into depression-- Buck McKeon. McKeon was as brazen as the rest of the crooks-- and he was on the government payroll while he was undermining the entire financial system for a few thousand grubby bucks for himself and his sleazy family.

Five years after the housing market crumbled, government officials are still trying to assign blame for the problems that fueled the mortgage boom and bust.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in New York took aim at Bank of America. They accused it of carrying out a scheme, started by its Countrywide Financial unit, that defrauded government-backed mortgage agencies by churning out loans at a rapid pace without proper controls. In a civil suit, prosecutors seek to collect at least $1 billion in penalties from the bank as compensation for the behavior that they say forced taxpayers to guarantee billions in bad loans.

...[T]he public has been frustrated with the limited number of criminal actions that have been filed since the financial crisis. Few cases have taken aim at top executives. Even in the latest case against Bank of America, no company officials were sued as part of the complaint. Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, never faced criminal charges but did agree in 2010 to pay $67.5 million to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Hurson said that the government had yet to overcome the notion that federal authorities were reluctant to pursue the top rungs of Wall Street. The criminal actions to come from the crisis, he noted, have focused on “small-time operators.”

The government, however, has contended that it has aggressively pursued mortgage fraud. As the legal deadline approaches for filing crisis-related cases, President Obama formed a mortgage task force to investigate wrongdoing. The unit recently announced its first case, taking action against JPMorgan Chase over mortgage deals created by Bear Stearns, the firm that JPMorgan bought during the crisis.

The legal problems for Bank of America, however, have taken a deeper financial toll, costing the bank billions in write-downs and settlements. Much of its problems stem from its takeover of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender. The bank also struck a $2.4 billion deal in September to settle a class-action lawsuit over shareholder claims that it misled investors about the 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch.

In the lawsuit on Wednesday, the Justice Department attacked a home loan program known as the “hustle,” which the bank inherited from Countrywide in 2008 and kept alive through 2009.

But what about the politicians who enabled this kind of behavior? Obviously it's up to the voters to defeat the Republicans and conservative Democrats (New Dems and Blue Dogs) who voted to "unchain" the banksters to rob their customers blind-- while taking legalistic bribes for their efforts. But one Member of Congress is still in office, Buck McKeon, took actual personal bribes from Countrywide to help push their agenda. Through a network of cronyism and back-scratching, McKeon has his district's media firmly in control and protecting him from exposure. Darrell Issa's House Oversight Committee issued a report (on July 4th, a day the media was not paying attention at all) that clearly indicated that McKeon was taking bribes... and then Issa dutifully buried the report, refusing even to forward it on to the pathetic and toothless House Ethics Committee. Now it's up to an honest federal prosecutor to take up the McKeon case and get this guy behind bars where he belongs.

What Is Countrywide, Why Is It A Scandal And Why Should Buck McKeon Face Justice?

Yesterday, in a post about the injustice inherent in a lack of accountability for Florida Congressman David Rivera's crime spree, I decided to dip into some research I had already been doing for this post on Buck McKeon and his own lack of accountability for his own crime spree. The research was just some reading by Chris Hayes from his new book, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy and I decided that I would use it yesterday and, to be fair, include a little something about McKeon in the Rivera post. The two might wind up being cellies in a future episode of Lock-Up Raw anyway; they were both just named to CREW's latest list of Congress' 20 Most Corrupt Members. The passage from Hayes' book that I used-- there's much more below-- was about accountability in general:

Along with the other rising inequalities we've become so familiar with-- in income, in wealth, in access to politicians-- we confront now a fundamental inequality of accountability. We can have a just society whose guiding ethos is accountability and punishment, where both black kids dealing weed in Harlem and investment banksters peddling fraudulent securities on Wall Street are forced to pay for their crimes, or we can have a just society whose guiding ethos is forgiveness and second chances, one in which both Wall Street banks and foreclosed households are bailed out, in which both inside traders and street felons are allowed to rejoin polite society with the full privileges of citizenship intact. But we cannot have a just society that applies the principle of accountability to the powerless and the principles of forgiveness to the powerful. This is the America in which we currently reside."

CREW's report on McKeon is the barest tip of the iceberg-- basically only the airtight case that could be made against him in a court of law-- plus the nepotism he's guilty of that the House Ethics Committee is conveniently overlooking. (McKeon may be the worst but there are, after all, 82 members-- 40 Democrats and 42 Republicans-- who have paid family members through their congressional offices, campaign committees and PACs. The Ethics Committee looks the other way, which goes back to what Hayes was saying about two systems of accountability in our country, something that's gnawing away at the social fabric and the national cohesiveness.) Their report doesn't touch on a whole host of scandals that have come to define McKeon's rancid political career-- from consistent campaign finance cheating to the big one: his involvement with Sheldon Adelson's gambling empire in ways that jeopardize national security.

Before Fox News and Issa knew that an investigation would uncover that the only current Member of Congress caught up in the Countrywide mortgage web would be a senior Republican, Buck McKeon, they were gung-ho for an investigation. Once that investigation found that the only person still in Congress who could wind up behind bars was McKeon, Issa issued his damning report (on one of the slowest news days of the year, July 4th-- literally) and dropped the whole matter. This was when he was still gung-ho:

But I've found that people up in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and the Antelope Valley who I talk to about the Countrywide scandal and McKeon's involvement can sense that something is wrong but have some trouble defining exactly what is wrong. That's why I turned to Hayes' book. Without mentioning McKeon at all, he gives a decent explanation of why Countrywide is important and why the culprits need to be brought to justice. Before we take a look at what Hayes had to say about the scandal though, let me just remind you of who Angelo Mozilo is. Aside from being a maxxed-out Romney donor, he served as CEO of Countrywide for 39 years (until 2008) and Condé Nast named him the #2 "Worst American CEO of All Time" while CNN named him one of the "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits" of the 2008 U.S. financial collapse. Mozilo's not in jail, nor has he even been tried. In 2010 he reached a settlement with the SEC over securities fraud and insider trading charges. Mozilo agreed to pay $67.5 million in fines of his net worth of $600 million-- $20 million of which Countrywide paid for him-- and accepted a lifetime ban from serving as an officer or director of any public company. The director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said "Mozilo's record penalty is the fitting outcome for a corporate executive who deliberately disregarded his duties to investors by concealing what he saw from inside the executive suite." But, by settling out of court, Mozilo avoided a trial and criminal prosecution. He was let off without having to acknowledge any wrongdoing and last year the Feds dropped its criminal investigation entirely.

Angelo Mozilo, the founder and CEO of Countrywide, was the subject of endless glowing profiles in the 1990s and early aughts as his company grew to become the largest mortgage lender in the country. As the housing bubble expanded, Countrywide maintained its competitive edge by pushing suicidally dangerous products like a mortgage that would-- get this-- allow borrowers to choose how much they would pay every month, adding the unpaid amount to their principal. Mozilo's [unearned, pr-manufactured] reputation for integrity and entrepreneurial verve allowed him to oversee what according to an SEC complaint was a large-scale fraud, while also arranging for himself some of the most blatantly corrupt CEO compensation packages in the history of American capitalism. In 2007, the same year the national housing slump eviscerated his company, Mozilo earned $121.5 million by exercising stock options and $22.1 million in additional compensation.

The role of fraud in creating the conditions for the housing bubble is now generally recognized, but the extent to which it was the driving force behind the bubble remains poorly understood and rarely acknowledged. ... While the people who ran the company continued to represent to shareholders in their public quarterly reports that the firm had maintained the integrity of its underwriting standards, internal correspondence shows that Mozilo himself was increasingly horrified by the degradation of the underwriting standards that had taken place inside the firm. When, in 2006, Countrywide began offering a mortgage that required zero dollars down, Mozilo wrote to a few of his most trusted subordinates that it was "the most dangerous product in existence and there can be nothing more toxic." A month later he was still distressed, noting that while the company's CFO called these loans the "milk of the business... I consider the product line to be the poison of ours."

And yet even after these missives, Countrywide continued to push this poison. At a certain point, Mozilo reconciled himself to the fact that Countrywide was now making most of its money from subprime loans, and given the trepidation expressed in his e-mails, it doesn't seem to be too much of a leap to view the massive executive compensation he was rewarding himself as his response to the impending blowup. Between 2001 and 2006, Mozilo managed to arrange for himself a staggering $470 million in total executive compensation. The most cynical interpretation of these actions, though also the most plausible, is that Mozilo was looting the company he'd built as fast as he could before the markets or regulators caught up to him.

...When cheating becomes an accepted norm within an institution, it produces a distinct and dangerous psychology in those who rise to the top. They come to view themselves as übermensches and begin to hold in contempt those not in on the secret. ... Convicted felon and former superlobbyist Jack Abramoff says he and his fellow influence peddlers would say of a politician that he "got the joke." to describe the moment when a politician understood the terms of the implied bribe being offered: fund-raising money for a specific legislative favor for his clients.

Buck McKeon "got the joke" long, long ago. And now the joke is on the people who live in Simi Valley and northeast L.A. County. A Countrywide investigator who foresaw the implosion of the housing bubble said, "There were more morons than crooks, but the crooks were higher up." And Chris Hayes adds that "Our system is supposed to reward the virtuous and punish the vicious, and yet everywhere you turn, it seems the vicious are living high off the hog."

Now let's keep all that in mind and re-read, if you read it yesterday, what Lee Rogers had to say about McKeon's involvement with the Countrywide Scandal, the same Buck McKeon whose entire career has been in opposition to regulations that would safeguard consumers from financial predators like Mozilo and who has consistently voted to let the bad guys run wild and leave ordinary working Americans at their mercy. Rogers:

Issa says in his press release that the ‘allegation that Buck’s vote was somehow bought by Countrywide is at odds with the facts and certainly not something I found in my investigation.’ While only McKeon will know whether his vote was actually bought or not, the proximity of his vote to his loan is extremely suspect. On October 5, 1998, McKeon called the Countrywide VIP desk and according to records he was ‘difficult to deal with’ and ‘edgy’ and wanted to close ‘ASAP.’ On October 6, 1998, McKeon voted to raise the FHA loan limits, something Issa’s report stated that the Mortgage Bankers Association lobbyist, who referred McKeon to the VIP program, wanted lawmakers to do. The very next day, on October 7, 1998, McKeon’s loan was approved. Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo personally intervened, instructing the loan officer to ‘take off one point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc.’ But it’s what Issa’s press release didn’t say that’s most telling. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon received a favorable rate on his loan. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon knew he received special treatment. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon received a gift worth thousands of dollars which is not only banned under House rules, but also by law. It’s really sad that Darrell Issa has spent all this time and taxpayer money uncovering the corruption that led to the mortgage meltdown, but he hasn’t acted to bring anyone to justice or even to enact the recommendations in his own report to prevent this from happening again. But as far as Buck McKeon’s involvement is concerned, voters can read the report for themselves and make their own determinations.”

It's virtually impossible to read the report with an open mind and not conclude that McKeon is guilty of at least accepting-- if not soliciting-- a bribe from Mozilo. Every other congressman who did was either defeated in his reelection bid or forced to retire. Buck McKeon is the last Countrywide crook left-- the last fox charged with guarding the henhouse who was stealing the eggs. It will be up to voters in his district, CA-25, to determine if its time to tell him the jig is up. Buck McKeon helped set the rules that led to the economic collapse of millions of American families and he did it to benefit himself and his crooked family. So far there has been absolutely no accountability whatsoever. Right now he's busy using his connections, as Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, to help raise cash for Romney and for other congressional Republicans who oppose rules and regulations for banksters and other financial predators and parasites. As we head into the final weeks of the 2012 election cycle, Blue America is doing what the DCCC refuses to do: targeting high-ranking Republicans-- rather than powerless backbenchers-- who have been complicit in gaming the system against the ordinary working families of America and on behalf of themselves and their corporate paymasters. Buck McKeon and Paul Ryan are on the very top of our list. If you'd like to help clean this mess up, you can contribute directly to our reform candidates here or to our Independent Expenditure PAC here.

Why Hasn't David Rivera Been Arrested Yet? What About Buck McKeon?

Don't be deceived by the innocuous makeup; these are 2 dangerous felons

In his spectacular new book, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy, Chris Hayes observes that, "[a]long with the other rising inequalities we've become so familiar with-- in income, in wealth, in access to politicians-- we confront now a fundamental inequality of accountability. We can have a just society whose guiding ethos is accountability and punishment, where both black kids dealing weed in Harlem and investment banksters peddling fraudulent securities on Wall Street are forced to pay for their crimes, or we can have a just society whose guiding ethos is forgiveness and second chances, one in which both Wall Street banks and foreclosed households are bailed out, in which both inside traders and street felons are allowed to rejoin polite society with the full privileges of citizenship intact. But we cannot have a just society that applies the principle of accountability to the powerless and the principles of forgiveness to the powerful. This is the America in which we currently reside."

How has that come to pass? It seems so... so... unAmerican and so at odds with our ideals. Look no further than the political elites we chose to write our rules and laws, men like Buck McKeon and David Rivera, two especially heinous crooks currently serving in Congress, each of whom should be serving in the penitentiary but neither of whom is likely to ever spend any time behind bars for his crime spree. We've talked a lot her about Buck McKeon's Countrywide bribe scandal and how he sold out to Angelo Mozilo to avoid personal bankruptcy-- and we'll get more into that tomorrow-- but when his political opponent, Lee Rogers, pointed it out to Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and Antelope Valley constituents, McKeon got another unindicted felon, serial car thief Darrell Issa, who first officially exposed him and termed his behavior as taking bribes, to vouch for him in a phony "press release" that only went out to the media in McKeon's district and nowhere else.

Rogers' mailers and ads are completely accurate, quote Issa’s report directly and show him on Fox News (September, 26, 2009) saying, "I call them bribes," about the Friends of Angelo program McKeon availed himself of. McKeon is the only remaining Member of Congress who took bribes from Mozilo; the rest have all been either defeated for reelection of pushed into retirement. Rogers has pointed out that "Issa says in his press release that the ‘allegation that Buck’s vote was somehow bought by Countrywide is at odds with the facts and certainly not something I found in my investigation.’ While only McKeon will know whether his vote was actually bought or not, the proximity of his vote to his loan is extremely suspect. On October 5, 1998, McKeon called the Countrywide VIP desk and according to records he was ‘difficult to deal with’ and ‘edgy’ and wanted to close ‘ASAP.’  On October 6, 1998, McKeon voted to raise the FHA loan limits, something Issa’s report stated that the Mortgage Bankers Association lobbyist, who referred McKeon to the VIP program, wanted lawmakers to do. The very next day, on October 7, 1998, McKeon’s loan was approved. Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo personally intervened, instructing the loan officer to ‘take off one point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc.’ But it’s what Issa’s press release didn’t say that’s most telling. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon received a favorable rate on his loan. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon knew he received special treatment. He didn’t deny that Buck McKeon received a gift worth thousands of dollars which is not only banned under House rules, but also by law. It’s really sad that Darrell Issa has spent all this time and taxpayer money uncovering the corruption that led to the mortgage meltdown, but he hasn’t acted to bring anyone to justice or even to enact the recommendations in his own report to prevent this from happening again. But as far as Buck McKeon’s involvement is concerned, voters can read the report for themselves and make their own determinations.”

  

Earlier this month we reported that the FBI is looking for a missing witness, a right-wing crony of Rivera's and Republican Party operative who he paid to run a fake Democratic primary campaign. The FBI is still looking for her but, in the process, they found envelopes stuffed with shady Rivera cash. Rivera's campaign has been disintegrating and the latest polls show him down by 9% in his re-match with Democrat Joe Garcia, while the Romney campaign has asked him to stay away from their Miami area events. But it's getting even worse than that. Ace Miami Herald reporters, Marc Caputo and Manny Garcia reported on Friday that "a key witness in a federal grand jury case involving U.S. Rep. David Rivera is still missing, but she left important evidence behind for investigators: at least four envelopes that had been stuffed with unreported campaign cash." 

Ana Alliegro, a Republican political operative, delivered the cash-stuffed envelopes to a Hialeah mail house that sent out fliers in a congressional race against a Rivera political rival, the mail house owner told the FBI.

The FBI has the envelopes to check for fingerprints and handwriting comparisons.

Also in the hands of FBI agents: at least six invoices initially made out to the attention of David Rivera-- all marked paid “cash”-- to cover the mailings for Democratic primary challenger Justin Lamar Sternad, a suspected Rivera straw-man candidate. The congressman demanded that his name be removed from the invoices with Wite-Out, documents and interviews show.

Alliegro went missing two weeks ago, shortly after her computer was seized by FBI agents and just hours before she was scheduled to talk to a federal prosecutor about her involvement in the Rivera-Sternad operation. She also had been jailed by Miami cops on an old suspended driver-license warrant.

“Am I worried? Yes,” Mauricio Padilla, her lawyer, said Friday. “I have not heard or seen her. This has never happened to me before.”

Enrique “Rick” Yabor, who represents Sternad, said he and his client would not comment.

Sternad initially failed to report the cash receipts or expenditures-- totaling at least $47,000-- which could violate federal campaign laws concerning financial disclosures for congressional candidates. It’s also illegal to conspire to break federal laws and launder money.

Rivera, already under a separate federal criminal investigation into his personal and campaign finances, denied any association with Sternad, who often attacked candidate Joe Garcia in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary.

In all, Sternad sent 12 mailers in the race-- one of which savaged Garcia over his divorce by using a line of attack that originated with Rivera.

The owner of Rapid Mail, John Borrero, first told The Herald in early August that he had been paid in cash-- a rarity in campaigns, which usually rely on checks so that a candidate can clearly show the source and amounts of his receipts and expenses. Borrero said that Alliegro paid for the mailers multiple times. All but $9,000 of the nearly $47,000 in work was paid in cash.

In August, Borrero said that he turned over two of the envelopes that were in his trash can to Miami-Dade public corruption investigators. They turned the documents over to the FBI, when it opened an inquiry. Agents now have two more envelopes.

Sternad’s primary reports initially gave no indication that he could afford a dozen mailers.

The invoices were initially printed to the attention of Rivera for six Sternad mailers, ranging from fliers titled “Obamacare/Trayvon” to “Lamar for Congress,” records and interviews show. But Rivera demanded that his name be removed, so the invoices only read: “Lamar Sternad for Congress.”

Sternad’s initial reports showed he had loaned himself $11,262, most of which was spent on the state fee to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. After repeated questions from The Herald, Sternad amended his financial disclosures to show he had loaned himself nearly $53,000 more than originally reported. Still, his reports never showed how he paid for the actual printing of the dozen mailers, which would cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

Sternad’s personal financial disclosures show he is a part-time South Beach hotel worker who earned just $30,000 last year; he listed a one-third interest in a mutual fund valued at a maximum of $100,000. He derived no income from it last year, his disclosures show.

Sternad’s finances weren’t the only mystery-- so was the level of sophistication of his mailers, which targeted slices of the electorate with specialized messages. They were good enough to earn him 11 percent of the vote.

Alliegro took credit for much of the work. FBI agents want to know exactly what she knew and when.

Alliegro’s mother, Agueda “Guedy” Alliegro, said Friday afternoon that she has not heard from her daughter in two weeks and neither have other family members.

“I am worried,” she said. “I know she is resting. We are praying for her.”

Guedy Alliegro said that law enforcement has not contacted her family, which hasn’t filed a missing-person’s report. She said she has no reason to think that her daughter would be cooperating with the FBI.

“Ana has done nothing wrong,” the mother said.

Buck McKeon and David Rivera, this years two worst congressional posterboys for what Chris Hayes refers to as "a fundamental inequality of accountability." Even if both lose their seats, justice will not have been served until each of them has been indicted, tried and, if convicted, punished.

Dr. Lee Rogers Giving Buck McKeon a Taste of Sour Medicine-- Open Wide for Countrywide!

We all know that Buck McKeon is, at the very least, a legalistic bribe taker of massive proportions. We call them legalistic bribes because they are in the form of campaign contributions and eventually make it into his joint checking account by the method of payments to his incompetent treasurer/wife (and failed state assembly candidate). She has collected almost $600,000 from his campaign. It would be illegal for him to hire her for his congressional staff, so he hires her to do campaign work, albeit, horribly. She is the highest paid congressional spouse doing campaign work, not just in California, but anywhere in this wide country. The nepotism doesn’t end there. He paid $108,000 to redo his website, mostly to his son, David McKeon.

Now a bribe wouldn’t be a bribe unless he returned some kind of favor. So McKeon takes more money from weapons manufacturers than any other 2 congressmen or senators combined. He sits as the powerful chair of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and had direct control over how tax dollars are spent on arms and on military contractors. Before becoming chair of the HASC he voted in agreement with the weapons manufactures 25% of the time. After becoming chair, in 2011, he voted in agreement with them 100% of the time. He thinks so highly of weapons manufacturers, he appointed one of their top lobbyists to be an advisor on the HASC, but not before this lobbyist collected a $500,000 bonus from Northrop Grumman. This "bonus" have been illegal if it occurred just days later. McKeon also foundeded and chairs the “drone caucus” which funnels hundreds of thousands of dollars into the pockets of Members of Congress who are “for sale” to strike the Fourth Amendment by authorizing 30,000 drones in US airspace by 2020. No joke. Who will they be spying on? Us.

Now on to the illegal bribe where McKeon was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Rep. Darrell Issa, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is a fellow Republican and recently uncovered wrongdoing by several awful Democrats who were taking bribes from Countrywide Financial to raise the FHA loan limits and eventually led to the mortgage meltdown and sparked our recession. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Issa here describing the program and calling them “bribes.” But, this is before Issa knew that McKeon was involved in the scandal. Issa’s report can be read here; McKeon starts on page 60.

Dr. Lee Rogers, a Blue America-endorsed candidate, has been hammering Buck McKeon where it hurts, on Countrywide. His campaign started a website www.PayItBackBuck.com with a Country Western theme claiming “Buck made out like a bandit.” Rogers has been leading the charge in the district, making sure voters know exactly what McKeon did and how it led to the mortgage crisis. He has pointed out the federal law prohibits gifts to any member of Congress and that House rules ban gifts more than $50-- we don’t know why there is a discrepancy either. In any case, it is proven than McKeon got a gift from Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo worth thousands. The Rogers team just released the ad (up top) online and is fundraising to put it on TV.

For his part in the mortgage meltdown, Mozilo agreed to a $73 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission but will not serve jail time. McKeon is the only member of Congress accused of wrongdoing in the Issa Report who has the gumption to run for reelection. All the others have already decided to retire or have been retired by the voters. Now it's McKeon's turn... but he's not going voluntarily.

Let's help Lee’s campaign raise $5,000 to put it up on cable TV in the district. There are two cable networks that, together, cover nearly the entire 25th CD, from Simi Valley to Santa Clarita and out to Antelope Valley. A $60 contribution gets the ad on the Rachel Maddow Show and $170 gets it up on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. There are more exotic ways to go as well. $300 will cover either Project Runway on Life or the Food Network's TOP Chef: Masters. And then it's just $100 to get the ad on AMC's Breaking Bad. An alternative to picking a specific show is just to pick a prime time rotator schedule so the ad shows up in prime time on whatever show has space. It's a lot less expensive and your dollar goes a lot further. MSNBC only costs $30 and AMC is $65. CNN is $115; Life is $205 and Bravo costs $200. Take a look at the ad again and if you want to help, contribute on this page Lee set up specifically for this ad campaign. This is how we’ll help to put away one of the worst Members of Congress, Buck ‘The Bandit’ McKeon.

Ed Royce, Another Countrywide Bandito From California

These days, when most California voters think about the Countrywide scandal, they probably think about the only congressman seeking reelection who was found to be taking personal bribes-- rather than just campaign contributions-- from Countrywide, Buck McKeon. But on the other side of Los Angeles County there's another longtime Republican incumbent, one who's kept his head down while amassing power, nearly as guilty as McKeon. We've talked about what a sleazebag Ed Royce is before. But since Blue America is getting ready to formally endorse his progressive opponent, Jay Chen, I thought today might be a good day remind people what kind of character Royce is (beyond just all the racism and bigotry).

Royce has long been in the pocket of Wall Street bankers and has collected millions from the financial services and insurance industries he so passionately deregulates. Sitting on a number of financial committees, Royce has very effectively sold himself and his votes to the banks that have been driving this country into the ground. In fact, no California Representative has received more campaign contributions from the financial services industry than Royce ($4,209,456 since 1989 and already $794,605 this cycle alone), and bankers are getting what they paid for.

Royce, one of the few senior Republicans to actually officially join Bachmann's crazy Tea Party Caucus, was Sarah Palin’s choice for chairman of the House Financial Services committee. That was either despite or because of-- who knows-- the fact that, as a ranking member, he championed the deregulation and risk-taking (akin to unregulated casino gambling) that allowed bankers to plunge our country into a second Great Depression. He voted against regulating the subprime mortgage industry, voted against taxing the bonuses of TARP recipients, and he still opposes the Volcker rule despite J.P. Morgan’s $2 billion debacle.

Half a dozen of Congress' shadiest members

But that’s not Royce’s biggest financial secret. A model of what banks have done to infect our congressional halls, Royce was the recipient of the largest amount of donations from Countrywide, receiving a whopping total of $37,500 since 1989. If you haven't been following the Buck McKeon scandal and the name Countrywide sounds familiar, it’s probably because it is-- Countrywide stirred up news outlets back in 2008 when a financial political loan scandal broke out that revealed the mortgage lender to be giving favorable mortgage rates to top politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Countrywide’s campaign contributions weren’t loans, but they were investments. Unfortunately, these “investments” didn’t work, and the failing financial group was purchased by Bank of America soon after.

So what? Though Royce must be upset to see one of his income streams blocked off, he is by no means receiving any less from other financial services and insurance companies. Having received $2,597,049 from banksters and Big Insurance CEOs, Royce has never hesitated to vote for the interests of lobbyists who have pumped immense sums into his career. The concept of "conflict or interest" never seems to cross his mind when it comes to voting for the bandits who have financed his cushy career and lifestyle.

What can we do about this? For your average citizen, stopping top banks from influencing our self-proclaimed leaders is a daunting-- if not impossible-- task. And that's why Blue America doesn't follow the diktats the DCCC tries to enforce on progressive groups and why we're focusing on electing leaders who are responsible and accountable for their actions, and who don’t vote based on the size of their wallets, and defeating Republican culprits like Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Buck McKeon and Ed Royce, who the DCCC always gives a free pass to reelection.

In the new 39th District, Democratic challenger and small businessman Jay Chen has begun a competitive race against a startlingly vulnerable Royce, who has been uprooted from his financial throne in Orange County and placed into a district that is now 30% Asian American and 30% Latino. Unlike Royce, Chen strives for financial accountability and will make sure that America doesn’t collapse even when big banks do.

A week from tomorrow Blue America will be live blogging at Crooks and Liars with Jay. We'll remind you. Meanwhile, tomorrow, please stop by at 2pm (EST) to meet the newly endorsed Blue America candidate from West Virginia, Sue Thorn. Sue's on the same page as Jay when it comes to protecting consumers, customers and society from predatory banksters-- and they're on this same page as well.

The Bitter End Of Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)

There's a much bigger Buck McKeon scandal about to break-- one with national security ramifications that could shake the Romney campaign to it's foundations. More about that... soon. But first, let's go back to conservative Republican Darrell Issa, once a common car thief, now the richest member of Congress and the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa has put his man John Boehner in a very awkward position by releasing a lengthy report pointing out that another Boehner close ally-- Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee-- was taking bribes from Countrywide. Above is a clip of Issa on Fox News explaining what the scandal is all about.

He refers to the Countrywide scandal as "a calculated effort to buy friends and manipulate public policy" and the Fox host, Patti Ann Browne, asked him which public policies were influenced by all the bribes Country wide paid corrupt congressmen like McKeon. (By the way, McKeon is the only sitting member of Congress who took bribes from Countrywide who is seeking reelection in November.) Unlike most of what Issa says, this is extremely interesting to listen to. He is clear that what he's talking about are "bribes"-- his terminology.

Problem for Issa is that now that the report is out, he has refused to send it over to the House Ethics Committee for action. That's because Boehner threatened him with loss of his committee chair if he did. On Fox he bragged that "the House has higher standards" than the Senate when it comes to tolerating bribery among its members. And Issa blamed the footdragging on senior Democrats. But now that his report is out, and the #1 culprit is Buck McKeon, a senior Republican, guess who's thrown a spanner into the works and is protecting McKeon. Yes, Boehner, of course. Which brings us to a much bigger scandal that leaked out of Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy's office. McCarthy, who has nothing but disdain for McKeon, is in a district that abuts McKeon's. They share a piece of the Antelope Valley. But his staffers' loyalty to America, apparently, is greater than their loyalty to wretched old Buck.

Ever since he helped drive his deceased parents' country and western costume store, Howard and Phil's, into bankruptcy in 1996, McKeon has been on the verge of personal bankruptcy. That was, in part, what drove him into the waiting arms of Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide. But it also drove him into much more dangerous waiting arms as well: billionaire Las Vegas organized crime figure Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson has a lot of agendas, many of which-- a passionate hatred of working people and unions, an extreme agenda towards Zionism that encourages Israel to take over Arab land and expel Palestinians from their homes, for example-- he shares with McKeon. But Adelson, who is under multiple investigations for serious criminal activities at home and abroad, is also looked at as a cat's paw inside the American political system for communist China. Most of his wealth is derived from his gambling and prostitution businesses in southern China, specifically Macau. He is also Mitt Romney's biggest donor, Eric Cantor's biggest donor, John Boehner's biggest donor and the Republican Party's biggest donor. He's using his Chinese billions to finance a peaceful coup d'etat in the United States of America. So how does McKeon fit in? Glad you asked.


McKeon, who poses as a devout Mormon, is addicted to gambling. And he's a loser. What McCarthy's staffers have leaked is that he's lost very large sums of money at Adelson's casino. He hasn't reported these losses-- which is a crime. He gets the highest national security briefings, briefings the man he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to is very interested in. He's always welcome at the Venetian Hotel on the Strip, where he's a well-known figure... and where he keeps getting deeper and deeper in debt to Adelson (and Red China). I might add, tangentially, that although there isn't a single casino in CA-25, McKeon is one of the top recipients of gambling contributions in the House ($34,700 so far... the year is young) and that he has a record of supporting the agenda of the big casino companies that bribe him patriotically donate large sums of money to his political career.

Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have now gone to Boehner and demanded he remove McKeon as chairman because they perceive him as a "potential" threat to national security. Boehner called him in for a meeting. But instead of firing him, he told him to "take care" of the gambling debts before it becomes public. McKeon is putting his two homes-- one in Alexandria, Virginia and one in Valencia, California, up for sale so he can repay Adelson.

Now the House Ethics Committee has finally figured out they have no choice but to investigate this guy or they will be seen for being asleep at the wheel-- which they clearly were. So despite Issa not referring his report on-- at Boehner's insistence-- to the Ethics Committee, it has finally leaked out that they are looking at the Countrywide scandal and his bribes. What about the national security breach? That will probably never surface unless the NY Times takes it up, but McKeon will be eased out of his positions in return for an opportunity to stay out of prison. The Feds are on the case.

Darrell Issa's House Oversight Committee Spills The Beans On Buck McKeon: Bribery From Corrupt Mortgage Giant

Two things happened over the sleepy 4th of July holiday that California Republican Congressmen Buck McKeon and Darrell Issa hoped no one would notice. Issa released his long-awaited 136 page investigation, How Countrywide Used its VIP Loan Program To Influence Washington Policymakers, and McKeon fired his Deputy Chief of Staff and district director Bob Haueter. No one is paying attention to the news-- other than fireworks displays and hot dog eating contests-- over the 4th of July break.

If McKeon thinks he can somehow shift the blame for all his incessant bribe-taking onto Bob Haueter, he's not paying enough attention to all the money he loses gambling at Sheldon Adelson's casinos in Las Vegas when he makes those eye-popping bets. Voters in Santa Clarita, Porter Ranch, Simi Valley and the Antelope Valley are getting wise to McKeon's little tricks. And Issa releasing his report on July 4th won't save his scrawny neck.

Short version-- McKeon was about to go bankrupt so he reached out to Mike Farrell, sleazy chief lobbyist and legislative strategist for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, who helped him get a sweetheart deal from Angelo Mozilo, head of Countrywide. He then voted against legislation to regulate mortgage dealers like Countrywide, legislation that could have averted the mortgage meltdown for which Countrywide was primarily responsible. McKeon, of course, denies everything, even that he was under investigation or that he got any special treatment. John Bresnahan's report in Politico yesterday was clear that Issa's investigation proves otherwise:

While the identities of the lawmakers who received the VIP loans have been public for years-- and all vehemently dispute that they received or were aware of getting any special treatment-- Issa asserts that the efforts by Countrywide and its former CEO, Angelo Mozilo, to woo political power brokers played a critical part in blocking legislation that would have reformed the mortgage industry, specifically the roles played by the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the U.S. housing bubble of the mid-2000s.

“Documents and testimony obtained by the Committee show the VIP loan program was a tool used by Countrywide to build goodwill with lawmakers and other individuals positioned to benefit the company. A Countrywide lobbyist described the VIP program as a means to create a favorable impression of the company on Capitol Hill,” states a draft copy of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee report that was reviewed by Politico.

“Documents and testimony show that Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide’s lobbyists may have skirted the federal bribery statute by keeping conversations about discounts and other forms of preferential treatment internal. Rather than making quid pro quo arrangements with lawmakers and staff, Countrywide used the VIP loan program to cast a wide net of influence.”

The report adds: “Countrywide’s effort to build goodwill on Capitol Hill worked. Countrywide became a trusted adviser and was consulted when the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee considered GSE reform and predatory lending legislation. If Countrywide’s lobbyists, and Mozilo himself, were more strictly prohibited from arranging preferential treatment for Members of Congress and congressional staff, it is possible that efforts to reform the GSEs would have been met with less resistance.”

According to the L.A. Times, McKeon was able to take about $47,000 out of his home loan just days before he made the deal with Mozilo and then another $30,000 right after. That $77,000 saved him from having to declare personal bankruptcy. He had already driven the cowboy dress-up shops he inherited from his parents, Howard & Phil's Western Wear, into bankruptcy by then.

Even McKeon supporters are seeing this news because Fox is running the story: "Countrywide made discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, House report says."

The Justice Department has not prosecuted any Countrywide official, but the House committee's report said documents and testimony show that Mozilo and company lobbyists "may have skirted the federal bribery statute by keeping conversations about discounts and other forms of preferential treatment internal. Rather than making quid pro quo arrangements with lawmakers and staff, Countrywide used the VIP loan program to cast a wide net of influence."

The Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2010 slapped Mozilo with a $22.5 million penalty to settle charges that he and two other former Countrywide executives misled investors as the subprime mortgage crisis began. Mozilo also was banned from ever again serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.

He also agreed to pay another $45 million to settle other violations for a total settlement of $67.5 million that was to be returned to investors who were harmed.

The report said that until the housing market became swamped with foreclosures, "Countrywide's effort to build goodwill on Capitol Hill worked."

The company became a trusted adviser in Congress and was consulted when the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee considered reform of Fannie and Freddie and unfair lending practices.

"If Countrywide's lobbyists, and Mozilo himself, were more strictly prohibited from arranging preferential treatment for members of Congress and congressional staff, it is possible that efforts to reform (Fannie and Freddie) would have been met with less resistance," the report said.

The report said Fannie assigned as many as 70 lobbyists to the Financial Services Committee while it considered legislation to reform the company from 2000 to 2005. Four reform bills were introduced in the House during the period, and none made it out of the committee.

Hit with staggering losses, Fannie and Freddie came under government control in September 2008. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the Treasury Department had committed over $183 billion to support the two companies-- and there's no end in sight.

Most of the bribes were half point waivers-- but McKeon, well known on Capitol Hill as a Congressman always ready to sell his votes, got double what everyone else got. He wasn't just a Friend Of Angelo; he was a Very Special Friend Of Angelo. Here's Issa's report on fellow Republican Buck McKeon, a disgrace to his party and his state:

In October 1998, McKeon and his wife used Countrywide to refinance a mortgage on a property in Stevenson Ranch, California. The VIP unit processed the loan. On February 12, 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported that a spokesperson for Congressman McKeon’s office said McKeon “had no knowledge of the Friends of Angelo designation. "McKeon told the Times he paid garbage fees and did not get a point off on the loan.

Internal Countrywide documents show that Angelo Mozilo ordered a point off McKeon’s loan and waived garbage fees. The discount is not reflected on documents signed by McKeon. However, internal Countrywide documents show that one point was in fact waived.

In an internal e-mail from September 29, 1998, Kay Gerfen noted that McKeon was referred to Countrywide by “Mike Farrell/MBA.” Farrell was the chief lobbyist and legislative strategist for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA). At the time, Farrell was working on “leading the industry’s successful campaign... to raise the maximum loan amount for FHA single-family insured mortgages.” Mozilo served as the President of the MBA from 1991 to 1992 and remained closely connected to the association, which represented the interests of the real estate finance industry.

A September 29, 1998 e-mail from Kay Gerfen to Stephen Brandt described Mozilo’s instructions for pricing and processing McKeon’s loan. Gerfen stated: “Per Angelo-- ‘take off 1 point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc.’” Brandt forwarded Gerfen’s e-mail to Joseph Reed in the VIP unit.


On October 5, 1998, Reed updated a “Countrywide Comment Sheet” for McKeon’s loan. Reed’s comments about the McKeon loan reflected the content of a series of telephone conversations with McKeon, his wife, and his secretary. Reed stated:

FOA [Friends of Angelo] referral, Please order appraisal ASAP. You may call the borrower at his Washington office [number redacted] and get the Sons phone number for the appraiser contact. The borrower would like to hear from the appraiser this week.

The borrower is a bit difficult to deal with. He seems on the edgy side.

On October 7, 1998, Countrywide sent an “opening package” of loan documents to the McKeon’s at their Stevenson Ranch home. The cover letter stated: “Thank you for allowing COUNTRYWIDE’s VIP TEAM to assist you with your financing needs on the above referenced property.”

October 7, 1998... the day before-- one day before, October 6, 1998 McKeon didn't think to resuse himself for a vote on HR 4194 which passed with him voting for it. Ostensibly a funding bill for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, another California GOP crook, McKeon's pal, Jerry Lewis, had inserted a provision to raise the Federal Housing Administration's maximum borrowing limit from 75% to 87% of the home value. Although Ron Paul led a group of outraged congressmen from both parties against this tactic, it passed largely because of the efforts of sleazy lobbyists-- particularly the same Mike Farrell who got McKeon his sweet deal with Countrywide. His job was to give lawmakers special deals to coax them into raising the FHA limit. And it worked but who would have though McKeon would do it the day before his VIP mortgage letter was mailed? Angelo Mozilo, apparently.

He still claims he didn't know he was getting a VIP package, which is like pleading incompetence. But the question that no one is asking is: where's Buck's #1 ally and protector, John Boehner, on all this? Boehner pledged to have zero tolerance for these kinds of shenanigans. Remember when Charlie Rangel was accused of helping a charity named after him and Speaker Pelosi made him step down as the Chairman of House Ways and Means? There's been no such move for Boehner to get McKeon out of his Armed Services Committee chairmanship-- which he uses to squeeze more money out of arms manufacturers and war contractors than any two Members of Congress combined! And solicited illegal donations for his wife's failed state Assembly campaign, something that isn't just an ethics violation, but a clear law violation that dictates an indictment, trial and, if found guilty, a prison term.



UPDATE: Lee Rogers Wants McKeon To Pay Back The Countrywide Money

Good idea but why not just ask for a unicorn? McKeon's a crooks and he's not paying back anything to anyone. He doesn't even pay his gambling debts to Sheldon Adelson... at least not in cash. This is what Rogers had to say this morning:

“Representative McKeon’s claims that he received no special treatment are in fact false. He profited because he was a Member of Congress and Countrywide wanted to buy influence. In addition to waiving the fees, one percent interest savings on a home mortgage of $315,000 would have saved McKeon tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. McKeon should finally come clean and be honest with his constituents about the special perks he received. Additionally, I’m calling on McKeon to pay this money back, not to Countrywide, but to the US Treasury since it was the taxpayer who absorbed Countrywide’s losses through TARP, which McKeon also voted for.”

What Does Buck McKeon Fear?

I hope you're following the Buck McKeon saga. The ending will be explosive. Monday's episode will catch you up and put what we're going to look at today in perspective.

So what does ole Buck fear? His life is one big tangle of fears, but today he has three big ones, two from federal prosecutors and one from voters in CA-25 (Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley). He's scared witless that voters in his district will figure out that his vote in favor of the TARP bankster bailout was connected to his huge Countrywide bribe. And of course it was. That leads to what scares him about the feds. Sooner or later someone is going to ask how it's possible that the house he bought at 25305 Joyce Place in Stevenson Ranch cost him $261,000 on August 15, 1997, but one year later his pal Angelo Mozilo let him refi it, under extraordinary terms, for an additional $315,000. What was the quid pro quo?

His other fear is that one of the shady donors-- a defense contractor who funneled money into his wife's campaign at his request-- will, under pressure, turn state's evidence and put him behind bars. One has to wonder if he will figure out that following Elton Gallegly into retirement is his only way to extricate himself from this mess.

When the Countrywide scandal started to break, McKeon's emergency damage-control team sent him a memo advising him to keep away from local reporters and to set up a meeting with the newspaper's editors instead. They suggested a practice session so he could go over possible tough questions and get his story "straight." They outlined 11 tough questions he'd have to prepare for:

1. How could you not know?
2. Did you not review your own loan documents?
3. You may not have known when you applied for the mortgage, but didn't you notice a difference in the rates when you signed fr the mortgage?
4. Why did you go to Countrywide to obtain a mortgage?
5. How were you given an FOA [Friend of Angelo] designation?
6. Did you ever meet Angelo?
7. What is your relationship with Countrywide? Lobbyist?
8. How much money have you been given by Countrywide? Was Countrywide part of teh bailout?
9. You voted for TARP; was it because of special interest money/treatment you received by big banks?
10. Are there any other instances where you were given special tratment because of your position?
11. If you don't remember receiving this special treatment, how can you be so sure that you haven't received special treatment in other instances?

If the House Ethics Committee wasn't part of DC's incumbent-protection racket, McKeon would already have been asked to resign from Congress by his pal Boehner. Inside the Beltway media is starting to notice you're running a House of Crooks, Mr. Speaker, just like Tom DeLay was.

An increasing number of House Republicans are getting wrapped up in allegations of ethics violations ahead of the November elections, handing Democrats easy campaign fodder and putting the GOP in an unexpected bind.

Republican leaders in the lower chamber pledged to run an ethically sound ship when they took control last year. But as the second session gets under way, nearly a dozen GOP lawmakers are being questions on a wide array of their financial dealings, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has not publicly admonished them.

...By next Monday the House Ethics Committee is slated to decide whether to formally investigate Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). Moreover, allegations arose over this past weekend that Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) might have accepted illegal campaign donations, according to The New York Times.

Additionally, there are the three Republicans-- Reps. Pete Sessions (Texas), Buck McKeon (Calif.) and Elton Gallegly (Calif.)-- who earlier this month were referred to the House Ethics Committee for taking part in Countrywide’s VIP mortgage program, aimed at gaining special favor from lawmakers.

Sessions serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), while Buchanan serves as the GOP reelection arm’s finance chairman. Grimm is one of the NRCC’s regional chairs.

...“House Republicans are standing idly by while federal investigations and scandals mount against leading members of their own caucus,” said Jesse Ferguson, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“Republicans pledged a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on ethics but after all these scandals, voters are going to send a forceful and unmistakable message: they have zero tolerance for scandal-plagued House Republicans,” Ferguson said.

So the damage control memo-- which also suggests dragging another FOA, neighboring Elton Gallegly, into the mess-- was dated January 6, 2012. Ole Elton suddenly announced he was retiring January 7, 2012. Also that memo on the 6th discusses how McKeon should respond-- as in mislead-- the press about the Countrywide revelations. On the 13th he announced he was shocked to hear them, a blatant borne out by the memo. His opponent, Lee Rogers, has a post up on his campaign blog that points out McKeons denials raise more questions than they answer.

“On Friday, Representative McKeon met with The Signal and the Antelope Valley Press to review the documents related to his controversial Countrywide VIP loan. I’m glad Mr. McKeon listened to me and many of his constituents, who called for him to be more transparent on the issue and release his loan documents. In his interview, he defended himself by stating that his loan interest rate was near the prevailing rate in October of 1998, which constituted evidence that he didn’t receive favored treatment.

“However, this doesn’t exclude favoritism because he may not have qualified for the prevailing rate. His business was failing and went bankrupt shortly after that time. Howard and Phil’s Western Wear was millions of dollars in corporate debt, including $400,000 in unpaid state sales taxes.

“The House Oversight Committee uncovered evidence that Rep. McKeon was referred to the Countrywide VIP program by a lobbyist from the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. They also reported that CEO Anthony Mozilo intervened in McKeon’s mortgage and personally approved his loan without any documentation of assets, liabilities, or income.

“Mozilo instructed the loan officer to cut the interest rate by 1 percent, which equates to $68,000 in savings for McKeon over 30 years. This would be a mortgage not available to other borrowers. Those are the facts. Additionally, this also raises a question about how McKeon was able to refinance a home he purchased one year earlier for an additional $315,000.

“The House Oversight Committee reviewed the same documents and found enough evidence to refer this matter to the House Ethics Committee for an investigation.

“Because of the atrocious acts of Countrywide Financial Corp., we must hold accountable those who instigated the housing crisis. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has previously stated that the Countrywide VIP program was nothing less than a bribe to those who were in positions of power. We await the results of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation.”

Other Things Buck McKeon Fears

Interviews like the one investigative journalist Lee Fang did with KHTS, which expose his corruption to a wider audience of voters.

KHTS: I’m reading the article and I’m saying to myself is there anything illegal or just inappropriate?

LF: I talked to some McCain-Feingold experts, that’s the campaign finance law on the books, and they said in this case there’s no evidence of illegal conduct. That being said, it’s clear that this lobbyist Mark Valente, this defense contract lobbyist, is trying to get around the Federal limit. The law that limits the amount he can give to a member. He’s basically circumventing the Federal law and giving to McKeon’s wife who is running for the State Assembly. This is legal, but it raises serious ethical concerns, because California has different rules and by giving to Patrician McKeon, or coordinating funds to her, he can basically give her unlimited amounts.

KHTS: He might say just because you give to my wife that’s not any influence on me.
LF: Sure, and that’s completely fair but there’s an interesting kind of pattern here. Buck McKeon has been very unusual for a member of Congress. He’s put his wife on his Congressional campaign staff for the last 10 years. A few members of Congress have done this but in various small kind of ways. I know there’s a Congressman in Maryland who puts his aunt as bookkeeper and pays her about $10,000 a year. But for Buck McKeon he’s put Patricia on his payroll and paid her over half a million dollars over the last 10 years and I believe he’s also paid other family members for Web development, for maintaining his campaign website. Large payments as much as $1,000 a month. So, there’s a strange pattern here where it at least gives the appearance that McKeon is open to the idea of his campaign contributors funneling money to his family.

KHTS: Other than this instance with Patricia, is there another instance that you’re seeing?

LF: I’ve seen reports that David Logan, who is the husband of McKeon’s daughter Tricia, has been paid by the McKeon campaign. And more than that, the Wall Street Journal had a big story, I believe two or three weeks ago, showing that Countrywide, which was caught giving bribes to several Democratic senators several years ago also gave a preferential mortgage to Buck McKeon in the late '90s, so this is a serious ethical cloud and the payments to Patricia McKeon add to that pattern.

(Editor’s note: McKeon officials have rebuffed requests from KHTS to provide copies of the Countrywide loan documents.)

And there's the local newspapers. Who reads them? Just the local voters. Most people in CA-25 don't read the Ventura Star, except the folks in Simi Valley, a new part of the district that's never been represented by McKeon, but have just met him in this feature story:

As a general rule, major defense contractors don't get involved in campaigns for state political offices. There's no Pentagon in Sacramento, and the governor doesn't have an army.

That is changing this year in the race for the new 38th Assembly District, campaign finance reports filed Tuesday revealed.

Republican candidate Patricia McKeon, wife of Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, reported $19,200 in contributions from seven defense contractors or their representatives, including four of the top five recipients of U.S. military contracts. That amount represents more than one-fifth of the money she raised last year, other than a personal loan she made to her campaign.

The contributions, said a spokesman for Common Cause of California, are a clear sign that military contractors are seeking to gain favor with the Republican congressman whose committee oversees U.S. military operations.

"We believe this is a way for these companies to influence Congressman McKeon," said Phillip Ung. "The success of her candidacy absolutely affects him. It affects their family's income and the family's political future."

Hi, Simi Valley, meet your new (corrupt, scumbag) congressman, old Buck McKeon! And of course, Buck is very fearful that Boehner will ask him to step down as chair of the House Armed Services Committee. Why would Boehner do that? Buck sure seems to be taking an inordinate amount of bribes from defense contractors and laundering them through his wife's campaign. Could get embarrassing for the GOP as the election ramps up.

Disclosures posted last evening at the California Secretary of State’s Web site confirm that a flood of military contractor money has flowed to Patricia McKeon, who is running for an open Assembly seat in a district that overlaps that of her husband Republican Congressman Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

...In her first few months of fundraising, Patricia McKeon collected at least $19,200 from defense contractors or their registered lobbyists. Her husband of 49 years is already the top recipient of military industry cash in Congress, so some of the contributions to his wife appear to be an attempt to get around federal campaign contribution limits.

Lockheed Martin, a company locked in a pitched battle to stave off cuts to the lucrative F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet, cut Patricia McKeon’s campaign a $3,000 check.

Congressman Buck McKeon has rigorously defended the jets, despite growing concerns that the planes will run almost $90 million over budget each.

The lobbying firm Beau Butler LLC gave Patricia McKeon as well. Beau Butler lobbies for Proxy Aviations, a drone company. Although its not clear why a drone maker would rally to Patricia McKeon’s call to end plastic bag taxes, the industry is an important cause for Buck McKeon. He’s co-chair of a caucus dedicated to promoting drones for both military and civillian purposes.