A Challenge to Freepers about Edwards

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 7 July 2004 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

I lost interest in John Edwards after he ceased to be either a candidate for reelection to the Senate here in North Carolina, or a candidate for President. Like most political analysts, I did not expect Kerry to choose Edwards for the same reason that a Broadway star does not want her understudy to be much prettier than she is.

Well, we were all wrong, and Edwards is now a menace to the nation because he might contribute to the election of John Kerry as President. So I ask able Freeper researchers to get cracking on a project that could sink Edwards like a brick in a well.

I already know of two instances in which Edwards' campaign committed election law felonies. One was here in the Tarheel State, the other was in Mississippi. Based on the nature of trial lawyers and the pattern of Edwards' national fundraising, I expect there will be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of such instances. Enough to paint Edwards as a persistant felon, and perhaps to drive him off the ticket. (It will NOT be enough to cause the Federal Election Commission to break its long nap and take prompt action.)

Edwards raised most of his money from trial lawyers. The website that allows anyone to find major donors in his/her area by zipcode, is key to this. Any Freeper can find local donors of $1,000 to $2,000 who are associated with lawyers, but who are not lawyers themselves. Some of those will be, like the two I know of, people who make very little money, and could not have donated that kind of money unless someone handed it to them and said, "Give this to Edwards." And that act constitutes three felonies: one by the real donor (the lawyer), one by the front man (the donor on paper), and one by the Edwards campaign.

The kind of research that Freepers can well do, is key to this. IMHO, this project will allow this website to use hard facts to sink the Edwards candidacy. I guarantee that if sufficient instances are found (20 would establish a pattern), I WILL GET IT PUBLISHED, NATIONALLY, with due credit to those who did the digging.

What say y'all to that proposal?

John / Billybob

[Dems_R_Losers]

Edwards has an awful lot of contributions from campaign staff members and consultants In the Washington, DC area. That's a good way to pad the fundraising numbers, I suppose.

[maggief]

http://www.realchange.org/edwards.htm#quotes

John Edwards's Skeleton Closet

Sweetheart Real Estate Deal with Saudi Lobbyist

[ravingnutter]

From your link:

In one case there IS direct evidence that such an employee was illegally contributing for her boss. Michelle Abu-Halmeh, a legal assistant at Turner & Associates in Arkansas, told The Washington Post in April of 2003 that she expected to be reimbursed by her boss for her $2,000 contribution. The Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation of the case.

This is not the same person mentioned in the story I posted in #64...that is TWO people now that admitted that they expected to be reimbursed from the same firm!

[maggief]

Edwards blocks GIs' loan break
July 01, 2003

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Sen. John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat, is single-handedly blocking Senate action on legislation all but unanimously supported by the House to ease the student-loan burden for soldiers fighting overseas.
In April, the House voted 421-1 to pass the HEROES Act, which essentially would defer student loans for soldiers called into action. The only dissenting vote was cast accidentally by one of the bill's sponsors.
The bill is stalled in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under a "secret hold," said Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican and chairman of the committee.

(snip)

Apparently, presidential politics got involved," Mr. Kline said.
One Republican staffer on the Senate education panel said Mr. Edwards is holding up the bill so that he can take top credit for passing it later.

(snip)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030630-113746-7072r.htm

[Congressman Billybob]

Able Freepers, exctly as I had hoped, came up with four different websites to look up donations. Here's the one that is specifically keyed to zipcodes first:

http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php

Go to this site, enter your zipcode, and see what you learn about your friends and neighbors and their real, or sham, donations to John Edwards.

John / Billybob

[BushisTheMan]

A couple of lawfirms stand out for Austin (7875 ) I purposely left the last number blank:

Feazell Rosenthal and Watson

Mueller Law Office versus The Muellor Law Offices
(misspelled on purpose by people who supposedly work for this firm? or just dumb lawyer? or maybe not the lawyer but the secretary who was given money to invest?)

[Congressman Billybob]

That's like saying it is a waste of time to point out the connections between Clinton (him) and illegal Chinese Communist campaign cash. We know the money is illegal, because James Riady confessed to that in open court. We do not have, and never will have, a court decision that says Clinton (him) deliberately accepted that illegal money.

Does the lack of a trial or conviction of Clinton mean that we cannot / should not raise the subject concerning him? I doubt you think that. Please consider whether all sources of facts should be used against any candidate who is appearently trying to sweep thing under the rug.

John / Billybob

[ravingnutter]

More on that bill:

Edwards first told colleagues he didn’t know about the bill or the hold: “‘I just talked to Senator Edwards,’ [Sen. Lindsey] Graham [R-SC] said as he stepped off the Senate floor last week. ‘He said if he has a hold on it, he didn’t know about it. He didn’t even know about the bill.’” (Charles Hurt, “Edwards Blocks GIs’ Loan Break,” Washington Times, July 1, 2003)

Edwards’ spokesman Mike Briggs, upon being told last week that everyone involved with the legislation adamantly said that Mr. Edwards put the hold on it, responded “They’re adamantly wrong.” (Charles Hurt, “Edwards Blocks GIs’ Loan Break,” Washington Times, July 1, 2003)

“Yesterday, however, Mr. Briggs acknowledged that his boss was stalling the bill. ‘We support this bill, but Senator Edwards wants his amendment voted on.’” (Charles Hurt, “Edwards Blocks GIs’ Loan Break,” Washington Times, July 1, 2003)

NC GOP

Guess we should be calling him Miss Clairol instead of the Breck Girl...does he or doesn't he block this bill? LOL!

[cake_crumb]

I don't have any more details about campaign donation irregularities, except that lots of trial lawyers contributed...but Edwards is a joke.

He voted to send troops to Iraq but against funding them, just like his co-John, Kerry. His campaign managers always say the voters don't "know" him, just like Kerry's. He's lied about writing and also co-sponsoring legislation. He wants to abolish the FBI in favor of an MI5 here in the US.

He's AGAINST providing for Presidential certification that the government of Cuba is not involved in the support for acts of international terrorism as a condition precedent to agricultural trade with Cuba.

He's against torte reform and has been against every attempt at Medicare reform legislation for the past three years.

He's against educational reform...

John + John = 1 Pair of Flip Flops. Flush them. Can't wait 'til they go stump in Nevada. Imagine a pair of Johns asking hookers for money....or is John's John nothing but a Joques Strap?

The danger, of course, is from big labor, which is breaking our economy but gets Democrats elected.

[ravingnutter]

Edwards Hypocrisy:

Congressional Democratic campaign finance reform backers are proving to be hypocrites.

The Boston Globe reports that North Carolina Senator John Edwards joined most other Democrats two months ago in voting to ban soft money contributions, but that has not stopped him from raising those same funds for his campaign war chest. Soft money is unregulated, unlimited contributions from corporations, labor unions, and individuals that cannot be spent directly on federal elections. The newly-passed Campaign Finance Reform legislation takes effect November 1. Joining Edwards in his hypocrisy are Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, and Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri. All Democratic leaders who guided campaign finance reform legislation through Congress, but are now raising soft money for their own political campaigns while it is still legal to do so.

Ears to Hear

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the link!
(I am an computer-age-challenged individual, but I do know how to click a mouse.)

[cake_crumb]

"A businessman loses a $100 million judgement in a lawsuit, but there's good news: he just saved a bundle with Geico"

[maggief]

Senator John Reid Edwards (NC)

Current Office: U.S. Senator
Current District: Senior Seat
Office Seeking: Vice President
First Elected: 11/03/98
Last Elected: 11/03/98
Next Election: 2004
Party: Democrat
Biographical

(Links to:)
Issue Positions(NPAT)
Campaign Finances
Interest Group Ratings
Voting Record
Speeches and Public Statements
Campaign Schedule


http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=CNC68243&PHPSESSID=b0668d63035d9033da15d87e9c1ce442

[adam_az]

found some suspicious husband and wife pairings - are these legal? It appears the working spouse gave $2k and then the other spouse also gave - even when listed as "not employed."


GILCREASE, DELAINE
TEMPE,AZ 85283
MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE/B
10/20/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

GILCREASE, DELAINE
TEMPE,AZ 85282
MARICOPA CCC/BIOLOGY TEACHER
9/30/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

GILCREASE, GLYNN
TEMPE,AZ 85282
SELF EMPLOYED/ATTORNEY
6/30/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

GILCREASE, GLYNN W
TEMPE,AZ 85283
SELF EMPLOYED/ATTORNEY
3/13/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John


----



FELDMAN, NORMA
TUCSON,AZ 85716
9/30/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

FELDMAN, NORMA
TUCSON,AZ 85716
11/5/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

FELDMAN, STANLEY G
TUCSON,AZ 85716
HARALSON MILLER PITT/ATTORNEY
5/13/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

FELDMAN, STANLEY G
TUCSON,AZ 85716
HARALSON MILLER PITT/ATTORNEY
6/30/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John


----



MILLS, JOJENE
TUCSON,AZ 85718
PICCARRETA & DAVIS/ATTORNEY
3/13/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

MILLS, JOJENE
TUCSON,AZ 85718
PICCARRETA & DAVIS/ATTORNEY
5/2/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

MILLS, RON
TUCSON,AZ 85718
NOT EMPLOYED/HOMEMAKER
5/5/2003
$1,000
Edwards, John

----

[ravingnutter]

Sen. John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat and 2004 presidential hopeful, is four months delinquent in paying the property taxes on his Georgetown mansion and owes the cash-strapped District more than $11,000, city records show. Mr. Edwards is worth somewhere between $12 million and $30 million after a successful career as a personal injury lawyer, according to his financial disclosure forms. He bought the eight-bedroom, 6,672-square-foot home in the tony neighborhood for $3.8 million in September. In February, the city sent Mr. Edwards a tax bill for $9,562.46, which he was supposed to have paid by March 31, according to tax records. As of 3:30 p.m. yesterday, Mr. Edwards owed $11,092.46 with interest and penalties, according to the city's tax collection office." (Washington Times, "Edwards is 4 months late on taxes, Charlie Hurt, July 31, 2003)

GOP.com

[ravingnutter]

More hypocrisy:

During 1998 Senate Campaign, Senator John Edwards (D-NC) Said Partial-Birth Abortion Should Be Banned. "I think partial-birth abortions should be banned,' Edwards said. 'These are terribly gruesome procedures. I think the only exception is where there is a grave, serious threat to the health of the mother.'" ("Edwards Campaigns On An Issue A Week," The Associated Press, 9/19/98)

But Edwards Has Voted Against Banning Partial-Birth Abortion. (S. 1692, Roll Call Vote #340, Passed 63-34: R 49-3; D 14-31, 10/21/99)

GOP.com

Also articles on a dubious friend of his:

Baron's Law Firm Is The Subject Of A Racketeering Suit. "Several major players in the asbestos plaintiffs' bar, including Dallas' Baron & Budd, have been sued for allegedly threatening to sabotage pending settlements with a company that pressed for federal legislation aimed at capping recoveries and fees." The racketeering complaint, filed on Jan. 10, 2001, in the Southern District of New York, alleges that principals of Baron & Budd and others threatened a "nuclear response" if the target of their asbestos claims persisted in supporting the now-stalled Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act. Fred Baron denied the allegations and calls them "garbage." The heart of the claim, however, is a memorandum issued by Baron's firm that allegedly instructs clients falsely to claim equal exposure to all products and directs that clients should deny that they ever saw warnings or had any knowledge concerning the harmful effects of asbestos. "Baron says the memo, which first surfaced in 1997 after a Baron & Budd lawyer mistakenly turned it over to defense counsel during discovery, is 'old news.'" (Mark Hamblett, "Baron & Budd Lawyers Named In Civil RICO Suit," Texas Lawyer, January 22, 2001) Baron's Law Firm's "Witness Coaching" Memorandum Is Smoking Gun In RICO Case. "After asbestos claims forced the parent company of GAF Materials Corp., the largest U.S. roofing materials company, into bankruptcy this year, it sued three law firms. The complaint reads like a Sopranos episode, alleging that the trial lawyers threatened to crush any company pushing for asbestos tort reform under an avalanche of new claims. It also alleges that doctors reading X-rays for one law firm received sexual favors from female paralegals and secretaries. . . .But the real smoking gun is a memo that GAF alleges law firm Baron & Budd used to prepare witnesses. The memo details facts that all clients, regardless of their actual experience, should testify to and comments all should avoid. . . . Partner Fred Baron says few people were shown the document: 'A paralegal did a memo she should not have done.'" (Pamela Sherrid, "Looking For Some Million Dollar Lungs," U.S. News & World Report, December 17, 2001)

Who is Fred Baron?

[maggief]

Key Vote

Fetal Protection - Passage


Bill Number: HR 1997
Issue: Abortion Issues
Date: 03/25/2004
Sponsor: Bill sponsored by Representative Hart, R-PA


Roll Call Number: 0063
Bill Passed
Full Member List

Senator John Reid Edwards voted NO.

Vote to pass a bill that would make it a criminal offense to harm or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime.

[tobyhill]

If this information is true and you have access to get it published then I expect to see it sometime this week. If facts can be validated then it can't be libel and there are numerous outlets that the public can see for themselves. Edwards being a trial lawyer should have the proof of wrong doing within the profession itself.

[maggief]

HR 1997," also known as "Laci and Conner's Bill."

[beyond the sea]

John Edwards:

The political equivalent of breast implants" - the guy on for Boortz today !!! Pretty funny and true!