Free Republic

EXCERPT FROM --- HOUSE OF CARDS House Of Cards What do Cher, a Hollywood con man, a political rising star and an audacious felon have in common? Together they gave Bill and Hillary Clinton a night they'll never forget -- no matter how hard they may try By April Witt Sunday, October 9, 2005; Page W10 The caller lied easily. He'd had practice. It was Raymond Reggie, a New Orleans businessman and Democratic activist who happened to be Sen. Edward Kennedy's brother-in-law. He also happened to be in a lot of trouble.

N.O. politico testifies expense was no secret LOS ANGELES -- New Orleans political operative Ray Reggie took the stand Thursday in the trial of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's former finance director to describe how expenses such as lavish party favors -- director's chairs for every guest -- and efforts to round up private jets for celebrity performers helped drive the costs of a Hollywood gala into the stratosphere. And Clinton's finance director, David Rosen, knew it, Reggie testified on the sixth day of Rosen's trial. Rosen, 40, is charged with making false statements to the Federal Election Commission about the...

May 11, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — As the trial of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser opened yesterday, it was revealed that one of her closest aides — always by her side when she ran for Senate — could be a key player in the case. She's Kelly Craighead, who was Clinton's ever-present travel director and close pal — so close that the former first lady performed the 2001 civil ceremony when Craighead wed Erick Mullen, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer. Craighead's name surfaced as jury selection began in the federal trial in Los Angeles of Clinton's...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday stood behind her indicted former fund-raiser after prosecutors said Ted Kennedy's brother-in-law taped him making "incriminating" statements about her Senate campaign's Hollywood gala. "The Senate campaign committee fully cooperated with the investigation. [David] Rosen worked hard for the campaign and we trust that when all the facts are in, he will be cleared," Clinton lawyer David Kendall said in an e-mail to The Post. Rosen goes to trial May 3 on charges of falsely underreporting the costs of the August 2000 gala — thus inflating the amount of campaign cash ostensibly raised for Clinton at...

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is making a public point of standing by her indicted campaign aide David Rosen, who served as finance chairman for her 2000 Senate race. "David Rosen worked hard for the campaign and we trust that when all the facts are in, he will be cleared," Mrs. Clinton's scandal lawyer, David Kendall said, in a statement released yesterday. "The Senate campaign committee has fully cooperated with the investigation." The top Democrat came to Rosen's defense the same day prosecutors revealed that Sen. Ted Kennedy's Brother-in-law, Ray Reggie, secretly taped Rosen on several occasions making "incriminating statements."...

Sen. Ted Kennedy's brother-in-law is the mystery witness who raised $100,000 for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and then went undercover and wore a wire to help the feds nab one of her top moneymen on charges of fund-raising-fraud, The Post has learned. The witness, Ray Reggie, 43, has a sister, Victoria, who married Kennedy in 1992, and prosecutors say Reggie secretly recorded "incriminating" statements made by David Rosen, a top Clinton fund-raiser. Reggie was close enough to Bill and Hillary Clinton to sleep over at the White House in 2000 and stay up chatting with the first couple into the...

Ray Reggie, a businessman and Democratic operative with close ties to prominent politicians ranging from former President Clinton and U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy to former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, was charged by federal prosecutors Wednesday with attempting to defraud three banks of millions of dollars. Reggie, 43, known for his web of political contacts at all levels of government, is a member of one of Louisiana's pre-eminent political families, and until 2002 ran one of the largest advertising-placement firms in the state. That company, Media Direct LLC, is at the heart of the charges filed Wednesday in parallel bills...