LegiStorm: Transparency's Sidekick

Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader has a story today about Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and a charitable foundation the Senator created in 1996, the year the former professional baseball pitcher was elected to that sport's Hall of Fame.

Due to his Hall of Fame status, Bunning can command fees signing autographs for baseball memorabilia collectors. As a Senator, his outside income is limited due to ethics rules, but he can put these fees into his charitable foundation.

However, as his personal financial disclosures available on LegiStorm show, most of the foundation's payouts have gone to Bunning himself. In 2001, Bunning received $15,000 in salary from his foundation. Every year since then, he's reported earning $20,000 in salary. Overall, the Herald-Leader reports that since Bunning's foundation was created, it has raised $504,000 and Bunning has been paid $180,000 in salary. The foundation's charitable donations have totaled $136,435 - with the largest donations going to churches Bunning attends.

The foundation was approved by the Senate Ethics Committee and the IRS when it was created, but several people raised questions in the Herald-Leader's story about the proportion of money that has gone to Bunning's salary as well as the board setup. Rick Robinson - a lobbyist who is one of three members of the foundation's board (along with Bunning's wife and a family friend of the Bunnings) - told the paper the foundation is trying to build a large enough cash reserve so it could give donations using only interest generated by investments. However, he could offer no plan to do so.

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Reports by The Hill and the New York Post explore possible ethics violations surrounding trips to the Caribbean taken by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).

The trips, taken in early November to the island of St. Maarten, were sponsored by the New York Carib News, a nonprofit organization that puts out a newspaper focused on Caribbean issues. Carib News indicated on disclosure forms filed with the House that it had not taken donations specifically for the trip - any such donations would be a violation of a recent House Ethics rule. But reports show corporations likely shelled out most of the cash to pay for the conference which was the stated reason for the trips.

The trip was not a one-time affair; New York Carib News has sponsored congressional travel to tropical locations for their business conference every year since at least 2000, when LegiStorm started tracking such travel. But the ethics rule in question was passed two years ago, after Democrats regained control of the House.

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In what has become an all-too-common pattern this year, another former congressional aide pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy in the long-running Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

James Hirni, a former legislative director to Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), admitted in court that he helped provide an all-expense paid trip to the 2003 World Series to two congressional aides. At the time, Hirni was a lobbyist working on Abramoff's team.

There's no reason to believe this is the end yet.

One day before Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges, the Chicago Tribune ran a story on another Illinois politician whose real estate dealings have created at least an impression of shady dealings.

The Tribune's Monday report details real estate deals that have netted Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) more than $400,000 - many of them done with contributors to his campaign. The article cites Gutierrez as saying the real estate deals present no conflict of interest because he is not involved in local zoning matters, but the Tribune reports Gutierrez has asked Chicago politicians to support regulation changes that would benefit his supporters.

Gutierezz disclosed the real estate deals on his personal financial disclosures, which are available at LegiStorm.

Illinois governor and former Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D) was arrested Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including the accusation he essentially put up the open Senate seat formerly held by Barack Obama for the highest bidder.

Even before the arrest, Blagojevich has been under fire. A Chicago Tribune poll in October put his approval rating at 13 percent, and in another poll only 4 percent of respondents said he was doing a "good" job. Those numbers may have made him the most unpopular politician in the country. The latest revelations could make the situation even worse.

Because of the enormous interest in Blagojevich's financial dealings, LegiStorm has added Blagojevich's available state financial disclosures he filed as the governor of Illinois. Blagovich's financial disclosures as a member of Congress are not available as the House only keeps the disclosures on file for six years. Blagovich left his office to run for governor in 2002.