Hillary refused to return contributions by John Burgess claiming she wasn't aware of his background

[ProSense]

Rubbing Shoulders With Trouble, and Presidents

By MIKE McINTIRE
Published: May 7, 2006

John R. Burgess makes for an improbable courtier of presidents, or of a senator who might become one.

A disbarred New York lawyer with a criminal record for attempted larceny and patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute, Mr. Burgess owns International Profit Associates, a management consulting company in Illinois.

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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has collected more than $150,000 in contributions from executives of International Profit Associates, some as recently as September, and spoke at a company event in 2004. As a group, company officials and their spouses are one of the largest sources of contributions to Mrs. Clinton's re-election campaign.

Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton and Mrs. Clinton all say they were not aware of problems with the company, known as I.P.A., or with Mr. Burgess when they took the money, though some problems were documented as early as 1997 in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet.

Other politicians have returned money to I.P.A. upon learning of Mr. Burgess's history, among them Rod Blagojevich, the Democratic governor of Illinois, and Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat running for attorney general of New York. Mr. Cuomo gave back $20,000 in 2002, when he was running for governor, and Mr. Blagojevich returned $125,000 the same year. Just last month, Wisconsin's governor, Jim Doyle, and attorney general, Peg Lautenschlager, said they would return $35,000 in I.P.A. contributions.

A spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton said her campaign "will be reviewing" the I.P.A. contributions.

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In one instance, Mr. Burgess seems to have garnered positive attention from his investment in politicians. Mr. Clinton's foundation publicized a pledge by I.P.A. last year to provide $10 million worth of free services to businesses damaged by natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina. The commitment raised the company's profile. Now, however, I.P.A. says that the pledge was "premature and unrealistic" because the storm damage drove away so many businesses that providing much consultation was impossible.

Jay Carson, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton, said that I.P.A. was one of many companies the foundation called on to answer the thousands of requests for help it received after the hurricane.

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Myron M. Cherry, a Chicago lawyer who represents I.P.A. in several legal matters, said that he believed Mr. Burgess first met Mr. Clinton at a fund-raising event that Mr. Cherry held at his home in 2000.

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The spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, Ann Lewis, said Mrs. Clinton was not aware of Mr. Burgess's background when he held fund-raising affairs for her in 2000 and 2003, nor did she know whether other prominent Democrats had rejected contributions. She said that Mrs. Clinton's vetting procedures have been strengthened since the senator's appearance at I.P.A.

In 1997, the Chicago Tribune noted that Mr. Burgess had been disbarred and pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in upstate New York in 1988 after being accused of stealing $15,739 from a client's account.

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Clinton hasn't returned cash from firm under investigation
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/442035,CST-NWS-clintonside25.article)

June 25, 2007

BY CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporter/[e-mail]
Myron Cherry -- a prodigious fund-raiser for the Clintons and many other Democrats over the years -- and his law office have handled several cases for a controversial firm whose executives and associates have given nearly $130,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaigns.

International Profit Associates of Buffalo Grove has been fighting an EEOC sexual-harassment lawsuit and is under investigation by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in the wake of civil lawsuits filed against it.

Gov. Blagojevich, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and other politicians have returned campaign cash from IPA. Clinton, Madigan and others have not.

When asked whether he solicited donations from IPA founder John Burgess and his employees, Cherry replied, "I am aware generally, including from press stories, that employees of IPA have contributed to candidates in Illinois and elsewhere, but I don't keep specific records on such matters."

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8 things you need to know about Obama and Rezko

Has Hillary returned money bundled by Myron Cherry?

[hedgehog]

1. I wonder why an Illinois company was donating to a New York Senate Race?

Was this a way to skirt the limits on direct donations to the Presidential campaign? Where would we be in the Congress today if Senator Clinton had donated some of the $10 million she had leftover to other Democratic campaigns in 2006?




http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/16/campaign.contributions/index.html

[rox63]

2. Hey, if Hillary wants to play the Rezko card

there's a whole pile of dirt out there in her donor list as well.

[ProSense]

4. Plenty! n/t

[ProSense]

3. Kick! n/t

[ProSense]

5. Kick! n/t

[ProSense]

6. Kick! n/t