Sham Audits May Have Hid Theft by G.O.P. Committee Treasurer (One of the Swiftboat Guys)

[ZombieHorde]

By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON — The former treasurer of a Republican Congressional fund-raising committee may have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars by submitting elaborately forged audit reports for five years using the letterhead of a legitimate auditing firm, a lawyer for the committee said Thursday.

snip

Mr. Kelner said subsequent investigation showed that the five previous audits submitted to the committee by Mr. Ward for the years 2002 through 2006 were bogus. “The last genuine audit was in 2001,” he said.

The audit reports, Mr. Kelner said, “looked very genuine” and carried the logotype of a recognized auditing firm that he declined to name. He said they might have appeared real to most people who were not sophisticated readers of such reports.

snip

Mr. Ward was named treasurer of the national Republican committee in 2003 after serving for several years as an assistant treasurer. He had also been a partner in a political consulting firm, Political Compliance Services, that worked in 2004 on behalf of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group behind advertisements attacking the military record of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee.

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To bad we did not know this in 2003.
Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/politics/14repubs.html?hp

[Forkboy]

1. Hey, whaddya know...a story about republicans!

And nary a mention of Hillary or Obama.

This deserves a K&R just for that alone! ;)

[ZombieHorde]

2. Stories that don't viciously attack Dems are often ignored.

If I was a Republican, feeling depressed about the political situation, I would love DU.

[Forkboy]

3. Heh...never thought of that idea.

I picture a shirtless guy in his mom's basement sipping a beer and scratching his nuts as he reads DU, a smile slowly spreading across his lips.

Then he burps, drools beer onto his stomach, and the image is ruined. :)

[blm]

4. That would have required the DNC doing its job. McAuliffe sat on his hands from 2001-2005

Dean's DNC has shown a willingness to take on the dirty tactics of the RNC and their machine. McAuliffe never would. Too busy protecting 2008 for Hillary.