by Paul West
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said today that he will provide records from his 2006 Maryland Senate campaign to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to speed an apparent federal investigation into allegations of improper campaign spending.
Steele confirmed that his sister was recently contacted by FBI agents looking into allegations that his campaign paid a company she owned more than $37,000 in 2007 for campaign work that was never performed. The allegations were made by Steele's former campaign finance chairman in an unsuccessful attempt to gain a more lenient prison sentence after his fraud conviction in an unrelated case.
In his first public comments on the issue, Steele described the transfer of records to the FBI as voluntary.
"I'm not going to wait for them to come to me. I'm going to take it to them and give them everything that they think they need. And if that's not enough, we'll give them more," Steele told ABC's "This Week" in an interview scheduled before the allegations became public.
Steele repeated denials issued by his spokesman earlier in the weekend in response to news reports, first detailed by the Washington Post.
"It's all false," Steele said. "We're being very proactive about this because I'm sick and tired of this 'gotcha' business that the Washington Post and others in the media attempt to engage in."
Steele expressed frustration that the allegations had surfaced barely a week after his election as the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee. In that position, he is responsible for raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
"I want to clear up my good name. This is not the way I intend to run the RNC, with this over my head. We're going to dispense with it immediately," he said.
See the rest of the report on the RNC's Steele at the Baltimore Sun and here in the Swamp:
The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore has refused to comment on whether Steele or his sister, Monica Turner of Potomac, Md., are under investigation. However, a spokeswoman has confirmed that a document outlining the allegations against Steele was unintentionally provided to a Post reporter.
Last March, Alan B. Fabian, who had been finance chairman of Steele's 2006 campaign in Maryland, made the allegations in an unsuccessful effort to get a reduced sentence for his part in a $40 million fraud scheme.
Steele said Fabian's inability to cut a deal with prosecutors showed there was "no credibility" to the allegations. But Fabian's defense lawyer, in the sentencing document, claimed that Fabian got no credit for cooperating with prosecutors "presumably because its investigation is ongoing."
Steele said that $37,000 paid to a company owned by his sister was "a legitimate reimbursement of expenses." The payment, for "catering and web services," was made in December, 2007, more than 11 months after his sister folded the company.
"At the time when the checks were written back to her to reimburse her, she just said, 'Go ahead and write the checks to the company,' because the company had, you know, done the services that were provided," said Steele, an attorney who practiced corporate law during the 1990s. "There are many companies out there that dissolve and still receive payment for services that are rendered, and so forth."
Among the unanswered questions surrounding the incident is why an investigation into Steele's finances might have become more active at about the same time that his political career was getting a huge boost with his election to head the RNC.
The former lieutenant governor said federal agents recently contacted his sister "for purposes of closing out this matter. . . . The FBI is now in the position of winding this thing" up.
Steele contended that "if there were any funny business" involved with his 2006 Senate campaign it would have been caught by other federal agencies before now. He said he has not been contacted personally by the FBI.
Paul.West@baltsun.com
Comments
don't know what the Vegas odds are on this yet but I'm going to put money on May 14th--a fine spring day, when Steele decides he wants to "spend more time with his family." I mean, if Mike Tyson was one of your family members, wouldn't you want to spend lots of quality time with him...?
Posted by: Hulk Smash! | February 8, 2009 6:01 PM
Let's see if this Steele thing is cleared up.
How about the Rezko/Obama land and house deal?
Will the FBI investigate that?
Will Fitzgerald look into that?
Agitate, agitate that's what the democrats do.
Spew it back.
Posted by: Mike | February 8, 2009 6:13 PM
Doesn't surprise me in the least! It's been eight long years of neglect, corruption, abuse, and mismanagement by the Rethugs. Nothing Republicans do surprises me anymore. They're capable of anything. They lack a moral compass and they are allowed to thrive because the corporate media gives them a free pass all of the time - "It's okay, if you're a Republican".
And then there are Steele's links to Team Abramoff.
http://www.mddems.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/775744
He's the perfect choice to be the face of a failing party. Cheers everyone!
Posted by: Doug Vader, son of Darth | February 8, 2009 6:33 PM
How about the Rezko/Obama land and house deal?Will the FBI investigate that?Will Fitzgerald look into that?
Agitate, agitate that's what the democrats do.Spew it back.
Posted by: Mike | February 8, 2009 6:13 PM
It's already been looked into and nothing came of it. Try again, Mikey.
I know that Wingnuts are nothing but focus group tested talking point robots but Geeeeeeez, AT LEAST DO SOME RESEARCH FIRST BEFORE YOU DESPENCE WITH YOUR TYPICAL NON-SENSE.
These days it's almost getting to easy to destroy Rethuglican talking points. I miss the good ol days when their talking points were based on at least a little bit of truth.
Posted by: Hey Joe | February 8, 2009 6:44 PM
"(QUOTE) Last March, Alan B. Fabian, who had been finance chairman of Steele's 2006 campaign in Maryland, made the allegations ..." (UNQUOTE)
As finance chairman Mr. Fabian would know EXACTLY what money was paid to whom and for what. Maybe the authorities should have listed to him sooner
Posted by: NinaK | February 8, 2009 6:53 PM
Do y'all really not get it? Both sides are corrupt, and yet we keep trading places from party to party, as if it will make things different. The only thing that will fix it is....well, I don't know what will fix it. There is too much to lose on both sides by keeping things the way they are. Unless voters throw out everyone in all three branches at once, and create a publically financed, severely shortened campaign process, it will not change. And each side lobbing grenades at the other only makes the stories look hypocritical when the grenades come back your way.
Posted by: Vonnie Shallenberger | February 8, 2009 7:36 PM
It's funny how the republican response isn't, "gee, that's not true", it's, "Hey!! Why are you looking at MY crimes.... I mean, dude, like... ummm... look! That guy didn't get busted!"
It's like getting pulled over for going 80mpg drunk out of your mind and then telling the cop that you saw someone else going 90 and they were drunker than you were!!
Just pathetic.
Posted by: Dan | February 8, 2009 9:06 PM
The real crooks here are the ones that just scammed this Country.. We have ALL been taken and we ALL LOST with this fake POTUS!
When I hear Barney Frank, Harry Reid, Charlie Rangel and the rest of them have been arrested for their crimes I'll donate for a brand new Prison just for the Crooked Democrat-ic party.Better watch each others back!
Posted by: Carole | February 8, 2009 9:13 PM
Fer the love'a Mike, Mike.
Fitzgerald is still in town. Nothing stopping him from investigating the President.
Justice John Paul Stevens taught us that in Jones v. Clinton, remember??
He's already got Rezko. So, if there were any truth to your insinuations, he would have indicted the President by now.
But there isn't, and he hasn't.
Now, what I want to know is: Does Steele's deep freezer have a lock on its door?
Posted by: ornery | February 8, 2009 9:28 PM
No, this Republicans response was "That's a false accusation and I'll give you whatever proof you need." Read the frickin' article.
How about the Democratic response of , "Oh, that was just a small oversight." I'll try that the next time I skip paying taxes.
Posted by: Marc | February 8, 2009 9:41 PM
Doug Vader, Son of Darth:
Why would Maryland Dems claim Steele is corrupt over a $500 contribution (his campaign had >$6 million)?
That seems petty; Misleading, too.
I'm going to wait for more information before deciding about Steele
Posted by: Annie | February 8, 2009 11:20 PM
Well Chairman Steele, if you were expecting the same kind of attention and respect that Obama received for becoming the First African-American President (oh did I mention he is bi-racial), you were sorely mistaken. I hope you weren't expecting any special treatment because if you were then you must not have been paying attention the last few years. Condoleezza Rice was the first first African-American Women as Secretary of State and Collin Powell as the first African-American Male as Secretary of State. But because these two African-Americans were Republicans and majority of African-Americans are Dumocrats, their accomplishments weren't as celebrated. I mean Mr. Powell was a hated man by the Dumocrats until he switched to team Obama in 2008. Funny how the tide changes, one minute you're the devil and the next minute you're an angel. WTF?
Posted by: Ronda | February 9, 2009 12:27 AM
What good name? This is the man who, when he ran in 06, put out bumper stickers that read, Steele - Democrat. He couldn't even put his true party affiliation on his bumper sticker because people wouldn't have voted for him if he had. What a shock -- another repub lying liar who lies. He lied, his people lied, his campaign lied. This is who the Repubs put as their head. That pretty much says it all. Way to look out for the American people. Pathetic!
Posted by: Nancy | February 9, 2009 2:47 PM
What good name? This is the man who, when he ran in 06, put out bumper stickers that read, Steele - Democrat. He couldn't even put his true party affiliation on his bumper sticker because people wouldn't have voted for him if he had. What a shock -- another repub lying liar who lies. He lied, his people lied, his campaign lied. This is who the Repubs put as their head. That pretty much says it all. Way to look out for the American people. Pathetic!
Posted by: Nancy | February 9, 2009 3:10 PM
I would vote for mike for president.
Obviously all those people that have nasty things to say about him have never heard the man speak. Liberal hate and brain washing starts in kindergarden.
And now they say in the stimulus package that they will bail mismanaged states out.
I happen to live in one of those facist states (mass.)and have never had a voice.PLEASE DON'T GIVE THEM MORE MONEY TO TERRIFY US WITH.
I don't know why people don't talk about our great health plan in this state.
Since I have no faith in my gov. to keep me alive I pay my own health insuranse witch is going up astronomically because someone has to pay for all this FREE STUFF. One other thing is (I don't think the royalty in congress has thought of this) If gas goes back to $4.00 all the stimulus fails and we just blew how many trillion ???? Here is how our state house works.The people vote on a question and if we don't vote the way they want they just overturn it.Thats democracy in a liberal facist state for you. Some of the stimulus package is going to fix infrastructure? I ALREADY
GAVE YOU MONEY FOR SHOES FOR THE KIDS WHERE ARE THE SHOES!!!!!
Congrats to the congress on the socialist bill
If collins,spector and snow vote for the biggest cash grab on the amereican people get rid of them.
When we lost lincoln chaffe I loved it because if you stab your party in the back on the most important issues GET OUT.
These three have to GO!!!!!!!
Posted by: phil | February 13, 2009 3:00 PM