CONCORD, N.H., Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Only days before the Iowa caucuses and little more than a week before the New Hampshire primary, the Concord (NH) Monitor is raising questions about the sources of nearly $1 million in unregulated funds that are supporting and promoting former Senator John Edwards' campaign to win and influence votes in both states. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071230/OPINION/712300361 (To view this Web site please copy and paste the URL into your browser.)
According to Monitor staff writers Lauren R. Dorgan and Sarah Liebowitz:
"Edwards has often invoked (Teddy) Roosevelt on the stump as a hero and
railed against the influence of money in politics. But at the same time,
it appears that the pro-Edwards movement has had a huge infusion of cash
from the old Mellon fortune.
"Turns out, the labor-linked, pro-Edwards 527 that's been running ads in
Iowa and spreading pamphlets in New Hampshire has deep-pocketed friends
outside of unions.
"The single largest donor to the Alliance for a New America, according to
new FEC reports, is a mysterious LLC registered to New York City's high-
end Essex House hotel. (We called the room listed as the source of the
$495,000 check and got an automated voicemail: "The person in this room
is not available to take your call. . .")
"According to reporting elsewhere, the group, Oak Spring Farms LLC, is
linked to New York lawyer and Edwards backer Alexander Forger, who holds
power of attorney over 97-year-old Rachel Lambert Mellon, the daughter-
in-law of industrialist and banker Andrew Mellon.
"Mellon and her deceased husband, Paul, had a farm called Oak Spring;
property records in Virginia refer to it as Oak Spring Farms LLC.
"In 2006, when the New York Sun reported on a $250,000 contribution from
Oak Spring Farms LLC to Edwards's One America Committee, Forger declined
to say where the money came from.
"I'm simply acting on behalf of somebody else," he said then.
"Edwards has made a campaign issue out of kicking special interests out
of politics and often cites his pledge not to take any money from
lobbyists. He's said he would outlaw 527s if he's elected.
"The Alliance for a New America 527 is advised by Nick Baldick, who
managed Edwards's 2004 campaign."
The Kucinich for President 2008 campaign is attempting to get clarification on these and other revelations disclosed by the Monitor today. "These disclosures by the Concord Monitor are deeply troubling," said a Kucinich campaign spokesman, "and they demand answers."
Website: www.dennis4president.com SOURCE Kucinich for President
-0- 12/30/2007
