Expect Dirty Tricks From Pawlenty, Republican Party Operatives

Who Headed Political Group That Defrauded Seniors

 

 

                The Pawlenty campaign and Minnesota Republican Party have recently brought on staff two paid political operatives who previously headed the College Republican National Committee during a widespread national fundraising scandal where it duped vulnerable senior citizens in their 80s and 90s into giving as much as $100,000 in repeat donations by misrepresenting its identity. 

 

                Erik Hoplin, who was national chairman of the College Republican National Committee from 2003-2005¹ and its executive director from 2001-2003,² was installed as Deputy Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party in June 2005.³  And Governor Pawlenty has hired Michael Krueger, who became executive director of the College Republican National Committee in 2003,⁴ as his campaign’s political director.⁵

 

                With Hoplin and Krueger at its helm, the College Republican National Committee became embroiled in a national fundraising scandal for defrauding vulnerable senior citizens by soliciting repeat donations using official sounding names like “Republican Headquarters 2004,” “Republican Elections Committee,” and the “National Republican Campaign Fund.”⁶  As the Washington Post said, “Many donors complained that they thought the money was going directly to the Republican Party, and not to the college group, which is no longer affiliated with the GOP.”⁷

 

As a result, seniors who were repeatedly targeted with aggressive solicitations thought they were giving to the election efforts of President Bush or the national party, not Hoplin and Krueger’s group.  Consider these examples:

 

A 90-year-old retired church council worker made more than 300 donations totaling nearly $100,000.  She told a reporter, “I don’t have any more money….That was all my savings that they got.”⁸

 

An 88-year-old resident of Cambridge, Minnesota sent 91 checks totaling $42,985.  When told the extent of her donations by a reporter, she said:  “Oh, my goodness!  I don’t think I gave so much.  I don’t remember the name College Republicans.  I thought what I gave to was a national Republican company.”⁹

 

A 68-year-old emptied her savings account by making nearly $60,000 in donations, which she thought were loans.  “They were supposed to give it back, and I have heard nothing.”¹⁰

 

An 87-year-old from Mounds View, Minnesota wrote 256 checks totaling $10,789 in 2004, sometimes making several donations on the same day.¹¹

 

 A 91-year-old retiree, when he was told records showed he gave the College Republicans nearly $23,000, including 90 checks from January through September 2004, said, “That can’t be true....It surprises me that it goes to them and not to the other names that they had.”¹²

 

A retired bookkeeper who was threatened with suspension of her Republican membership card if she did not donate, sent four checks totaling over $1,000.  “I sent in four different checks to him and every time he said he didn’t receive them….He kept saying he was going to cancel me.  He was constantly asking for money.”¹³

 

An 86-year-old from Eden Prairie sent 36 checks totaling $1,814.  When contacted by a reporter, she said:  “I don’t remember giving that much.  No, I don’t remember addressing it to the college.”¹⁴

 

Of the top 50 individual donors to the College Republican National Committee, the median age was 85 years old. ¹⁵

 

Republicans throughout the country criticized the above conduct.  The former treasurer of the College Republicans said:  “We felt their fund-raising practices were deceptive, to say the least.”¹⁶  College Republicans in Washington state passed a resolution calling on Hoplin to resign because of the scandal.¹⁷  The head of the College Republicans in New York told the Washington Post that national College Republican leaders were at fault for not taking prompt action to correct the problem.  In response, Hoplin sought to gag state college Republican leaders from talking to the news media about the scandal.¹⁸

 

                Krueger and Hoplin are in noteworthy company as heads of the national College Republicans.  Other past national chairmen of the College Republicans include Karl Rove (1973-1977) and Jack Abramoff (1981-1985).¹⁹  CBS Nightly News in its analysis of the Abramoff scandal, captured Hoplin and Krueger on video listening to Mr. Abramoff introduce Tom DeLay at the 2003 College Republican National Committee Convention.  Mr. Abramoff tells the young Republicans that all young people should aspire to grow up to be just like Mr. Delay.²⁰ Watch the video .

 

This type of role modeling has led to a culture of corruption at the national level, where the Chief of Staff to the Vice President has been indicted for lying to federal investigators for his role in the leak of an intelligence official, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Mr. Rove) is under investigation for his role in the same incident, the head of government procurements was lead away from the White House in handcuffs for lying about his connections to Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Abramoff has plead guilty to numerous offenses in connection with his lobbying practice, and Mr. DeLay has been indicted for money laundering.  These are the people that are training the next generation of Republicans.

 

A similar culture of corruption surrounds Governor Pawlenty and his closest associates.  Consider that:

 

In 2002, Governor Pawlenty hired Tim Commers to be his campaign manager.  In a scandal similar to that involving Hoplin and Krueger’s group, Commers was found by the Minnesota Court of Appeals to have engaged in telemarketing fraud for misrepresenting to donors in fundraising calls that his political action committee was another well‑known pro-life group.

 

In 2002, the Pawlenty campaign circumvented state campaign financing laws by illegally coordinating $600,000 in television ads with the Republican Party.  The Pawlenty campaign received the largest fine in state history for its lawless behavior.

 

Thousands of senior citizens were ripped off by the largest subsidiary of a telecom company on whose board Pawlenty sat.  Even though everyone knows that telecom companies are often besieged by fraud, Pawlenty claimed he never bothered to look into the company’s practices.

 

Pawlenty was paid over $60,000 from a political ally whose companies were sanctioned by numerous regulators and never disclosed it on mandatory reporting forms.  Pawlenty claimed that he forgot what he did to earn the money.

 

Pawlenty’s campaign treasurer was found by an administrative law judge to have engaged in fraud by falsely representing that he would save the homes of homeowners in foreclosure.  Krueger announced in September that the treasurer was resigning after being sanctioned for his role in the “equity stripping” scheme, but Pawlenty’s campaign finance reports currently show that the treasurer’s company was paid over $9,000 between October, 2005 and December, 2005 for handling Pawlenty’s campaign finances.  Pawlenty year end report states that his campaign still owes Esau $6,153.35 for services rendered.

 

The media should keep a close watch on the antics of Mr. Krueger and Mr. Hoplin during this election cycle.

 

 

 

¹  Wikipedia^® online:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoplin

² “College Republicans’ tactics raise questions,” McClatchy Washington Bureau, Nando Media, November 12, 2004.

³ Wikipedia^® online:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoplin

⁴“Detroit Lakes man to lead college GOP group,” Star Tribune, July 29, 2003.

⁵ “Pawlenty friend quits campaign in wake of ruling,” Star Tribune, September 25, 2005.

⁶ “Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

⁷ “College Republicans' Fundraising Criticized; Front Organizations Were Used in Direct-Mail Campaign That Collected Millions,” The Washington Post, December 26, 2004.

⁸ “Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

⁹ “College Republicans’ tactics raise questions,” McClatchy Washington Bureau, Nando Media, November 12, 2004.

¹⁰ “College Republicans’ tactics raise questions,” McClatchy Washington Bureau, Nando Media, November 12, 2004.

¹¹“College Republicans’ tactics raise questions,” McClatchy Washington Bureau, Nando Media, November 12, 2004.

¹² “Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

¹³ “Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

¹⁴ “College Republicans’ tactics raise questions,” McClatchy Washington Bureau, Nando Media, November 12, 2004.

¹⁵ Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

¹⁶ Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens,” The Seattle Times, October 28, 2004.

¹⁷ “College Republicans' Fundraising Criticized; Front Organizations Were Used in Direct-Mail Campaign That Collected Millions,” The Washington Post, December 26, 2004.

¹⁸ “College Republicans' Fundraising Criticized; Front Organizations Were Used in Direct-Mail Campaign That Collected Millions,” The Washington Post, December 26, 2004.

¹⁹ http://www.crnc.org, National College Republican alumni listing.

²⁰ http://crncchatter.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_crncchatter_archive.html,  CBS Nightly News Features CR Convention:  Why did the CRNC pay Jack Abramhoff $10,000?, CBS Nightly News video footage, Post date: Monday, January 9, 2006.

     Recently released photo obtained by political blog Truth Caucus.  Pictured is indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff meeting CRNC members with Eric Hoplin and Michael Krueger close to his side.  The image further illustrates the "culture of corruption" currently permeating through the Republican Party.  Now its coming home to roost in Minnesota for election year 2006. 

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