On Blogging for Bryant yesterday, Jay Bush had a post entitled "Strong Coalitions Essential to Winning Statewide."In the post, Bush discusses and the various Senate candidates and their top backers in the campaign.
However, after reading his list, I think he left off a very key coalition when talking about Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary.
Here is what Jay wrote about the coalitions of Bryant and Hilleary:
"On the Republican side, Ed Bryant got the unprecedented early endorsement of Tennessee Right to Life and the homeschoolers. Both organizations are well networked across the state and will translate into votes and grassroots volunteer support for Bryant in Tennessee.
Van Hilleary is suffering in the coalition building department. He's writing off pro-life voters by attacking Tennessee Right to Life, and alienating moderates in the GOP and all the people who didn't vote for him in the '02 governor's race. As Rob Huddleston notes: "If the moderates won't vote for Van (and they did not in 2002, without moderate/lib Bob Corker in the race) and the religious conservatives won't vote for Van (TRTL has over 175,000 potential voters as members), who is left to prop up his primary bid?"
Can anyone guess what coalition he left off?
Yep, you guessed it: The coalition of Tom Delay, Jack Abramoff, and John Gregory!
As you may recall, both Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary have some very strong ties to indicted House Majority Leader Tom Delay and his protege, Jack Abramoff.
In October, the Memphis Commercial Appeal ran an article detailing the relationship between Bryant, Hilleary, and Delay:
"Former congressman and GOP gubernatorial candidate Van Hilleary received $17,020 from Americans for a Republican Majority or the Tom DeLay Congressional Committee since 1994. Former congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant took $11,506 from the same sources over the same period, records show."
"Both campaigns said they plan to keep the DeLay-connected funds."
"Hilleary got a total of $7,020 for his congressional races from 1994-2000 and $10,000 when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002. Bryant received $5,506 in 1994 and $1,000 in 2000 while running for Congress, and $5,000 when he ran for the U.S. Senate against Lamar Alexander in 2002."
Then in November, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on Van Hilleary accepting contributions from two tribes which were connected to Jack Abramoff:
"In 2002, then-U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary, R-Tenn., received $10,000 from two American Indian tribes linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now under federal indictment, campaign contribution records show."
"Federal campaign records show the Van Hilleary PAC received $5,000 from the Tigua Indian Reservation: Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas, on May 13, 2002, and another $5,000 that same day from the Coushatta Tribe of (Elton) Louisiana.
Federal records show the Van Hilleary PAC was registered Dec. 21, 2001, and took in $15,500. Mr. Abramoff has been under investigation by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the FBI for more than a year.
He was indicted in August on five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy related to his purchase of a fleet of Florida gambling boats unrelated to his dealings with the tribes."
"She said Mr. Hilleary would not be returning any of the funds."
And who could forget Ed's good friend, John Gregory?
In November the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported, "King Pharmaceuticals would pay Tennessee's Medicaid program $5.3 million in reimbursements and penalties for drug over charges over nine years, according to the tentative settlement released today. Of the total from the Bristol, Tenn., company, the state would receive $1.9 million and the federal government the rest, said Sharon Curtis-Flair of the state Attorney General's Office. Half of the total is a penalty, and the remainder is restitution, she said."
With that being said, lets have a look at the actual relationship between Bryant and Gregory.
No public servant in Tennessee has a closer connection to John Gregory and King Pharmaceuticals than Bryant.
Besides the contributions (see list below), Bryant acted as Gregory's attorney in the hearings before the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.
Gregory/King Pharmaceutical Donations To Ed Bryant
- GREGORY, JOHN BRISTOL ,TN 37620 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 4/5/2005 $2,100
- GREGORY, JOHN M BRISTOL, TN 37620 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 4/24/2002 $2,000
- GREGORY, JOHN M BRISTOL, TN 37620 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 5/6/2002 $1,000
- GREGORY, JOSEPH PINEY FLATS, TN 37686 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 6/30/2005 $2,100
- GREGORY, JOSEPH PINEY FLATS, TN 37686 8/29/2002 $1,000
- GREGORY, JOSEPH R PINEY FLATS, TN 37686 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 5/1/2002 $1,000
- GREGORY, JOSEPH R PINEY FLATS, TN 37686 KING PHARMACEUTICALS 5/1/2002 $1,000
- GREGORY, LUCINDA PINEY FLATS, TN 37686 6/30/2005 $2,100
So why would Jay leave Delay, Abramoff, and Gregory off the coalition list for Ed and Van?
Considering that neither Bryant or Hilleary have went on the record to condemn the actions of Delay, Abramoff, and Gregory or returned the money they received from them, I would have assumed that they would have proudly proclaimed them as a coalition.
(Note: Neither Bryant or Hilleary have answered my previous serious questions about potential ethical flaws. 1, 2)
