Wednesday, June 6, 2012 | 2:45 p.m.
JUNE 6 UPDATE: Whittemore has been indicted on charges relating to these contributions -- I have posted the indictment at right.
UPDATED: Based on this article that posted late this afternoon on the RJ's web site, which said the total was "at least $142,600," I decided to do a little bit more research to see what else I could find. It still appears to me that the RJ has yet to actually look at these reports, as evidenced by the sentence that says the "number has ballooned from the original $115,000 figure the Review-Journal reported," which, as I pointed out below, was obviously wrong from even a cursory examination and just given to the newspaper, which did not bother to check. Upon further review, I found I had missed a couple of spouses, but I also decided to research some other names and found out the total is not $142,600," including the Harvey and Annette contributions,as the RJ just reported, but at least $147,200. That is, I can account for that much -- I assume the RJ simply was spoon-fed a new number after I posted this originally. The RJ also has yet to show how obvious it must have been to Harry Reid's campaign folks -- the $147,200 is just under 70 percent of the total reported that one day -- 64 out of 104 contributions. I have left the rest of the blog post below intact, except for updating the list, explaining who I added and amending the orginal numbers.
So how obvious is it that Harvey Whittemore bundled six figures to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on one March day in 2007?
Very.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported that on March 31, 2007 – the last day of first-quarter reporting – Reid received a lot of money from Whittemore, his family and employees. Indeed, the RJ has pasted the identical paragraph (lazy) into its stories this week and last:
“On that day, Reid's campaign received at least $115,000 from about two dozen Whittemore employees and their family members, most of whom each contributed the maximum allowed $4,600, according to federal campaign reports. The employees also included Whittemore family members.”
It doesn’t appear the RJ reporters made any effort to really find out how much money (maybe they just accepted the estimate from a source?) or put it in context, so I decided to look for myself. Here’s what I found, with some help from CQMoneyLine:
On that day, Reid reported the biggest single-day haul of the two-year cycle: $216,000. More than half of the money -- $124,200 (now $147,200), not $115,000 – came from donors I can tie to Whittemore. There were 54 (now 64) (out of 104 total) contributions – which I have listed below – from family, employees and spouses.
It is inconceivable that someone in Reidworld did not know what was happening – that is, that Whittemore had bundled all that money for him. But bundling is not illegal. What would be is if Whittemore told these people to contribute and reimbursed them, and easily proven if it were traceable through company checks. And the Reid folks surely would argue they had no idea Whittemore was providing illegal conduit contributions if -- and a big IF -- that is what is discovered.
Would one of the smartest men in Nevada have been that dumb? We will find out.
But I wonder if Reid, who was aware at least of the volume, has returned all of these checks. His office won’t say.
Below is the list from March 31, 2007. Wingfield, Red Hawk and Coyote Springs are Whittemore companies, and Natalie Okeson is his daughter. (ADDED: Carli West was general counsel for the Whittemore-Peterson Institute. Pete Kinne is her husband. Kristin Faulstitch married Robert Whittemore. I somehow missed the Danglers last time.) The rest should be self-explanatory.
DANGLER, CATHY SELF/SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR $2,300
DANGLER, CATHY SELF/SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR $2,300
DANGLER, J L S WINGFIELD REALTY/PRESIDENT, REAL ES $2,300
DANGLER, J L S WINGFIELD REALTY/PRESIDENT, REAL ES $2,300
DOYLE, MICKY RENO FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC/CHIROPRACT $2,300
DOYLE, MICKY RENO FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC/CHIROPRACT $2,300
DOYLE, ROXANNE HARVEY WHITTEMORE, ATTORNEY AT LAW/ $2,300
DOYLE, ROXANNE HARVEY WHITTEMORE, ATTORNEY AT LAW/ $2,300
ENGLAND, JAMES COYOTE SPRINGS INVESTMENT/CFO $2,300
ENGLAND, JAMES COYOTE SPRINGS INVESTMENT/CFO $2,300
FAULSTICH, KRISTIN HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
FAULSTICH, KRISTIN HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
HARRIS, JAMES RESORT AT RED HAWK/GENERAL MANAGER $2,300
HARRIS, JAMES RESORT AT RED HAWK/GENERAL MANAGER $2,300
HARRIS, RENEE HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
HARRIS, RENEE HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
HILLERBY, CARRIE HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
HILLERBY, CARRIE HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
HILLERBY, MICHAEL WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/EXECUTIVE VP $2,300
HILLERBY, MICHAEL WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/EXECUTIVE VP $2,300
KINGSBURY, BRANDON RESORT AT RED HAWK/MANAGER $2,300
KINGSBURY, BRANDON RESORT AT RED HAWK/MANAGER $2,300
KINGSBURY, MAGGIE STUDENT (OVER AGE 18)/STUDENT $2,300
KINGSBURY, MAGGIE STUDENT (OVER AGE 18)/STUDENT $2,300
KINNE, PETE WASHOE COUNTY/APPRAISER $2,300
KINNE, PETE WASHOE COUNTY/APPRAISER $2,300
HARRIS, JAMES RESORT AT RED HAWK/GENERAL MANAGER $2,300
KINNE, PETE WASHOE COUNTY/APPRAISER $2,300
MAMER, BRADLEY COYOTE SPRINGS INVESTMENT/CEO $2,300
MAMER, BRADLEY COYOTE SPRINGS INVESTMENT/CEO $2,300
MAMER, CHRISTINA WHITTEMORE-SEENO COMPANY/VP $2,300
MAMER, CHRISTINA WHITTEMORE-SEENO COMPANY/VP $2,300
OKESON, NATALIE STUDENT/STUDENT $2,300
OKESON, NATALIE STUDENT/STUDENT $2,300
OKESON, TODD TOPO BASKETBALL CLUB/ $2,300
OKESON, TODD TOPO BASKETBALL CLUB/ $2,300
REYNOLDS, JEANETTE REED HIGH SCHOOL/LIBRARIAN $2,300
REYNOLDS, JEANETTE REED HIGH SCHOOL/LIBRARIAN $2,300
REYNOLDS, TERRY WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/VICE PRESIDENT $2,300
REYNOLDS, TERRY WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/VICE PRESIDENT $2,300
WHELLAMS, JANETTE SELF/NUTRITIONIST $2,300
WHELLAMS, JANETTE SELF/NUTRITIONIST $2,300
WHELLAMS, JOSHUA COYOTE SPRINGS/SENIOR VP CORPORATE $2,300
WHELLAMS, JOSHUA COYOTE SPRINGS/SENIOR VP CORPORATE $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ALICIA HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ALICIA HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ANNETTE WHITTEMORE-PETERSON INSTITUTE/CHAIR $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ANNETTE WHITTEMORE-PETERSON INSTITUTE/CHAIR $2,300
WHITTEMORE, CHASE STUDENT/STUDENT $2,300
WHITTEMORE, CHASE STUDENT/STUDENT $2,300
WHITTEMORE, DJ WESTERN NEVADA COMMUNITY COLLEGE/HE $2,300
WHITTEMORE, DJ WESTERN NEVADA COMMUNITY COLLEGE/HE $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ELLEN LIONEL SAWYER COLLINS/ATTORNEY $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ELLEN LIONEL SAWYER COLLINS/ATTORNEY $2,300
WHITTEMORE, F HARVEY LIONEL, SAWYER & COLLINS/ATTORNEY $2,300
WHITTEMORE, F HARVEY LIONEL, SAWYER & COLLINS/ATTORNEY $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ROBERT VOCATIONAL SERVICES/PSYCHOLOGIST $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ROBERT WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/DEVELOPER $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ROBERT VOCATIONAL SERVICES/PSYCHOLOGIST $2,300
WHITTEMORE, ROBERT WINGFIELD NEVADA GROUP/DEVELOPER $2,300
WHITTEMORE, SYBIL HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
WHITTEMORE, SYBIL HOMEMAKER/HOMEMAKER $2,300
WEST, CARLI TULFY RANCHES LLC/ASSISTANT GENERAL $2,300
WEST, CARLI TULFY RANCHES LLC/ASSISTANT GENERAL $2,300
WILSON, JENNY WINGFIELD REALTY/REAL ESTATE ASSIST $2,300
WILSON, JENNY WINGFIELD REALTY/REAL ESTATE ASSIST $2,300
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