Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Whittemore indicted on conduit contribution charges, lying to FBI

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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