ustxtxb_obs_2005_04_01_50_00008-00000_000.pdf

Subj: Date: 10/1/2002 To: CC: Wamatilliin Drew, Tom Craddick, who is the likely next Speaker of the Texas State House will be in town on Thursday. Do you have any clients that might be supportive of TRMPAC’s efforts that would like to meet? Perhaps Koch. You help would as usual, be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Warren RoBold 301 TRMPAC, continued from page 6 1905, when farsighted legislators recognized that if the vast treasuries of corporations and unions were applied to elections, they could easily overwhelm our democratic system. All told, TRMPAC spent $1.5 million, of which more than $600,000 was corporate money. \(The PAC’s use of corporate TRMPAC documents, entered as exhibits during a week-long civil trial brought by losing Democratic candidates that ended March 4, refer to the historic opportunity that presented itself in 2002. \(At press time, Senior District Judge Joe Hart, Redistricting in 2001 had created new, solidly Republican House districts. And a number of corporate interests were bursting with pent-up desire for goodies past legislatures had failed to bestow. And then there was Representative Tom Craddick \(RSee “Scandal in the Speaker’s Office,” Feb. 27, intimately involved in TRMPAC activities: distributing checks, accepting corporate donations, attending fundraisers, reviewing prospective candidates, and talking with contributors. He did all of this while running for speaker of the Texas House, the crown on a 34-year legislative career. Craddick’s participation in the TRMPAC campaign may have violated a Texas statute designed to prevent outsiders from influencing a race to elect House speaker and a speaker candidate from trading favors for votes. Craddick’s attorney Roy Minton argues that no laws were broken and that all Craddick did was try to get Republicans elected, which he had been doing for 34 years. An e-mailone of severalfrom TRMPAC corporate fundraiser Warren Robold gives a glimpse of how the PAC saw Craddick’s involvement. Robold wrote Drew Maloney, a former DeLay legislative director turned lobbyist, on the eve hints that the selling point for corporate funders is Craddick as “the likely next Speaker.” Robold suggests that someone from the Kansas-based energy giant, Koch Industries, might be interested in meeting Craddick. \(It’s not clear if the meetKoch is a founding member of the Cato Institute and the company is a big campaign donor. \(Koch’s PAC gave $3,000 to TRMPAC in 2002 and $913,359 in corporate money to federal Republican candidates, according to TPJ and the Center for have been fined millions of dollars for environmental and safety violations. The thread that runs through the TRMPAC scandal is the appearance of influence peddling. Unlike other organizations, TRMPAC often spelled out exactly what corporate contributors might expect for their donations. \(See “Rate of Exchange;’ asks Maloney for the names of companies facing asbestos liability claims that might support TRMPAC. \(Five months after the election, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that the state of Texas hired Maloney for a sizeable fee to lobby on its behalf in the nation’s Capitol. The Texas Office of continued on page 10 8 THE TEXAS OBSERVER APRIL 1, 2005