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Madame Ambassador? Yech! : The case of Carol Moseley-Braun
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Contributor | None Entered |
Last Edited | None Entered Jun 06, 2005 05:27pm |
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Category | Commentary |
News Date | Monday, November 22, 1999 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
Description | When the president nominated the highly objectionable Carol Moseley-Braun to be ambassador to New Zealand, Helms, predictably, objected. But instead of sticking to the allegations of illegality that have trailed Moseley- Braun like an oil slick since her 1992 Senate campaign, Helms demanded that she apologize for the fight she waged in 1993 against the United Daughters of the Confederacy over a patent involving the use of the Confederate flag.
The White House trap clanged shut. The Clintonites had the delicious spectacle of Jesse Helms arguing with a black woman (over the Confederate flag, no less!). Al Gore was clearly delighted, quickly declaring that he was "deeply angered and disappointed." He called on Bush and the other Republican candidates to join him "in rejecting Senator Helms's disgraceful tactic," in order to put an end to "divisiveness."
Helms dropped the demand he had made on behalf of "a wonderful group of little old ladies," but was still faced with the problem of the suitability of an ambassadorial nominee under serious suspicion of criminal behavior. Helms has noted an "ethical cloud" over Moseley-Braun, but a quick review of the unresolved allegations reveals far more serious problems than those gentle words suggest.
In 1995, the Justice Department twice turned down requests by the IRS criminal tax division seeking subpoena authority to pursue its investigation of Moseley-Braun. In its first request, the IRS told the Justice Department that it had evidence of bank fraud, bribery, and other crimes dating back to Moseley-Braun's stint as Cook County's recorder of deeds. In its second request, the IRS reported that Moseley-Braun and her 1992 Senate campaign manager (and ex-fiance) may have used more than $280,000 in political donations for personal expenses. The IRS found evidence that the pair had spent $70,000 on designer clothes, $64,000 on travel to Hawaii, Europe, and Africa, $18,000 on jewelry, $12,000 on stereo equipment, and $25,000 |
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