Well, this Ohio GOP coin-gate story has gone national.
Today's Toledo Blade reports that Bush is returning the direct contribution his campaign received from Tom Noe and his wife. That's $4,000. However, the Bush campaign isn't giving back all the money Noe raised...and Noe was a "Bush Pioneer." That fundraising by Noe is currently the subject of a federal grand jury investigation (which is getting really interesting as you will see below):
President Bush will return $4,000 in campaign contributions donated by Toledo area coin dealer Tom Noe and his wife, officials said yesterday.Follow the money...wasn't that what Deep Throat said?
A spokesman said the Republican National Committee will also return $2,000 contributed by Mr. Noe, who is facing multiple investigations for allegedly misappropriating at least $10 million in state money and possible federal campaign finance violations. The money will be refunded to charity.
But President Bush will not — at least for now — return more than $100,000 raised by Mr. Noe for his re-election bid last year, said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the RNC. Democrats continue to call on the President to return all of the “tainted” money raised by Mr. Noe.
And, it sures looks like that money Noe raised for Bush might not be legit according to today's Plain Dealer:
H. Douglas Talbott, a former top aide to two Ohio governors, told federal authorities that Republican coin dealer Tom Noe persuaded him to contribute $2,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign - then reimbursed him for the donation, The Plain Dealer has learned.Um....if that's what happened, it's illegal. We've got a full-blown, national GOP scandal going now.
Talbott appeared Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Toledo that is investigating whether Noe illegally reimbursed as many as two dozen contributors to a Bush fund-raiser in October 2003. The grand jury is looking into whether Noe made the reimbursements to circumvent campaign finance laws, which limit individual contributions to $2,000.
