Like many politically-aware Virginians, I know that Republican Delegate Jeff Frederick was the beneficiary of a fundraiser held by Tom “The Hammer” DeLay recently. 
On April 19, DeLay held an event up in D.C. and, looking at Frederick’s contribution report for that day, it was quite successful. I count 24 contributions that came in on April 19, making it a real stand-out day for Del. Frederick.
But one thing doesn’t appear on his State Board of Elections report: any evidence of the party. There are just five in-kind contributions listed for the filing period, and none of them are the substantial costs of food, drink, and entertainment that go into a DeLay-hosted shindig. So perhaps the Frederick campaign paid for it? Nope — no such expenses are listed, for the 19th or for any other date. Virginia’s campaign finance law is pretty easy: do whatever you want, but disclose it, if over $100 is contributed.
So I figure there’s a couple of possibilities. Either Del. Frederick’s campaign is violating Virginia election law, or this was the lamest fundraiser ever.
Now, ol’ Tom DeLay’s not a real popular guy these days, so Del. Frederick was none too eager to acknowledge the existence of this event before or after it took place. But somebody should probably let him know that it’s one thing not to tell his constituents about this fundraiser, but it’s another matter altogether to withhold that information from the State Board of Elections.
I guess Frederick and DeLay have more in common than their political party.
Okay, I don’t know what’s gotten into you — maybe it’s all that “bipartisan goodwill” you’ve engendered at Sorenson — but the Democratic playbook clearly indicates that all Tom Delay stories should be accompanied by one of the following photos:
1. Scowling, scheming Tom Delay
2. *gulp* I-am-totally-screwed Tom Delay
This “smiling, confident Tom Delay” photo you’ve posted is totally inappropriate. Frankly, I’m disappointed. Please report immediately to HQ for remedial blog training.
:)
Damn, Jon, you nailed me.
I’ll do better.
great work! Its absolutely amazing that you can discover this sort of information as a lowly blogger, but the mainstream press can’t find the scoop with all their resources.
I watched a great program last night on c-span. it was called DemocracyFest adn was held in Austin. Many of the speakers had a great deal to say about DeLay and his antics. They also said that the Travis County Grand Jury had issued indictments, but the names on the indictments were not yet known. They also said that they hope DeLay can stick around for the 2006 mid-term elections to give the D’s a boost. Things are getting very interesting.
great work! Its absolutely amazing that you can discover this sort of information as a lowly blogger, but the mainstream press can’t find the scoop with all their resources.
Call me naive, but I give great credit to the media on the whole, though particularly those folks on the Virginia political beat. I figure there’s a bajillion bloggers, but not a whole lot of reporters. So we’ve got the time to focus on our tiny little chunk of the world, and smart reporters keep their eye on what we bloggers write, using us as aggregators for what’s going on in the world. In Charlottesville and even Virginia (at least when it comes to politics), I think that’s an ecosystem that works pretty well.
Did you check on either the Amex charge for $344 or the event reimbursement for $175?
The Times-Dispatch says that it was in a private townhouse and that Congressman Delay was there for about 30 minutes.
Addison, I got to thinking about your question, and posted this followup.