Democrats hit McCain over link to Ralph Reed

Democrats are seizing on a solicitation to a fundraiser for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that was sent out by Ralph Reed, a close friend and business associate of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Democratic National Committee sent out three releases Wednesday blasting the McCain campaign’s decision to ask Reed to help raise money for an Aug. 18 fundraiser in Atlanta.

{mosads}“On the campaign trail, John McCain likes to brag about chairing the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that investigated criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff's role in the Republican culture of corruption,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean said. “But that is not stopping John McCain from raising campaign cash with one of Abramoff's closest business partners: scandal-plagued conservative activist Ralph Reed.”

Three ethics watchdog groups have called on McCain to cancel the fundraiser, but so far the GOP presidential candidate has ignored their calls. The groups were reacting to a “special invite” to the event Reed e-mailed to friends and political contacts last week. In it, he said he had agreed to serve as a member of the McCain Victory 2008 Team and asked the recipients to join him and his wife at the event. The invite also included directions on how to send campaign donations to Reed’s home address.

Reed told The Hill that he has no official position with the McCain campaign and that the line about agreeing to serve as a member of the McCain Victory 2008 Team was just “boilerplate language” the campaign gave him to use. He said he was approached by a good friend, Jamie Reynolds III, who he said chairs McCain’s Georgia finance team, to help raise money for the Aug. 18 event.

In 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges as part of an elaborate influence-peddling scheme. McCain’s Senate Indian Affairs investigation uncovered e-mails showing that Reed had received roughly $4 million from a tribe to prevent another tribe’s casino from opening through a bogus religious anti-gaming campaign.

The panel’s final report found that those payments had “passed through” Abramoff’s lobbying firm, as well as another organization, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. “John McCain’s decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption shows how far he is willing to go to win,” Dean stated. “Despite all of his rhetoric about reform, McCain’s willingness to accept tainted money raised by tainted Abramoff cronies like Ralph Reed shows that McCain simply cannot be trusted to bring change to Washington politics.”

An official at the Republican National Committee on Tuesday replied to a call from The Hill to McCain’s campaign for comment. The official said Reed’s name is not on the event’s official invitation and would not confirm whether the Georgia Republican is a member of the McCain 2008 Victory Team. When contacted Wednesday about Dean’s comments, the RNC official said he had nothing to add.  He also referred to a quote RNC spokeswoman Katie Wright gave the <em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution:</em> “I find it laughable [watchdog groups] would go this route, considering Sen. McCain chaired the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that investigated Jack Abramoff. I suggest they take a closer look at [Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate] Barack Obama’s friends, like convicted felon Tony Rezko, or his National Co-Chairman Harry Reid, who took nearly $68,000 from Abramoff.”