RNC: Clinton/Gore Sold Veto For Cash?

Published: 9/14/00 Author: Jim Nicholson

Light Up the Phones! -- Republican National Committee

NY TIMES BLOCKBUSTER: GORE INVOLVED IN NEW JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INQUIRY…

Clinton/Gore Sold Veto For Cash?

· Quid pro quo? This morning, The New York Times broke a front-page blockbuster story titled: “Memo Linking Political Donation and Veto Spurs Federal Inquiry.” The inquiry is being led by Robert Conrad, according to The Times. Conrad has been calling on his boss, Janet Reno, to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Gore. The allegation - Bill Clinton and Al Gore sold a presidential veto. What did they get for it when all was said and done? Over $800,000. On December 13, a Democrat National Committee “call sheet” was given to then-DNC Chairman Don Fowler (Fowler and Senator Chris Dodd usually made follow-up calls to donors). The call sheet reads: “Sorry you missed the Vice President: I know you will give $100K when the President vetoes tort reform, but we really need it now. Please send ASAP if possible.”

· The veto. On March 16, 1996, Bill Clinton sent a letter to congressional leaders promising to veto the tort reform bill - the same bill Joe Lieberman voted for and blasted Clinton and Gore for vetoing. On May 2, Clinton and Gore vetoed the bill. Soon after, Umphrey’s law firm, Provost & Umphrey, contributed $30,000 to the DNC. Since the veto, Umphrey and his law firm have donated $790,340 to federal Democrat campaigns and committees.

· Who’s Umphrey? Walter Umphrey - who gave over $1.1 million to Democrats from 1996-1998 - is under a federal grand jury investigation. On March 22, 1996, the Democrat Texas Attorney General made Umphrey the state’s lead counsel against the tobacco companies. His fee - $3.3 billion. Now, every three months, Umphrey and four other attorneys collect $25 million for their role in the lawsuit. As of May 14, they have collected over $400 million. In 1999, Umphrey told the Houston Chronicle what campaign cash donations get him from Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Congressional Democrats: “I think our … contributions are necessary. And as a result, legislation and administrative rulings come down the way they do.” The veto pen is not to be for sale!

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