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ETHICS
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August 4, 2010
BOCCIERI’S HOUSE OF CONS BEGINS TO FALL
While Boccieri Clings to Their Cash, Another Donor Indicted and Two More Under Federal Investigation
Canton, OH—For the third day in a row, new information has surfaced about John Boccieri’s deep ties to a corrupt network of individuals who have played a major role in financing his political career. Following last week’s news that John Boccieri is refusing to return the nearly $70,000 he has taken from New York Democrat Charlie Rangel, who is facing 13 counts of ethics violations, Boccieri’s financial ties to three other individuals who were recently indicted on corruption charges were unearthed on Monday and Tuesday. Today, Michael Sciortino, Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo join Anthony Cafaro Sr., John Reardon and John McNally as the newest names on a rapidly growing list of John Boccieri’s corrupt contributors.
Like Reardon, Cafaro and McNally, Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino was recently indicted on corruption charges, which include bribery, perjury and filing false financial disclosures with the state. Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and County Auditor Frank Russo have been targeted in a separate federal investigation centered around allegations that the two took bribes in the form of prostitution in exchange for securing a multi-million dollar construction contract. In total, Sciortino, Dimora and Russo have given John Boccieri $1,940, none of which has been returned. As was previously reported, Boccieri has also taken and held on to $69,829 from Charlie Rangel, $12,600 from Cafaro and $2,500 from McNally and Reardon. Despite countless calls for Boccieri to follow the lead of many of his Democratic colleagues and clean out his financial coffers, he has thus far refused to part with the tainted cash.
“While it’s clear that Nancy Pelosi broke her promise to ‘drain the swamp’, her protégé` John Boccieri is doing his part to rapidly fill it up. Actions speak much louder than words, and as new light is shed each day on the depth of John Boccieri’s ties to corruption, his defiance in refusing to part with these tainted donations speaks volumes about his character and his comfort with a culture of corruption,” Jim Renacci spokesman James Slepian said.
August 3, 2010
MORE INDICTMENTS FOR BOCCIERI BOOSTERS
While Still Refusing to Return Rangel’s Money, Two More Boccieri Donors Indicted for Corruption
Canton, OH—Following yesterday’s news that John Boccieri’s network of corrupt donors expanded beyond Charlie Rangel to include Anthony Cafaro Sr., who was indicted last Thursday on corruption charges, FEC reports show that Boccieri also took thousands of dollars from John Reardon and John McNally—both of whom were also indicted last week. Reardon, the former Mahoning County Treasurer, was indicted on a slew of corruption charges including perjury, conspiracy and filing false financial disclosures with the state Ethics Commission. Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally was also indicted on a string of corruption charges including bribery, perjury and conspiracy. Throughout his career, Boccieri has accepted nearly $2,500 from McNally and Reardon, $1,750 of which was donated to Boccieri’s congressional campaign committee.
News of Reardon and McNally’s financial ties to Boccieri comes on the heels of numerous media reports detailing Boccieri’s refusal to part with the $69,829 he took from embattled Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y), who was charged with 13 ethics violations by a House panel last week. The discovery of a growing pool of corrupt contributors and criminals with ties to Boccieri’s political operation—combined with his failure to return any of their donations, is raising new questions each day about Boccieri’s own ethics. While dozens of Boccieri’s Democratic colleagues in the House have already returned Rangel’s donations and called on him to resign, so far Boccieri has refused to do either.
“While John Boccieri takes a sledge hammer to our economy and our district suffers through double digit unemployment, he has been lining his own pockets with nearly $100,000 in corrupt cash. In the past 7 days alone, John Boccieri has been tied to four deeply corrupt financial supporters—three of whom are under indictment, yet he continues to ignore calls to return their money and condemn their conduct. At this point the people of the 16th district realize that John Boccieri won’t ever cut his strings from Nancy Pelosi, but they do expect and deserve him to cut his ties to the criminals that are financing his campaign,” Jim Renacci said today.
August 2, 2010
BOCCIERI’S BASE OF CORRUPTION BROADENS
While Refusing to Return Rangel’s Money, Another Boccieri Financial Backer Indicted
On the very same day last week that a House Ethics panel unveiled the details of the 13 charges facing New York Democrat and John Boccieri financier Charlie Rangel, another of Boccieri’s long-time financial supporters, Anthony Cafaro Sr., was indicted on corruption charges in Ohio. As was widely reported last week, while Democrats across the country have been quick to return Rangel’s donations and have called for him to resign, Boccieri is facing a growing chorus of questions over his refusal to refund the nearly $70,000 he has taken from Rangel. The discovery that another of Boccieri’s financial supporters has been indicted on corruption charges is raising new questions about the depth of Boccieri’s ties to a corrupt network of individuals and his level of comfort with both their conduct and their money.
Throughout his career, Boccieri has taken $12,600 from Cafaro, $7,600 of which he received for his congressional campaigns. Boccieri also accepted $69,829 from Charlie Rangel, all of which he received prior to voting against stripping Rangel of his Ways and Means Committee Chairmanship in the fall of 2009. To date, Boccieri has refused to return any of the money he’s taken from Rangel or Cafaro, and has yet to issue a public statement of any kind condemning their actions.
“While John Boccieri’s record in Congress has been defined by a crumbling economy and record high deficits, his career as a politician has apparently been heavily financed by a corrupt Congressman and criminals. By clinging to their money while his colleagues return it, Mr. Boccieri has signaled his tacit approval for Rangel and Cafaro’s conduct and continues to embarrass a district that has already suffered enough under his failed leadership. Rather than continuing to dodge the issue and change the subject by desperately slinging mud at Jim Renacci’s record as a proven job creator and a small business owner, John Boccieri owes it to his constituents to address the mounting questions about his refusal to return the corrupt contributions that have fueled his faltering political career,” Jim Renacci spokesman James Slepian said.
July 28, 2010
BOCCIERI CAUGHT IN DOUBLE TALK ON DIRTY CAMPAIGN DOLLARS
Canton, OH—In the wake of revelations last week that a House investigatory panel has charged Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y) with ethics violations, many House Democrats continue to distance themselves from the corrupt Congressman and purge their campaign coffers of his tainted donations. The decision by Democrats to dump or donate Rangel’s money began months ago as a string of corruption allegations, ranging from improper use of taxpayer dollars to filing fraudulent financial disclosures, began to surface. While dozens of House Democrats have returned or donated Rangel’s contributions, including Ohio members Zack Space and Mary Jo Kilroy, Rep. John Boccieri has remained defiant, refusing to part with the $53,200 he has taken from Rangel.
Boccieri’s refusal to rid his campaign coffers of Rangel’s contributions directly contradicts the position he took in the state legislature when he verbally chastised Ohio Republicans over campaign contributions they received from political fundraiser Tom Noe, who at the time was facing a federal investigation into violations of FEC law. Despite the fact that Republicans in the Ohio Statehouse had already committed Noe’s tainted donations to charity, Boccieri insisted that ridding their campaign accounts of Noe’s money didn’t go far enough and he demanded that Republicans be stripped of committee chairmanships and recuse themselves from legislative matters for having accepted the contributions in the first place. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on June 2, 2005, “Rep. John Boccieri, a Mahoning County Democrat, asked that Rep. Stephen Buehrer step down as Chairman of the State Government Committee because of $8,000 in contributions (from Noe).”
After accepting tens of thousands of dollars from Rangel in 2007 and 2008, Boccieri neither stepped down from committee assignments nor recused himself from a vote to strip Rangel of his Chairmanship of the Ways & Means committee in 2009 (H.R. 805). In fact, Boccieri not only participated in the vote on H.R. 805, but voted against stripping Rangel of his Chairmanship.
“By desperately clinging to Charlie Rangel’s dirty campaign cash, John Boccieri has already demonstrated a clear lack of ethical integrity—but now it appears he is also guilty of blatant hypocrisy. Although John Boccieri has a long record of breaking his promises to the voters of the 16th district, he may salvage whatever remains of his shattered reputation by sparing his constituents any further embarrassment over their Congressman’s involvement in Charlie Rangel’s corrupt campaign contributions,” Renacci spokesman James Slepian said.
July 26, 2010
DESPITE ETHICS VIOLATIONS, BOCCIERI REFUSES TO PART WITH RANGEL CASH
While House Democrats Ditch the Dirty Dollars, Boccieri Bucks Calls to Refund Rangel’s Money
Canton, OH—Despite last week’s announcement from the House Ethics Committee that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y) has committed ethics violations, John Boccieri continues to refuse to refund or donate the nearly $60,000 in tainted campaign contributions he has accepted from Rangel. The embattled Congressman from New York has been the subject of a lengthy ethics investigation stemming from allegations that he engaged in improper use of taxpayer funds and filed fraudulent financial disclosures, among other charges. At least 27 Democratic House members have returned or donated Rangel’s dirty money in recent months, including Ohio Democrats Mary Jo Kilroy and Zack Space, who each returned $21,000 in the corrupt cash earlier this year. However, to date John Boccieri has refused to return any of the $53,200 he has taken from Rangel.
“While John Boccieri hasn’t spent much time listeninng to the people of the 16th district, he’s apparently had plenty of time to hang out with Charlie Rangel and to line his campaign coffers with tainted money to fund the dirty campaign he’s made clear that he intends to run. Considering his abysmal record in Congress, which has been defined by double-digit unemployment, reckless deficit spending and unwavering loyalty to Nancy Pelosi, the least John Boccieri can do for his constituents is to run a clean campaign funded by clean contributions. It is past time for Mr. Boccieri to follow in the footsteps of his Democratic colleagues and return every cent of Charlie Rangel’s campaign contributions,” Jim Renacci said today.
Between June of 2007 and February of 2008, Boccieri received a total of $9,000 from Rangel’s National Leadership PAC and Rangel’s campaign committee. In August of 2008, Boccieri accepted another $44,200 from the Rangel Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that Boccieri shared with Rangel. In addition to accepting Rangel’s tainted money, last fall Boccieri voted against a measure (H.R. 805) to immediately strip Rangel of his Chairmanship of the House Ways & Means Committee.
March 1, 2010
BOCCIERI CAMPAIGN CASH TAINTED BY CORRUPTION
Renacci campaign calls on Boccieri to return Rangel’s dirty money
Canton, OH— In the wake of findings by a House Ethics panel last Thursday that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), had violated ethics rules by accepting trips to the Caribbean that were financed by corporate lobbyists, the Renacci for Congress campaign called on John Boccieri return or donate to charity the $53,200 in campaign contributions he has accepted from Rangel.
“As if John Boccieri’s voting record isn’t troubling enough, the fact that his campaign coffers have been fueled by the fruits of Washington’s culture of corruption raises further questions about his judgment and his ethics. For years, Charlie Rangel has been the subject of countless ethics probes, including investigations into tax fraud and misuse of taxpayer funds, but through it all, John Boccieri has kept his hand firmly rooted in Rangel’s pocket. The time has come for John Boccieri to finally put his constituents ahead of his own political ambitions. For the sake of salvaging the integrity of his office, he owes it to the people of this district to immediately return or donate to charity every cent of the nearly $54,000 he’s accepted from Charlie Rangel,” Renacci spokesman James Slepian said.
Between June of 2007 and February of 2008, Boccieri received a total of $9,000 from Rangel’s National Leadership PAC and Rangel’s campaign committee. In August of 2008, Boccieri accepted another $44,200 from the Rangel Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that Boccieri shared with Rangel. In addition to accepting Rangel’s tainted money, last fall Boccieri voted against a measure (H.R. 805) to immediately strip Rangel of his chairmanship of the Ways & Means Committee. Boccieri has also refused to join many of his fellow Democrats who have not only returned Rangel’s money but who have bucked Party leadership and called for Rangel to resign his chairmanship in light of last week’s findings by the House ethics panel.
“Considering the amount of money that Charlie Rangel has funneled to John Boccieri’s campaign, coupled with Boccieri’s unwavering loyalty to Nancy Pelosi, it unfortunately comes as no surprise that he has failed to join the bi-partisan chorus in Congress that is calling for Rangel to resign. At a time when our country and our district are in desperate need of leadership, John Boccieri’s inaction is extremely disheartening—and as the voters continue to watch and listen, his silence on this matter is deafening,” Slepian added.
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