obama money

Barack Obama campaign contributions and donations

One of the many Obama scandals that never took off was the fact that he received millions in highly questionable campaign contributions through such means as disabling address verification. As I first reported, he also accepted gift cards; those can be bought with cash and thus could have been used to funnel nearly-untraceable money to his campaign.

In addition to that, he also accepted large amounts of money from employees of various corporations, including Exelon. And, his former bagman Tony Rezko had given him money in the past.

He even accepted - but later returned - small donations from his illegal alien aunt, the one who he later threw under the bus.

Last modified Dec 31, 2008
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

FEC auditing Obama's 2008 campaign finances - 04/16/11

From this: The Federal Election Commission has launched an audit into President Barack Obama's record-breaking 2008 campaign. Individuals familiar with the campaign told Roll Call Friday that the FEC has been investigating the financial records of Obama's previous campaign. The scope of the probe, which began approximately two years ago, is unknown. Presidential audits typically take years to complete and can cost millions of dollars. The newly formed 2012 Obama campaign did not deny there was an audit, but a spokeswoman called it a "review." See the related entries below and the Obama money...

Ninety four wealthy families gave Obama campaign $14.4 million - 01/18/09

From our "Now They Tell Us!" file, the Washington Post offers "The Donors Who Gave Big, and Often" by Kimberly Kindy and Sarah Cohen, link. 94 wealthy individuals, couples, and families were able to donate $14.4 million to the Obama campaign by taking advantage of various loopholes regarding being able to donate to different entities. And, some of those loopholes were brought to us due to McCain Feingold. Some of those donors were also bundlers, with six of the 94 bundling $500,000 or more. While the full dollar amount they contributed is even less than the amount of questionable foreign...

Heartless Obama throws poor, illegal alien aunt under bus; will return illegal donations; lies about not knowing? - 11/01/08

Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt Zeituni Onyango - called "Auntie Zeituni" in his memoirs - turns out to be an illegal alien living in a Boston slum who illegally donated part of her meager income to his campaign. And, now she joins a host of other former Obama associates under his bus. After it was discovered yesterday that she's an illegal alien, the Obama campaign has today released the following statement: "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed." Now, let's parse that out, Clinton-like. 1. He's not offering to get her...

Obama's illegal alien, impoverished aunt redistributed her "wealth" to Obama's campaign via illegal donations - 10/31/08

Barack Obama's impoverished Aunt Zeituni - recently discovered living in poverty in a Boston slum - donated $260 to Obama's campaign. From this: Federal Election Commission records show that Onyango donated at least five times to her nephew's campaign in July and September. Three of the donations were for $5 each, and two of the donations were for $25. Records compiled by The Huffington Post show she gave a total of $260 to the campaign. Her actions were illegal, but she can be forgiven. Obama on the other hand...

Barack Obama's Pay to Play Chicago Way: got donations after state funded grant - 10/30/08

From the Sep. 8, 2007 L.A. Times article "Fresh face or old-school player?" (link, via this): Later [in 1999], [associates former Obama opponent, Yesse B. Yehudah, a Republican] pitched in an additional $5,000 to help retire Obama’s debt [from his run against Bobby Rush]. The contributions were recorded on Oct. 7, 2000, three days after the Illinois Senate, at Obama's behest, approved a $75,000 state grant to Yehudah's nonprofit [a social services organization called Fulfilling Our Responsibility Unto Mankind], state records show.

Obama campaign intentionally disabled address verification on donations (AVS) - 10/30/08

A company hired by Newsmax to look into some of the questionable donations to the Barack Obama campaign has found even more strange cases of those who don't appear to be U.S. citizens, such as thousands for an assortment of Middle Eastern and Asian countries: link. However, the most important bit appears to be the news that AVS was intentionally disabled and by a major company. Some news reports haven't mentioned it, and some have thought it could have just been an innocent move such as due to a bug in their software (no, really: meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/...

Michael Luo/NYT spins away Barack Obama's fraudulent donations - 10/23/08

Michael Luo of the New York Times discusses the various attempts by Barack Obama's opponents to test just how easy it is to donate to the Obama campaign using fake names and addresses ("Donor Patrol: ObamaaMichael Luo of the New York Times discusses the various attempts by Barack Obama's opponents to test just how easy it is to donate to the Obama campaign using fake names and addresses ("Donor Patrol: Obama’s Online Site Accepts More Fakes", link). He spins the story completely in favor of the Obama campaign to the point of covering up for them: [The fake donation] experiment would not...

Barack Obama campaign accepts bogus gift card donations - 10/23/08

Back on the first, I linked to a Ken Timmerman article about the Barack Obama campaign having millions in possibly fraudulent campaign donations. In that post I verified with the BHO campaign that they accept credit card-style gift cards. Those can be bought with cash and in large enough denominations that it would be possible to donate large sums of cash to their campaign. Those donations would be nearly untraceable, for instance, if it were done over the internet using one or more proxy servers.

37,000 Obama donations possibly from foreign currency; federal law violations? - 10/19/08

From this (a followup to this): more than 37,000 Obama donations appear to be conversions of foreign currency. According to a Newsmax analysis of the Obama campaign data before the latest figures were released, potential foreign currency donations could range anywhere from $12.8 million to a stunning $63 million in all. With the addition of $150 million raised in September, this amount could be much more... But many of the donors Newsmax canvassed said they had "never" been contacted by the Obama campaign or seen any refunds, even though their contributions went over the limit months ago...

Barack Obama took Rezko's money while Rezko's tenants froze in Chicago winter (-7F) - 10/14/08

Around Christmas, 2006 1996 the low temperature in Chicago was just three degrees Fahrenheit. Over the New Year there was a "heat wave", and it warmed up to a low of 26F. But, the next week it fell to a low of -2F. The next week it was even worse: a low of -7F. You don't need a Weatherman to tell you that with the wind chill in a city like Chicago it can feel much, much colder. Which brings us to this cheery holiday tale featuring Barack Obama from April 23, 2007: For more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment...

Did Barack Obama help Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga raise funds? - 10/14/08

The answer to that is... it could happen. See this. One of the debunkings of that claim that I've seen is that the "fact checkers" [1] couldn't find a $1 million transfer from the Obama campaign to Odinga, and that there's no such thing as the "Friends of Senator B.O." However, the wording at the first link implies that it wasn't a transfer so much as Obama facilitating donations from others directly to Odinga. However, before you get too excited, see this email supposedly from Obama: "I will kindly wish that all our correspondence [be] handled by Mr Mark Lippert. I have already instructed...

"Iraqi Billionaire Threatens Reporters Investigating Rezko Affair" (Nadhmi Auchi) - 10/12/08

From this: Why aren't the American media investigating the role of British billionaire businessman Nadhmi Auchi in supplying loans to Barack Obama fundraiser Tony Rezko? Some point to media bias, but there is another factor. Working for Auchi, who was born in Iraq, attorneys from London law firm Carter-Ruck have for several months been flooding American and British newspapers and websites with letters demanding removal of material they deem "defamatory" to their client... ...The Obama campaign recently issued a non-denial denial in response to claims that Obama met with Auchi―contained in...

John McCain/Barack Obama townhall debate live coverage (10/7/08) - 10/07/08

Live coverage of the John McCain/Barack Obama town hall "debate" - concomitant with me weeping for those who want to turn our political system into something closely approximating the Soviet Union - begins now. The questions I've seen so far are simply allowing them to replay their stock speeches. You bet BHO supports nuclear energy. His contributors depend on it.

Questions for Barack Obama about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - 10/06/08

Please go to a Barack Obama public appearance, ask him one of the following questions (derived from a McCain campaign missive [1]), get his response on videotape, and then upload that to Youtube. If you can get a "good" answer from him it would have a devastating impact on his campaign. "Senator Obama: You got over $100,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and their employees. Did you ever talk to the executives of Fannie and Freddie about the reckless loans they were giving out? That is, could you please list some approximate dates when you discussed those reckless...

Barack Obama: millions in very questionable campaign contributions - 10/01/08

[See the update about gift cards.] The Barack Obama campaign has raised millions of dollars in very questionable contributions. The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) won't say whether they're conducting an investigation, but they have asked the BHO campaign to explain or to return some of it. That includes over $17,000 given in $25 increments by someone named "Good Will" and listing his employer as "Loving" and his occupation as "You". Someone using similar obviously false information donated even more, claiming to be from a different city. It also includes millions of dollars from...

Barack Obama misleads, smears Middle America - 04/11/08

Speaking in San Francisco at a fundraiser for the wealthy (and in Marin County no less; pictures of his tour here), Barack Obama smeared Pennsylvanians and others by saying:

Dirt on Barack Obama: Exelon, Tony Rezko, William Ayers, Rashid Khalidi - 02/17/08

The Queen's minions have been busy digging up dirt on the Man of Hope. First up is Larry Johnson with this warning about Barack Obama's links to three questionable figures: Tony Rezko, William Ayers, and Rashid Khalidi. The first will go on trial later this month, the second is a self-admitted terrorist, the third an alleged "PLO activist". Earlier this month, the New York Times offered "Nuclear leaks, response tested Obama in Senate". Nuclear plants run by Exelon Corporation in Illinois leaked radioactive materials into the groundwater. Obama highlighted legislation he supported that...