Brilliant con

I heard this story on NPR, and then Keith Olbermann covered it tonight in his "Worst Person in the World" segment - he likened it to The Producers - where the con men picked a sure loser so they could close the show and keep the money they raised.

Most recently, this firm raised over a million dollars for a sure loser in Georgia and then billed her for virtually all the money they raised. Apparently this is not illegal, but hopefully that will change. The Boston Globe has been covering this firm's shennanigans in Massachusetts.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/georgia_gop_candidate_raises_s.php

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/01/proving_violation_by_firm_is_difficult/

. . . A report in the Sunday Globe said that Charles A. Morse, a Brookline Republican, retained BMW Direct Inc., based in Washington, D.C., in 2006 to run against US Representative Barney Frank. BMW Direct raised more than $700,000 in Morse's name and used 96 percent of the money to pay fees to itself, affiliated firms, and its contractors, while Morse barely campaigned and spent $30,000 on his own expenses.

BMW Direct raised more than $100,000 of those contributions in 2006 after Morse had failed to qualify for the general election ballot and suspended his campaign activities. That raised the ire of some contributors who said they would not have sent in their money if they knew Morse was no long running against Frank. BMW Direct has said it thought he was still running an independent write-in campaign.

The pattern in the Morse case has been reflected in other campaigns and political action committees that BMW has contracted with. The list includes work for Republican Ken Chase's failed 2006 challenge of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a 2006 congressional campaign in Georgia, and on behalf of a group that sought to raise questions about Senator John F. Kerry's war record during Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

"Clearly the donations weren't going to what the donors thought they were going to; it does warrant a look by an appropriate investigative agency," said Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause of Massachusetts. "The disparity between what was raised and what was actually spent on the campaign could spark fraud statutes."

Harshbarger said BMW Direct's operation was "quite blatant" in skirting campaign finance laws. "It clearly violates the spirit of any campaign finance laws and undermines confidence in our system of political fund-raising," he said. However, the legal issues are far from clear.