Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell is being called a “crook” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which is filing a complaint with the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Election Commission alleging multiple campaign finance violations, including fraud and misappropriation of funds.
“Christine O’Donnell is clearly a criminal, and like any crook she should be prosecuted,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW executive director. “Ms. O’Donnell has spent years embezzling money from her campaign to cover her personal expenses. Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much these days, but both sides should agree on one point, thieves belong in jail not the United States Senate.”
You can read CREW’s complaint here, and its letter to the FEC here. O’Donnell’s attorney denied the allegations and said consideration is being given to filing a libel suit against CREW and Sloan.
That’s strong stuff that could pose a major problem for O’Donnell. But in the meantime, having put itself in the middle of one of the most controversial and intensely partisan contests of the 2010 campaign, CREW is likely to become the object of increased critical attention as well.
On its web site, CREW says it is “a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.” The organization is a tax-exempt 501(C)(3), with 2008 gross revenues in excess of $3 million and a staff of 12.
Normally, C3’s are not supposed to be involved in partisan campaigns. Sloan will argue that filing the complaint against O’Donnell is well within the rules, but in the present case it’s difficult to see how CREW is not seeking to influence the outcome of the Delaware Senate race.
The organization has been highly critical of House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel and California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters, calling for the former’s resignation and the latter’s departure as chairman of a House subcommittee.
But CREW’s focus has more often focused on alleged misdeeds committed by Republicans, including Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, and Rep. Duncan Hunter.
During an interview on CNN concerning O’Donnell, Sloan said “CREW does not lean left, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Democrat or Republican,” and cited her background as a former federal prosecutor. Sloan was responding to criticism of her as a Democratic partisan by attorney Cleta Mitchell, who has been retained by O’Donnell.
But a look at FEC campaign contribution records suggests that CREW’s top leadership does have predominantly Democratic roots. Board member Craig Kaplan, for example, is a New York attorney who contributed more than $96,000 to Democratic candidates between Jan. 1, 2007, and Aug. 1, 2010.
Another CREW board member, Al Dwoskin is a Fairfax-based investor who is a director of Democracy Alliance, a gathering of 80 prominent high-dollar Democrat funders begun in 2005 to create a new liberal infrastructure to compete with the think tanks, media and activist groups on the Right. Since 2007, Dwoskin has contributed more than $217,000 to Democratic candidates.
Another board member, Louis Mayberg of Silver Spring, contributed $3,900 to Democratic candidates.
Other CREW board members include liberal legal scholar and author Erwin Chemerinsky, Salon.com columnist Glenn Greenwald, venture capitalist John Luongo, and Sloan.
Sloan was appointed by President Clinton in 1998 as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia.
Prior to that position, Sloan was a Democratic congressional staffer working for Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, Sen. Joe Biden, D-DE, and Rep. John Conyers, D-MI.
As executive director of CREW, Sloan received total compensation in 2008 of $194,625, according to the organization’s 2008 IRS Form 990 tax return. Deputy director Naomi Seligman received $124,947, while Chantell Taylor, who directs CREW’s Denver office, received $111,852. Chief counsel Anne Weisman was paid $140,258.
