The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign refuse to say whether they will return contributions from prominent donor Edward Buck after another man was found dead in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment on Monday.
This was the second man found dead of an apparent overdose at Buck’s home since July 2017, when the body of Gemmel Moore, a 26-year-old alleged sex worker, was discovered at the same apartment. Moore’s death was attributed to a methamphetamine overdose, and authorities declined to prosecute Buck, 64, saying there was not sufficient evidence of foul play.
But several men stepped forward after the death and claimed Buck was a “monster” who had lured them and other homeless young black men to his apartment where he would drug them and forcibly inject them with methamphetamines, according to reports.
Buck, a former European fashion model who made his fortune selling a delivery service business in Arizona, contributed over $90,000 to Democratic politicians between 2007 and 2016 and cultivated relationships with Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, California Gov. Jerry Brown, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Referring to the second death, Seymour Amster, Buck’s lawyer, told the Los Angeles Times: “From what I know, it was an old friend who died of an accidental overdose, and unfortunately, we believe that the substance was ingested at some place other than the apartment. The person came over intoxicated.”
After Moore was found dead, multiple Democrats including Sinema, Garcetti, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., returned or donated contributions they had received from Buck. But other campaign groups and politicians have yet to comment on the contributions.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which received $20,000 from Buck in the 2016 cycle, did not respond to questions about whether it would return the money.
A spokesperson for Clinton, who received $3,950 from Buck in 2016 through her campaign and Ready PAC, also did not respond to questions about returning the donations. California Rep. Ted Lieu, who received $8,100, also did not respond to questions through his campaign.
Buck had previous brushes with the law in Phoenix, including a 1983 arrest for publicly groping a man’s crotch at an adult bookstore. Buck pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace, according to contemporaneous reports in the Arizona Republic. Buck was also charged in 1987 for falsifying a painkiller prescription.
After Moore was found dead at Buck’s apartment in 2017, multiple men who had allegedly spent time with Buck stepped forward with disturbing accounts about the eccentric millionaire.
One man, Damar Love, provided photos and emails between him and Buck to local blogger and activist Jasmyne Cannick. Love, a young black man, claimed Buck invited him to his apartment and gave him a glass of water that tasted strange and caused him to pass out.
“The next thing I know I’m waking up from taking a deep breath. My arms are immediately hurting and I’m tied down to the couch. Just my arm. My arm was hurting,” Love told Cannick. “I don’t know what he injected me with.”
Love said he managed to escape the house, despite Buck threatening him with a taser.
“When I went to the hospital and ambulance with my heart rate–too high. And they said gots to be partially overdose or was on the verge of being overdosed,” said Love. He said he reported the incident to the sheriff’s office but it was not followed up on. “I feel like Ed Buck is a monster,” said Love.
Another young black man, identified by Cannick as “Blake,” recounted a similar story. Blake said he met Buck near a porn store on Santa Monica Boulevard in 2014. He said Buck initially paid him to smoke meth and take photos in underwear. He claimed Buck also injected him with drugs.
“He give you Viagras. Oh you had to do these things. This was like a part of it. You had to take two Viagras cause it makes your heart go fast,” said Blake in the interview. “You had to be getting steadily high. That was it period.”
Samuel Lloyd, a former friend of Buck’s, said the 64-year-old targeted young black men who were homeless or otherwise struggling but had not been hooked on drugs before.
“He went out there searching for other men that were struggling and on the streets and had no money … men who had never experienced drugs before,” said Lloyd, according to The Root. “This is the kind of guys Ed Buck searched for.”
Moore’s diary entries document the 26-year-old’s despair as his addiction spiraled out of control in the time leading up to his death at Buck’s home. “I’ve became addicted to drugs and the worst one at that. Ed Buck is the one to thank he gave me my first injection of crystal meth,” wrote Moore.
“If it didn’t hurt so bad I’d kill myself, but for now I’ll just let Ed Buck do it.”
A coroner’s report for Moore obtained by the Los Angeles Times said police found drug paraphernalia around Buck’s apartment and a pornographic movie playing on his television.
