3 lawyers, including Clark supporter, file complaints on Dean stock sales

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Three lawyers, including a supporter of Wesley Clark, are requesting an inquiry by federal regulators into Howard Dean's sale of about $15,000 in stock in five Vermont banks in 1991, arguing that the then-governor may have engaged in insider trading.

The three complaints to the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington and the U.S. attorney's office in Burlington, Vt., follow news reports about Dean's decision to sell the shares more than a decade ago when some Vermont banks were experiencing financial problems.


<snip>

"This is the worst kind of 11th-hour dirty tricks by Wesley Clark's campaign," said Dean spokesman Jay Carson.

Clark's press secretary, Bill Buck, responded: "It's time for Dean to come clean and stop seeing shadows on the wall."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/16/politics1458EST0669.DTL

[hellhathnofury]

1. You guys must be worried.

God bless Mr. Lehane, may he burn in hell.

[kayleybeth]

16. "Clark supporter" who donated a whopping $50 to Clark campaign

He's a county coordinator. That's grassroots, not part of the official campaign. Thanks for playing though!

[hellhathnofury]

21. We'll I'm part of THE grassroots campaign and frankly,

a county coordinator isn't small fries.

I enjoyed the Lehane game.:hi:

[kayleybeth]

29. I'm a county coordinator for Clark

and I assure you, Chris Lehane doesn't give me any marching orders. Our instructions come from the state coordinators, who get their instructions from Little Rock. I have NEVER been instructed to do anything that would smear another campaign. Our instructions are ALWAYS focused on building Clark up, not tearing other candidates down. Sorry to disappoint.

[hellhathnofury]

32. So your willing to vouch for the other guy?

[kayleybeth]

40. I'm not vouching for anyone, just telling you my experience as coordinator

I don't know Michael Spadea from Adam's hampster so I can't speak for him, but as a county coordinator myself, I can assure you that I have NEVER been given instructions to smear another campaign. Nor have any of the other county coordinators that I know of. We get instructions on how to build support for our candidate, not on how to tear other candidates down.

[stickdog]

37. So you are saying that Michael Spadea must have decided to

smear Dean with his silly and petty legal petition on his lonesome?

Damn. A real go-getter, huh?

Who says the Clark campaign is top down?

[kayleybeth]

41. I'm saying grassroots county coordinators don't typically get

marching orders from Chris Lehane. Make of that what you will. I don't know Michael Spadea so I can't speak for him or his situation. I'm just saying that I, as a county coordinator myself, have never been given any kind of instructions to smear other campaigns. Nor has any other county coordinator that I know of.

[Lobo_13]

59. Is he a county coordinator

or a precinct captain?

Because if his campaign structure is like the other campaigns, then county coordinators are paid staff.

Precinct captains are the grassroots level neighborhood people.

[drfemoe]

51. But Clark's Press Secretary

didn't miss the opportunity to respond. He didn't say it wasn't associated with the campaign. He had something else to say. Something very vague about "coming clean" and "shadows on the walls", but he certainly did not distance the campaign from the actions of this group.

Never mind that:
"Dean said he sold the stock because "it became clear to me that information I might receive in the future as governor could present a possible conflict of interest."

(from article cited in OP)

[Lobo_13]

58. Are you also a lawyer?

With connections to the local magistrates, etc?

Just because Lehane hasn't told YOU to smear Dean doesn't mean that he didn't tell someone else with the wherewithal and low moral values to do so.

Just accept that Clark hired a political gremlin for this express purpose, to smear other candidates from the shadows so the good General can claim to be squeaky clean.

Clark has exactly 48 hours to fire Lehane or he loses my vote forever. He'll just prove that he's the new boss same as the old boss.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Some Democrats are Larry Klayman wannabees...

What do they call themselves? Judicial Watch Redux?

[LuminousX]

3. Low Road...why doesn't Clark mention this himself?

[wtmusic]

4. Oh gawd

I guess they teach this stuff at West Point... :eyes:

[hellhathnofury]

6. No Axicom and the Chris Lehane School of Slander.

[arewethereyet]

5. Yikes, and I thought Gephardt was desperite !

oh well, more good news for Edwards !

[stickdog]

7. He sold the stock to protect AGAINST a possible conflict of interest.

$15,000 of stock sold to protect AGAINST a conflict of interest.

This is the lowest of the low -- and perfectly typical for a Lehane campaign.

[LiberalBushFan]

11. that's ridiculous

When you sell a stock right before you know it's going to go down... well that's the most common form of insider trading.

[wtmusic]

13. Wow, if Dean *knew* it was going to go down...

he should have sold it short. He's not smart enough to be our President! :eyes:

[LiberalBushFan]

17. well if he did that

he'd have been likely to get caught. The legal thing to do would be to ignore his information and take the loss like all the other stockholders.

[wtmusic]

27. even if it resulted in an illegal conflict of interest?

seems if I had a choice between doing the legal/illegal thing vs. the illegal/legal thing that made money, I'd choose the latter...:-)

[LiberalBushFan]

38. but you wouldn't do the legal/legal thing?

i.e. take the loss like all the other stockholders

[kayleybeth]

8. Did anyone bother to read the article?

The Clark supporter in question donated a whopping $50.00 to Clark's campaign. He's a county coordinator. That means he has about as much to do with the official Clark campaign as I do (except I've donated more than $50.00).

Try again.

[jmaier]

10. Of course not!

If you're against Clark you'd rather make judgments based upon a condeming one-liner than actually research the issue a bit before casting stones.

[Nashyra]

12. There is a huge difference between a Clark supporter

and someone affliated with the campaign. I would say that the Dean campaign trying to make Clark out the bad guy is the offender. I'm sure there are alot of Dean supporters that the official campaign would like to distance themselves from.

[wtmusic]

15. Then why does he even care?

You're trying to tell me this isn't politically motivated?

[kayleybeth]

20. No, I'm trying to tell you this is a low-level grassroots supporter

and not part of Clark's campaign staff. Try reading the whole article, please.

[hellhathnofury]

25. So maybe Mr. Lehane is simply covering his tracks.

Go right ahead and spin spIN SPIN, don't let me stop you.

[kayleybeth]

44. And maybe the moon is made of green cheese...

and I'm not spinning anything here. I think it's the Dean supporters who are engaging in wild speculation. Once again, I'm a county coordinator for Clark and I can tell you for a fact that I have never been given instructions to smear another campaign. I receive instructions on how to build support for my candidate, not on how to tear other candidates down.

[wtmusic]

28. And it just *happened* to be the day before the IA caucus

Totally, dude! :D

[kayleybeth]

45. The article is dated Jan. 16th

NOT the day before the IA caucus. If you had bothered to read the article you would have known that.

[wtmusic]

60. My bad

three days before the caucus. Gotta get those press releases out...:eyes:

[AP]

9. What's the statute of limitations?

[stickdog]

34. Five years. And the transaction was made more than a decade ago

in broad daylight.

One question:

Why do any of these lawyers care?

[beawr]

14. Better to make this old news now

Rather than have Rove and company trot it out in October (if Dean is the guy)

[stickdog]

33. It's less than nothing.

:eyes:

[TrueAmerican]

18. Shame on the Howard Dean campaign

for blaming the Clark campaign for something a "$50 supporter of Clark" did. Shameful!

[LuminousX]

19. We get confused, our $50 contributors are fiercely loyal

We forget other campaigns aren't like Dean's campaign.

[LiberalBushFan]

22. that's exactly what you said

when Dean supporters were distributing questionable "dean was the only candidate to..." fliers. wait, no it's not!

[LuminousX]

Uh, yah, ok

[oxymoron]

23. deleted by poster

sorry

[wtmusic]

30. LOL that's right

we're going to try much harder :D

[IndianaGreen]

24. You won't see us in November

and neither will Frisco and Ng.

[stickdog]

35. The guy's a Clark 2004 county coordinator. (nt)

[kayleybeth]

47. So what? I'm a Clark 2004 county coordinator

and I've donated MUCH more than $50.00 to Clark and I've NEVER been instructed to smear a rival campaign. The only instructions I ever receive are aimed at building my candidate up, not tearing other candidates down. Sorry to take away your talking point but there just isn't any "there" there. Try again.

[stickdog]

50. Either it's the Clark campaign central or the Clark campaign local.

Have they fired the guy and apologized for his behavior? Have they at least told him to rescind his nuisance petition?

If not, :wtf:

[Tinoire]

36. Also the County Coordinator of Hartford, CT n/t

[kayleybeth]

48. So what? I'm a Clark 2004 county coordinator

and I've donated MUCH more than $50.00 to Clark and I've NEVER been instructed to smear a rival campaign. The only instructions I ever receive are aimed at building my candidate up, not tearing other candidates down. Sorry to take away your talking point but there just isn't any "there" there. Try again.

[Tinoire]

56. And that proves what? That it's not a class-action law-suit?

It would have been a little obvious to make it a class-action lawsuit of all the County Coordinators. Lehane & Fabiani are known for being a little slicker than that. We know who we're dealing with here- we've already watched those guys in action and know exactly how low they stoop.

But heck, maybe they've changed. Maybe they're angels now.

[Padraig18]

53. The original poster is a Kerry supporter. n/t

[Clark4VotingRights]

26. Is the SFgate the same paper that "leaked" an alleged mean ad

attributed to former supporters of two other candidates
a few weeks back?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

31. the article is from Associated Press

byline: PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

[Clark4VotingRights]

39. The simularities are hard not to notice:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/12/politics2015EST0748.DTL

"LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer Friday, December 12, 2003
(12-12) 17:15 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

A new ad questioning Howard Dean's national security credentials is backed by a group that includes former supporters of rivals Dick Gephardt and John Kerry.
...
The Gephardt and Kerry campaigns say they had nothing to do with Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values or its ads.

The group, which says it is not affiliated with any candidate, includes treasurer David Jones, who has been a fund-raiser for Gephardt, and spokesman Robert Gibbs, who last month resigned as chief spokesman for Kerry's campaign..."


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/16/politics1458EST0669.DTL

PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Friday, January 16, 2004

(01-16) 11:58 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

"Three lawyers, including a supporter of Wesley Clark, are requesting an inquiry by federal regulators into Howard Dean's sale of about $15,000 in stock in five Vermont banks in 1991, arguing that the then-governor may have engaged in insider trading.

The three complaints to the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington and the U.S. attorney's office in Burlington, Vt., follow news reports about Dean's decision to sell the shares more than a decade ago when some Vermont banks were experiencing financial problems
...
One of the three attorneys filing the complaints, Michael Spadea, donated $50 to Clark's campaign and is a county coordinator is Connecticut for Clark's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination."

[mikehiggins]

46. You guys seem new to the game so let me explain

When you involve a whole bunch of "grassroots" people in a political campaign, and they invest themselves personally and emotionally in their candidate, or their cause, there is no controlling them. It is as simple as that.

Zealots are zealots, no matter what campaign they are supporting, and they answer to a higher authority than common sense or reason.

You think Lehane was behind this? Feel free. You'd be better off trying to figure out what happened to the Dean campaign in Iowa, and what'll you do if Kerry comes out of there a winner.

Suddenly "inevitable" doesn't seem to apply so well.

[MIMStigator]

42. Are the records hidden?

eom

[andym]

43. Off topic, but what about *s stock sales

Sorry to distract from the coming flame fest, but

Off topic, but what about *s stock sales around 1991 (Harken Energy).

Any chance that this could get re-investigated?

Have any of the candidates spent much time on this issue?

[NV1962]

49. but all three are LAWYERS!

Was Scalia's hunting trip with Cheney a debrief session for this? Are we witnessing a coordinated terrorist attack by lawyers?

Hasn't Clark pledged to the Skull & Bones society that he'd never clarify what really crashed in Roswell, in exchange for the presidency this year?

Developing...

[bitchkitty]

52. Digging frantically -

it sounds like they're getting desperate.

Perception is everything in the public eye, and they will see dirty politics.

Clark is being smeared more by this than Dean will ever be. He's trying to stay above it all by letting other people do his dirty work, but this won't fly. I wonder what Wes will say about it, if anything.

[Clark4VotingRights]

61. Exactly. That's the point I was trying to make above, but failed.

Clark, Gephardt, Kerry...all seem to have actually been
the ones being smeared. And Dean is again playing
the victim (send money).

It's a pattern that's impossible not to notice.

[sangha]

62. That's right! Clark issn't the only who doesn't like Dean

The other candidates have as much reason to attack/smear Dean

[KittyWampus]

54. Funny How We Aren't Told The Party Affiliation Of The Other 2 Lawyers

Nor their Candidate preference. Now why would that be?

[kerry-is-my-prez]

55. Poor Howie. Always being "put upon" for his many "questionable actions."

Those mean Clark, Gephardt, Kerry, Edwards, Sharpton people.

[imhotep]

57. I wonder if the lawyer is a DUer

it sounds like one of the Clark supporters we see on here trashing Dean all the time.

[Clark Can WIN]

63. Wow, it's the 11th hour already for the Dean campaign?

That's kind of sad for them that they feel that way. Could THIS be some of what he did not want uncovered in those sealed records? Could it just be that there is so damn much in there one thing like this would just be a grain of sand on the beach? Who knows? Unseal your records Doctor.