White House And Hastert Involved In Noe Coin Caper !!!

[WillyT]

<snip>

In May, 2003, the White House and House Speaker Dennis Hastert recommended that Mr. Noe get a seat on the influential 11-member committee. Treasury Secretary John Snow appointed Mr. Noe, less than six months after the Toledo-area coin dealer expressed interest in joining a Mint committee to Henrietta Fore, then director of the Mint. “I have always had interest in getting more involved on the national level,” Mr. Noe wrote to Ms. Fore.

Mr. Noe’s appointment and eventual chairmanship of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee enabled him to expand his reach into the federal government, according to more than 2,700 pages of e-mails and other committee records released last week by the Mint to The Blade. The newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the public records in June, 2005.

Documents and interviews reveal that Mr. Noe — who has pleaded not guilty to a 53-count felony theft and corruption indictment for his handling of Ohio’s rare-coin fund and not guilty to federal charges that he laundered money to President Bush’s re-election campaign — courted Mint officials at high-price restaurants in Washington, sought information on behalf of fellow coin dealers about future coins to be minted, and pushed the Mint and lawmakers to use higher-grade metals in the nation’s coins.

“Tom Noe saw a golden money pot and he wanted a piece of it,” said Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, reacting to The Blade’s findings. “But unfortunately, the Republicans in Washington were all too willing to help out their friends if they gave enough to the campaigns.” In 2003 and 2004, Mr. Noe earned the elite status of a Bush “Pioneer” because he raised at least $100,000 for the President’s campaign. Mr. Noe and his wife, Bernadette, a former chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, gave more than $200,000 to GOP candidates and causes.

The White House did not return messages seeking comment.

<snip>

Link: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS24/60402016

The stench of Republican corruption continues to swirl, eh???

:shrug:

[WillyT]

1. No ???

:wow:

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

2. A Picture Is Worth...

The politician

...during the investigation I seem to have lost my boyish looks


The Indicted

[Gabi Hayes]

3. good for the Blade! they've done some very good reporting

will this ever see the light of TV day?

hah

[WillyT]

4. Yep... If Ya Wanna Be Informed On Ohio Republican Criminality...

The Blade is the place!

:hi:

[Gabi Hayes]

6. Sam Seder...Majority Report....has a real thing for Noe, etal

he uses their stuff regularly, and is very funny, usually, the way he brings it all together, especially the RNC linkage

[TahitiNut]

8. You took the words right out of my fingers. God Bless the Toledo Blade!

... and screw the Columbus Dogpatch!

[hootinholler]

12. Yep, I trust The Blade.

They did an outstanding job during the selection it never got out on the wire for some reason.

-Hoot

[me b zola]

5. It is rumored that Snow is to be replace...seriously!

Earlier today CNN reported that the "WH shake-up" has more to go, that Snow & snotty scotty are rumored to be scheduled to be the next to be replaced.

Ah, the stench of rethuglican corruption wafting through the air :)

[Sydnie]

9. Puffy McMoonface? Leaving???

That is "impordant" news! :rofl:

[Canuckistanian]

10. Snotty gone?

He must be must be sobbing in a corner somewhere "Thank God... Thank God...."

[madrchsod]

7. no problem

hastert will be around along time if the dems don`t take the house.the republicans out here will never vote him out of office

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. Place your bets, place your bets here!

This too shall pass unnoticed. This too shall bounce off the criminals in possession of our government.

Sorry for the pessimism. I'm having one of those evenings where I'm wondering what these assholes have to do to wake the country the fuck up.

[AndyA]

13. And yet another Bush Pioneer caught in a dirty act...shocking!

It seems every corner we turn, there's a new act of Bush cronyism to be discovered!

[Disturbed]

14. Hassert, the next dirty Congress jerk to resign?

Hope springs eternal.

[KharmaTrain]

15. I Wish But No Luck

Gym Teach Denny's too stupid to be selfish...he's always been the "enabler"...the middle guy. The question is who put Hastert up to nominating Noe and what was the quid pro quo on that. It'd sure be nice if this has the smell of Boenner on it.

[Scout1071]

16. Is this why John Snow is rumored to be on the chopping block with Puffy?

McMoonface?

Now it make sense. They are cutting him loose.

[PegDAC]

17. Puffy is getting the ax? n/t

:D :bounce: :beer: :rofl:

[jaysunb]

18. There was a time, a story like this would have been

peeled, cored, cut in quarters and fed to the public in huge portions. Alas...that was yesterday.

[NEOBuckeye]

19. Blackwell -- where is his place in this? n/t

[Senator]

20. Ko-konspirator in the Karl and Ken Klepto Kaper

Officially, House Speaker Hastert, an Illinois Republican, recommended Mr. Noe to Treasury Secretary Snow, but an e-mail from Ms. Marchessault to Kim Nickles, a treasury liaison to the White House, revealed that Mr. Noe was an “original White House recommendation,” whom she was “finally able to get on the committee through the congressional recommendations.”

In February, 2003, during a visit to the White House, Mr. Noe was expected to take part in an “Ohio political strategy session” with Karl Rove, who is considered the architect of President Bush’s political career, and Ken Mehlman, who was later named the President’s campaign manager.

Not particularly "strategic":

1) Loot public funds

2) Pay off election thieves

--
www.january6th.org

[dusty64]

21. Whatever happened

to Coingate, kinda just disappeared like ALL the other crimes......

[lonestarnot]

25. It's the rush the border syndrom. Throw so many at 'em they can't

possibly all be caught.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. No, it hasn't -- not in Ohio. Keep checking the Blade and other OH papers.

Trial is scheduled for July, IIRC. Attention will increase as the date gets closer.

[LynneSin]

22. In some bizarre way repukes will find a way to blame democrats on this

Just like with Abramoff and the claim that Democrats received money from him - which has been proven quite solidly that they haven't

[exlrrp]

24. And the media will buy it

Youuuuuuu betcha

[exlrrp]

23. ANOTHER BUSH PIONEER GOES DOWN

Well well well
Ken Lay was a Bush Pioneer
Jack Abramoff was a Bush Pioneer
And Tom Noe was a Bush Pioneer
Do you see a pattern Starting to emerge here?
Basically if youre a Bush Pioneer you think laws don't apply to you---just like Bush does.
Why oh why oh why is the media not asking: What does it mean to be a Bush Pioneer?
And how much does Bush know about the activities of his "Pioneers?"
He claimed not to know Ken
He claimed not to know Jack
and now: "The White House did not return messages seeking comment."
You just bet they didn't and they never have to worry about a followup, do they?
And the media, of course, will want to keep investigating the Natalee Holloway case

[donkeyotay]

26. It's toadily a mystery why the media has not noticed the pattern

of corruption! No toady can figure it out. I mean, it looks like

a) Noe, with the help of his republican cronies, stole... or otherwise liberated, taxpayer money that was collected to help disabled workers.

b) with these tax dollars, they helped themselves become "successful businessmen."

c) they kicked back some to the Republican crime family syndicate in Washington.

You'd think that a pattern of corruption is evident, but you'd be wrong! No one sees anything amiss. It's bidness as usual. The Republicans bristle at any allegations of wrongdoing or incompetence. Everything is wunnerful! Send more money, give them more power, and more secrecy, and things will turn out toadily swell!

[DFW]

28. I actually knew this guy

Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, I used to see Tom Noe all the time. I had no idea as to his
political activities in recent years, but I know, or knew what kind of person he was. Perfectly nice
guy, but always had an ego deficiency problem, always wanted recognition. He always went out, while
married to his first wife, to discos on weekends to pick other women, and, charming guy that he was,
usually had success.

I also found out some of the people he had lent some of Ohio's money to, in order to increase some
of his coin business. At least one of these guys was a real snake, but also charming, completely pulled
the wool over the eyes of several partners, so I'm not surprised Noe was taken in.

I'm kind of into coins, myself, so I know that the fundamental idea behind Noe's gig was sound. The market
for certain kinds of coins has tripled and quadrupled since 1998, so if he had done his thing diligently,
he wouldn't have to resort to any shenanigans. But he always did have this ego problem. My bet is that he
wanted to be involved on the national level was not for any financial gain, but to see himself in the headlines.
My bet is also that any illegal stuff he did for Rove and Bush was in the expectation of the same thing. The
sleazy guy out he lent money out west would have stolen Ohio's money blind and told you the next day that
everything was fine. This guy is a real pathological liar, and Noe was wrong to trust him, but smarter people
than Noe trusted him, too, to their own financial ruin.

I'd also bet that the likes of Rove and Blackwell saw a useful lackey in Noe, and used him to the hilt, and
dropped him like a hot potato when he got caught.

We all know about Rove, but Blackwell's stench in this whole thing is growing stronger by the second. He is scum.

[Senator]

29. Could you try to "flip" him ?

Bad pun aside, I think you've got it right with "useful lackey." The more sinister and intelligent guys like Rove take great advantage of these none-too-bright, star-struck, overly-ambitious cutouts. Trouble is that they continue the scam even after they cut them loose to face the music alone. They either spin them some line about taking one for the team, or serving a higher purpose -- and if that doesn't seem to stick they go right to direct threats.

But the truth is that the threats are mainly just as hollow as the "buddy, buddy" routine. Not that they'd never go after someone violently, they would. It's just that it's very rare that they'd take the risk. They're no different than any other organized criminals. They know violence can eat into the profits and potentially bring down the house of cards.

A guy like Noe (or more likely the wife) might be convinced to see them for what they are and be talked into turning on them. And I mean on a personal, political level, not prosecutorial. They might have a great deal to say, not only about what they were persuaded to do but about things they just know about.

Doesn't sound like you were all that friendly, but no harm in suggesting.

--