Stanford spent millions lobbying Congress

[malaise]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/17/r-allen-stanford-spent-mi_n_167731.html
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In doing so, Stanford became the single largest contributor between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001 to the 527 groups of Daschle and Frost...


Stanford gave an additional $100,000 to the Bush Inaugural Committee - as the new administration prepared its own money laundering strategy. More stringent controls were not proposed. Instead, the Treasury Department went to work watering down reporting requirements that are considered burdensome by many (including Stanford) in the financial services industry.61 In August, Treasury changed its tax shelter regulations to allow corporations to avoid some reporting requirements in an attempt to "ease tax administration."

DeLay was among the largest recipients of Stanford's largesse. And "DeLay's committees paid for flights on Stanford's jets at least 16 times since 2003, including on Oct. 20, the day the former House majority leader was booked in a Houston courthouse on money-laundering charges," according to Bloomberg News.

Stanford Financial or its employees also contributed to the legal defense funds of three lawmakers tarnished by ethics allegations -- DeLay, Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli, Republican Bob Ney.

Stanford Financial Group's PAC contributed to a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, current White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and House Ways & Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel.

And in 2008, Stanford Financial paid $2.2 million to lobbyists James K. Conzelman and Lionel C. Johnson, which is more than the firm spent in the previous six years combined.