Documents: Donors promised political access
Memos released by supporters of new campaign law
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WASHINGTON (AP) --Political party officials and the donors they solicit have routinely linked big contributions to government business, from merger approvals to meetings with top officials, according to previously sealed court documents that offer a window into the business of fund raising in Washington.
"As you recall in our conversation some weeks ago, you agreed to upgrade your Team 100 membership to the Regent program ($250,000) when the merger was approved," Republican Party fund-raiser Mel Sembler wrote in 2000 to the chief of the now-bankrupt Global Crossing telecommunications company, which had already given $100,000.
"Thankfully this has now been approved, so I am taking the liberty of enclosing an invoice for the additional upgrade," Sembler added in one of dozens of fund-raising memos the political parties turned over to a court hearing the first legal challenge of the nation's new campaign finance law.
The memos were submitted to the court under seal, but they were provided to The Associated Press and other news organizations Friday under an agreement between the national political parties and the lawmakers who sponsored the law.
The documents span from the Clinton years of the 1990s to the beginning of the Bush administration and detail how party officials often cater to donors and lace their pitches for money with promises of meetings with top officials.
"These documents show how the game is played in Washington, and you have to be able to pay to play," said Kent Cooper, co-founder of PoliticalMoneyLine, a nonpartisan Web site that tracks campaign finance, and a former Federal Election Commission official. "We expect these documents will trigger further investigations."
AP left messages Friday at the office of several of the people named in the documents seeking comment.
"Gave 100K last year and 20K this year. Ask her to give 80K more this year for lunch with Potus on Oct. 27th," said a 1995 memo for then-Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler, urging that prominent donor Denise Rich be solicited for money before attending a lunch with President Clinton. Rich's name later surfaced in both the Clinton fund-raising and pardon controversies.
Drug companies, some of the country's more active political donors, were a frequent subject of memos.
In a 1999 letter, then-RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson wrote Charles Heimbold, then chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb, to discuss the company's plans to form an industry coalition to lobby for issues important to drug companies.
"A coalition will be the perfect vehicle for the Republican Party to reach out to the health care community and discuss their legislative needs," Nicholson wrote. Republicans then controlled both chambers of Congress.
"We must keep the lines of communication open if we want to continue passing legislation that will benefit your industry."
Nicholson enclosed a copy of the RNC's health care proposals and asked Heimbold for his suggestions to improve it. He also included an outline of GOP lawmakers were doing involving health care legislation.
In the next paragraph, Nicholson encouraged Bristol-Myers -- already a GOP donor -- to give $250,000 to join the Republican committee's new "Season Pass" program, which offered donors "premier seating" at the RNC's fund-raising gala and "VIP benefits" at the Republican presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in 2000.
In all, Bristol-Myers gave $291,200 to the RNC in the 1999-2000 election cycle, according to figures compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political contributions.
Heimbold donated $50,000 to the RNC in October 2000. He was named ambassador to Sweden by President Bush last year.
When Microsoft Corp., a $100,000-plus donor to Republicans, planned to attend the party's major fund-raising gala in 2000, it asked to be seated next to "Sen. (Paul) Coverdell or leadership, Commerce Committee or Judiciary Committee," according to a GOP memo. At the time, the company was battling a major antitrust case that threatened to break the company into two. The memo added Microsoft did not want to sit with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a major critic.
In a note to a Dow Chemical official, the director of the RNC's "Team 100" donor club, Henry Barbour, sent thanks for a contribution and offered to arrange a meeting for Dow executives with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia; Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas; and GOP chairman Haley Barbour.
A 1995 Democratic National Committee fund-raising call sheet for Fowler and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, scheduled a call to Texaco lobbyist Jim Groninger.
"Reason for call: Please ask Jim to become a Trustee and contribute $35,000. Additional notes: The President helped out the Oil Industry by supporting them on drilling issues in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill passed the House on Tuesday," the call sheet said.
The DNC sought $85,000 from British Petroleum in a November 1995 call: "BP has given $66,000 to Republican committees this year. The Administration helped them out on two major issues this year," the call sheet said.
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