Thursday, November 10, 2011
Arkansas Politics Can Martha Shoffner survive?
Posted by Max Brantley on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 6:48 AM
* Yes, the $10,000 in campaign money she got from lawyers she helps hire as a member of the Teacher Retirement System board came in a single check she picked up on a state-financed trip to New York (extended by another night in a $500 hotel so she could grab the cash and see the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center). She's repaid the money since it didn't come in individual checks from the five donors represented.
* Yes, she says she used a van supposedly paid by a $900 monthly draw from campaign surplus for personal uses, so she's going to pay that back, too. I'd still like to see the checks issued for that old Ford Aero van. I still say you could cruise in a BMW for that kind of dough.
There's more. But the bottom line remains that the state treasurer kept sloppy — possibly dishonest — books of her campaign account and has tried to push responsibility off on aides. It is not a confidence builder in a Democratic official entrusted with billions in state money.
PS — I don't think we should lightly overlook the fact that a bigshot law firm paid big bucks to represent a state agency wrote what appears to be an illegal campaign contribution check to a member of the board of the agency that hires them. Don't care what the "intentions" were or how Shoffner eventually reported it — inaccurately — to comply with the law. A law firm can't legally write a $10,000 check to an Arkansas political candidate's campaign. Did it gather up the money from the individual lawyers Shoffner claimed to have been donors? If not, did it count that as taxable income to the lawyers? This is a messy thing and I hope the Ethics Commission fully investigates it, rather than accept Shoffner's belated jury-rigged effort to make it right.
Speaking of Martha Shoffner, state Ethics Commission
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Shoffner watch: She won't be in today
May 21, 2013Debbie Rogers, chief deputy state treasurer, said Treasurer Martha Shoffner will not be at work today, but otherwise it was "business as usual" at the treasurer's office. /more/
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Sources identify Steele Stephens as informant in Shoffner case
May 21, 2013I hinted earlier that evidence was mounting that the securities salesman who provided confidential information to the FBI was Steele Stephens, the broker who began enjoying a huge share of Treasurer Martha Shoffner's bond business in 2010. /more/
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Stormy morning: Shoffner, hospitals, abortion
May 21, 2013A morning report as Arkansas watches the stormy skies: * THE STATE TREASURER WATCH: Can Martha Shoffner really return to work today as state treasurer, overseeing billions in state investments, after admitting to FBI agents that she wrongfully accepted a pie stuffed with a cash kickback from a securities salesman she inordinately favored with state business? /more/
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The piegate open line
May 20, 2013Weird day. I've been consumed with Martha Shoffner's favorite pie. /more/
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Chris Thyer: Informant in Shoffner case will eventually be identified
May 20, 2013David Koon reports from the news conference this afternoon by U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer of the Eastern District of Arkansas, who brought the charge against state Treasurer Martha Shoffner, and Western District U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge, who buttressed the message that the feds are looking for corruption statewide. /more/
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Shoffner's late arriving legal help
May 20, 2013I've now confirmed that State Treasurer Martha Shoffner had no legal representation until her Saturday arrest. /more/
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Robert Keenan says no link between his firm, salesman and charge against Martha Shoffner
May 20, 2013I've already mentioned this in the main item about the charge against Martha Shoffner, but I thought it was worth a separate mention given rampant speculation on who the government's confidential source in the securities business was that made payments to Shoffner and then wore a wire to gather incriminating information. /more/
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UPDATED: Shoffner charged with pie-box delivery of kickbacks from securities salesman; released after hearing
May 20, 2013The details of the federal charge against Martha Shoffner have been released in a criminal complaint from the FBI: I'll pass along as quickly as I can my notes from a reading of the complaint over the phone. /more/
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Martha Shoffner buzz
May 20, 2013Does Martha Shoffner have any friends? Former employees with unhappy tales of their time in her office would be surprised. /more/
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Martha Shoffner's day in court
May 20, 2013State Treasurer Martha Shoffner will lead the news today, though Sunday provided few new details about the FBI;s somewhat unusual arrest of her Saturday afternoon for a weekend in the Pulaski County jail. /more/
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