Coingate continued: Arnold won't give back the money


Earlier this week, we reported that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been connected to the Ohio "Coingate" scandal.

Specifically, his campaign accepted $10,000 from Republican fund-raiser Thomas Noe, currently under federal and Ohio state investigation for (among other things) speculating in the rare coin market with $50 million belonging to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Republicans around the country — including AWOL himself — are falling all over themselves to return the money.

But not Arnold. He's not going to give it back. Why? Because he didn't know the money was dirty when he took it.

California governor will not return Noe's donations
(Toledo Blade) California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger terminated any efforts to get him to return $10,000 that Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe contributed to his campaign.

On Thursday, President Bush joined a steadily growing band of Republicans opting to rid their campaign accounts of Mr. Noe's money, but the Republican governor of California is not planning to return the campaign cash he received from Mr. Noe, who is facing a flurry of state and federal investigations.

"The allegations about Mr. Noe became public a year after we accepted his contribution," said Martin Wilson, a spokesman for Mr. Schwarzenegger. "As he was an active Ohio Republican Party fund-raiser and donor, we had no reason at the time to question his contribution and have no intention of refunding the money."


That's limpest excuse I've ever heard: It doesn't matter if you knew the car was stolen; it matters that you were driving a stolen car. Besides, hasn't Arnold ever heard the phrase "fruit of a poisoned tree"?,

Furthermore, Governor Schwarzenegger's refusal to return the cash reveals not just moral weakness, but political weakness (or at least, his perception of same). If nonstop protests and plummeting poll numbers have him so worried that he won't give back a mere $10,000, he must be really worried.

(Last point courtesy of MacroMayhem, to whom I also owe props for bringing the Blade article to my attention.)

Posted: Thu - June 9, 2005 at 12:24 PM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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