Capitol View: September 15, 2008 Archive

Madia and Paulsen camps trade attacks over "dirty money"

Posted at 6:11 PM on September 15, 2008 by Curtis Gilbert
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD3

Money itself is becoming an issue in Minnesota's 3rd District congressional race, a contest shaping up to be one of the most expensive in the country.

Republican Erik Paulsen's campaign says DFLer Ashwin Madia should return about $50,000 he has received from political action committees and campaign funds associated with U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., because Rangel is under investigation for possible ethics violations.

The campaign was echoing a press release from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

"It's almost like dirty money here is what we're dealing with," Paulsen's Communication Director Stacey Johnson said. "He's taking all this money from someone who's obviously having some ethical issues."

Rangel has admitted he failed to pay taxes on $75,000 he earned from a property he owns in the Dominican Republic. The House Ethics Committee is also investigating a charge that Rangel improperly used a rent stabilized Harlem apartment as a campaign office.

In addition to giving back campaign contributions associated with Rangel, Paulsen's campaign says Madia should call for Rangel to resign as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which is instrumental in writing U.S. tax law.

Madia's campaign fired back with a list of donations Paulsen has received from a variety of Republican lawmakers, a few of whom the Madia campaign accused of ethics problems. The campaign did not make specific accusations against most of the Republicans listed.

Madia Communications Director Dan Pollock said Madia would not consider returning Rangel's money unless Paulsen returned the donations on the list. But he said it is fair game for campaigns to scrutinize each other's donor lists.

"I do think there are people who will decide who to vote for in this race based on who is giving money to these candidates," Pollock said. "The way you raise money is a good indication of how you'll conduct yourself in Congress."

Speaking before the Madia campaign issued its release, Johnson said if concerns were raised about the Paulsen campaign's donors, it would decide on a case-by-case whether the donations should be returned.

"If something like that were to happen, we would assess it and if necessary we would return the money if that were the right thing to do," she said.