Stevens Took Campaign Contributions From Saddam Hussein LobbyistAlaska Democrats Demand Stevens Return Tainted Donations Anchorage, Alaska – Senator Ted Stevens has accepted $5,000 in campaign contributions from a man who lobbied on behalf of Saddam Hussein during a period when Iraq was considered a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. William Timmons, a Washington, D.C. lobbyist, worked on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime. Timmons worked with two other lobbyists who were found guilty of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein’s government. The Alaska Democratic Party today demanded that Stevens return the tainted donations from Timmons. “This just shows how broken Washington is – Timmons works on behalf of a brutal dictator and enemy of our country yet Stevens still takes money from him,” said Bethany Lesser, spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party. “This is just another example of Stevens being associated with questionable special interests. Alaska families want to know why Senator Stevens would take money from such a man and whether or not he will do the right thing and return his contributions from Timmons immediately.” All together, Stevens accepted more than $25,000 in donations from Timmons and his lobbying firm – at least $14,250 to Stevens’ campaign and $11,000 to his leadership PAC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. According to the Huffington Post, in the mid 90’s Timmons worked with the two other lobbyists to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. However, in order for the multi-million dollar oil deal to go through, Timmons needed sanctions against Iraq lifted. Thus, Timmons advised the Iraqi regime’s efforts to influence the United Nations and U.S. to lift the sanctions. In a 2005 report investigating the Iraq oil-for-food program, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker specifically details the role Timmons played in trying to ease sanctions against Iraq. Even after this report was issued, Stevens continued to take contributions from Timmons. Check out http://RetireTed.com for the latest updates on Stevens’ corruption trial and the Alaska Senate race. # # # |
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