Jim McElhatton
Articles by Jim McElhatton
Fraud draws longer sentence
Duane McKinney could have expected a sentence of eight to 10 years in prison under federal guidelines as he awaited punishment Thursday for stealing properties in the names of dead people. Published January 9, 2009
Climate czar left no electronic trail
Don't bother looking for any electronic records of Carol Browner's first stint as a federal government executive. The soon-to-be Obama administration climate czar intentionally didn't keep many. Published December 24, 2008
Rosenbaum case pegged to clemency bid
Before pleading guilty in what authorities called the biggest personal tax evasion case in U.S. history, telecommunications executive Walter C. Anderson found himself in solitary confinement in a part of the D.C. Jail that inmates call "the hole." Published December 15, 2008
Standing on ‘the shoulders of Bob Ming’
Nearly five years to the day after his son was fatally shot, Martin Luther King Sr. sent a letter to the U.S. Parole Board in hopes of freeing a friend from prison. Published December 7, 2008
EXCLUSIVE: Cash flows to Rep. Jefferson despite bribery trial
Despite his looming trial on federal bribery charges, Louisiana Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson hasn't had any trouble raising money from his allies in Congress. Published November 27, 2008
Clinton campaign continued after backing Obama
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's team has told the Federal Election Commission that she continued her campaign even after endorsing Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama on June 7, a claim that lets her transfer millions of dollars from her presidential bid to her Senate campaign. Published November 24, 2008
Obama adviser lobbied to protect Fannie
A transition adviser to President-elect Barack Obama earned millions of dollars overseeing an office that led a lobbying effort to prevent increased oversight of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, public records show. Published November 18, 2008
Allies rush cash to debilitated Murtha
Democratic Rep. John P. Murtha seemed in jeopardy of losing his job last month until his political friends in Congress and the defense industry came to the rescue. Published November 12, 2008
Big-time Obama fundraisers to aid transition
President-elect Barack Obama has tapped some of the same big-time fundraisers who helped him collect more than a half-billion dollars for his presidential campaign to a new panel that will form the face of his administration. Published November 6, 2008
No joke: Franken still in the race
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman has claimed a win over Democrat Al Franken to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, but the race is still too close call with just 571 votes separating the pair out of 2.7 million ballots cast. Published November 5, 2008
McCain labels Obama ‘the redistributor’
Sen. John McCain on Monday labeled his Democratic presidential opponent "the redistributor," saying a newly revealed Chicago radio interview from 2001 exposes Mr. Obama's plan for the nation. Published October 27, 2008
Lawmakers in safe seats raise huge sums
EXCLUSIVE: If you believe the polls, plenty of lawmakers are in jeopardy of losing their seats on Election Day. But some of the biggest raisers of campaign cash are members of Congress whose re-elections are considered a safe bet. Published October 22, 2008
Biden routes campaign cash to family, their firms
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has paid more than $2 million in campaign cash to his family members, their businesses and employers over the years, a practice that watchdogs criticize as rife with potential conflicts of interest. Published October 15, 2008
Obama sought HUD grant for donor’s project
EXCLUSIVE -- Sen. Barack Obama wrote the Bush administration seeking a multimillion-dollar federal grant for a housing project that is behind schedule and partly run by a longtime political supporter. Published October 6, 2008
Fundraisers for McCain bring in pork
Sen. John McCain vows to hold members of Congress accountable for requesting money for pork-barrel projects, but that hasn't stopped him from enlisting fundraising help from several lawmakers who sponsored tens of millions of dollars in "earmarks" in this year's federal spending bills. Published September 25, 2008
Financial lobbyists wooed negotiators
Key House members weighing a $700 billion Wall Street bailout have filled their campaign coffers this year at more than 250 fundraising parties hosted by financial-sector lobbyists, including a beer tasting and a Washington Redskins game, according to a watchdog group. Published September 25, 2008
GOP pushes for Biden’s earmarks list
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. is requesting more than a quarter-billion dollars in earmarks to pay for projects in his home state of Delaware in fiscal 2009, but Republicans want to know when he will release the wish lists from the rest of his 35-year Senate career. Published September 16, 2008
Obama tried to nab earmarks for fundraiser
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama tried to direct more than $3 million in taxpayer funds to a Chicago museum whose chairman is one of the Illinois senator's largest campaign fundraisers. Published September 11, 2008
Palin yet to say ‘no thanks’ to other big earmarks
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has said repeatedly that she told Congress "thanks but no thanks" to the notorious bridge-to-nowhere project derided nationally as an example of pork-barrel spending. But some are waiting to see whether she'll also pull the plug on another big earmark dubbed "Don Young Way" that could benefit her hometown. Published September 5, 2008
‘Rainmaker’ lobbyist aids Biden
When Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. started a new political fundraising committee three years ago, he turned to a longtime Washington insider for help - the partner of a lobbying firm co-founded by his son. Published August 29, 2008
