Kudos to NHPR, Jon Greenberg re: Guinta's Finances

Magic Bank Accounts for everyone! (4.00 / 7)

Man, had i time, I would love to put together an infomercial on how Magic Bank Accounts* can change your life.

* Disclaimer: Magic Bank Account purchase does not include documentation or statement. May not be valid in states with a functioning press corps. Check local press environment for details.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 18:18:23 PM CDT

My career was stuck until (4.00 / 2)

I got my MBA!

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by: elwood @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 18:20:38 PM CDT

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Great news (4.00 / 2)

Thanks to John and NHPR.

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by: Chaz Proulx @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 18:25:14 PM CDT

Gotcha (4.00 / 4)

Greenberg says Guinta won't now answer if his parents were the source of the funds. But here's what he told Drew Cline in August:

He reiterated that the money was his own and did not come from family members.

Oops!

"Politics ain't beanbag" - Finley Peter Dunne

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by: William Tucker @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 19:28:39 PM CDT

Good reporting (4.00 / 2)

One thing to keep in mind is that in addition to the $355,000 in the MBA is that Guinta also reported investments in stock and mutual funds, so that he would have had to earn even more money from real estate and employment to fund those investments. Based on the congressional disclosure that is at least another $100,000.




"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 19:30:44 PM CDT

It's about time (4.00 / 3)

Actual reporting that required work!  

member of the professional left  

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by: susanthe @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 19:56:41 PM CDT

In Case You Missed It: Guinta Doesn't Deny Parents are Funneling Money into his Campaign (0.00 / 0)

If Frank Guinta illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from his parents, he needs to immediately suspend his campaign

Concord - In an interview with NHPR, New Hampshire Republican Congressional candidate Frank Guinta refused to deny that his parents were funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into his Congressional campaign, which is a gross violation of federal election law.  Guinta was approached by New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Jon Greenberg about the issue, and despite being asked multiple times if his parents had gifted him a large sum of money, he refused to answer.

In addition, Greenberg systematically went through all of Guinta's prior claims about where the money came from.  He found that Guinta's explanation for the source of this account was "not at all likely." Even the absolute minimum value of all his declared assets seems to be an unreasonably large amount of money for Guinta to have made through real estate and insurance work.

The article also noted that some Republican activists think that Guinta received this money from his parents, who recently sold a home on the New Jersey shore for $820,000.00.  But even if the money was a gift from a parent, if it was given with the intention of influencing a federal election then it is in violation of the law, according to Paul Ryan, Associate Counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington.

"If Frank Guinta illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from his parents, he needs to immediately suspend his campaign," said Mike Brunelle executive director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  "It is clear he couldn't have earned this money himself as he has claimed. The question now is where did it come from?"

"Why does Guinta continue to refuse to address the source of over $350,000.00 that he has funneled into campaign for Congress?" asked Brunelle.  "He was given three opportunities in this interview alone, and every time he refused to answer the question.  What is he hiding?"

A transcript of the NHPR article along with a video breaking down all of Guinta's previous explanations is available here.

http://www.nhpr.org/assessing-...

(posted by Harrell Kirstein, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)

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by: HarrellKirstein @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 20:02:29 PM CDT

Refused to Deny (0.00 / 0)

Love that!!!

Feeling hopeful since 2004...now "Secretary" of the New Boston Democratic Caucus

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by: Kelly Nordstrom @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 20:56:53 PM CDT

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NHPR, making up in spades for NPR's fail yesterday. (4.00 / 2)

Thank you Mr. Greenberg.

What a breath of fresh air to see real reporting on this.

Everyone, spread that NHPR link around. Facebook it; Tweet it; email it.

The story at the link, with pictures of the various disclosure forms and real estate properties, is incredibly detailed work.  It deserves wide exposure.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 20:11:39 PM CDT

I'm usually the first person to defend privacy, even of public figures, including Republicans (4.00 / 1)

For example, I'm not sure it's fair that every email a person sends, even just from their work email, eventually becomes public--whether that person is Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Kwame Kilpatrick, or Kelly Ayotte.  Doesn't mean we just trust them on everything, but our current President carries a Blackberry, and I don't think he should have to consider his eternal legacy every time he sends a snarky reply to Robert Gibbs.

But from a purely strategic point of view, if the explanation for Guinta's situation weren't something that looks bad, we would have heard it by now.

--
"Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past; you must fight just to keep them alive!"

@DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Tue Oct 12, 2010 at 20:12:08 PM CDT

Money is sort of like registering a marriage. When you use it, (0.00 / 0)

it's a public utility -- i.e. no longer private.  If you want to keep business private, do it on your honor.

Some things are either/or.  Public/private is one of them.  That private corporations, which are the creatures of public corporations, want to pretend that they are just like private natural persons does not make it so.  

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by: hannah @ Wed Oct 13, 2010 at 01:22:11 AM CDT

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