Just trying to add some fuel to the fire.............from an (obvious) liberal blog but interesting nonetheless
Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 4, 2008, 12:47PM
Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.
We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.
The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:
Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.
Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.
Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too.
TOPICS: John McCain
Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 4, 2008, 12:47PM
Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.
We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.
The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:
<table width="380" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]J. Barclay Collins[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Attorney[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]19-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]John B. Hess[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Executive[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]Susan K. Hess[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Homemaker[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Homemaker[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]Norma W. Hess[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Retired[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Retired[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]John J. O'Connor[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Executive[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]Lawrence Ornstein[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Senior VP[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]John Reilly[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Executive[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]Alice Rocchio[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Office Manager[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]John Scelfo[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Senior VP of Finance[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[SIZE=-1]F. Borden Walker[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Hess Corp.[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]Businessman[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]$28,500[/SIZE]</td> <td>[SIZE=-1]24-Jun[/SIZE]</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess.Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.
Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.
Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too.
- share
TOPICS: John McCain
