Oxley(R) accused of blocking bills for contributor

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1149842377184260.xml&coll=2

Friday, June 09, 2006
Stephen Koff
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

Washington -- A nonpartisan watchdog group has asked the Justice Department to determine whether Republican Rep. Michael Oxley blocked legislation as a favor to a company that helped him raise money for political campaigns.

The practice would violate federal campaign finance and bribery statutes, said the Campaign Legal Center's letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday.

The center said that Oxley, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, reportedly blocked bills that would strengthen regulation of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., or Freddie Mac. This occurred, the center said, while Freddie Mac raised money for Oxley and other politicians, paying professional firms for fund-raising events that grossed $3 million between 2000 and 2003.

Corporations are barred from contributing or acting as conduits for contributions, and Freddie Mac in April agreed to pay a record $3.8 million fine. The Federal Election Commission did not accuse Oxley, of Findlay, of wrongdoing. But 90 percent of the fund-raisers held by Freddie Mac were for Oxley's benefit, according to Freddie Mac documents...



Oxley and staff rank near the top as frequent fliers

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B214C43A1-8DD4-45C8-866A-0BDFF52E9964%7D&keyword=

Last Update: 12:39 PM ET Jun 7, 2006


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley and his aides took nearly 290 privately funded trips worth at least $470,000 from January 2000 through June 2005, placing the powerful lawamker near the top of the congressional travel list.
Oxley's personal and committee offices combined to rank No. 1 in number of trips made by Capitol Hill staffers: nearly 280 trips costing $390,000, according to an analysis of the official travel documents.
Financial services trade groups and government-sponsored enterprises came up frequently as underwriters for Oxley's trips.
Overall, members of Congress and their staffs took about 23,000 trips worth $48.9 million paid for by private interests during the period, according to records compiled by Medill News Service, the Center for Public Integrity and American Public Media...

I personally know one. A friend of a friend as it were. Most of the crap that goes in that office makes my stomach turn.