Comments on Advance Indiana™: GLBT Lobbyist And Spouse Accused Of Embezzling $5.9 Million

Update from One Iowa spokesperson, Justin Uebelhor...

2009-10-25T19:21:55.532-05:00

Update from One Iowa spokesperson, Justin Uebelhor:

I came across your blog posting about Marla and Phyllis Stevens. I want to clarify one thing. The Iowa Republican blog post you link to is wholly inaccurate. Their main contention is false: the LGBT Fairness Fund is not affiliated with One Iowa or our PAC in any way.

The LGBT Fairness Fund appears to be a federal PAC based in Indiana that can give to federal candidates. The Fairness Fund PAC (the political arm of One Iowa) is an Iowa registered state PAC that can only give to candidates for state office. There is no connection between our PACs, nor has Marla ever been employed by our PAC.

That's something I'm sure the FBI will be ...

2009-10-02T18:39:58.152-05:00

That's something I'm sure the FBI will be taking a closer look at, Ernie. I found an old comment Marla posted on this blog where she claims she and Phyllis' GLBT activities are all "self-funded" at considerable cost to them personally. Carson collected over half of his money from PACs. They could have laundered the money through any number of sources.

With the close connection between Stevens and Cars...

2009-10-02T18:35:01.964-05:00

With the close connection between Stevens and Carson I wonder if more contributions were made under the table. The possibility exists that more of the embezzled money could have passed through others who are close to Stevens and Carson..

Andre Carson took a big contribution from a suspec...

2009-10-02T17:31:07.078-05:00

Andre Carson took a big contribution from a suspected Muslim terrorist. I wrote about it on this blog. None of the news media reported on it. He later quietly returned the contribution. Instead, the media splashed headlines about Jon Elrod putting stamps on campaign envelopes during a down time at the State House, something that is legally permitted. There's a real double standard in reporting in this town. The news media goes to great lengths to protect the corrupt Carson political machine, while they do everything they can to destroy anyone who challenges that political machine. The local news media is useless when it comes to telling the truth about the Carsons.

In 2006 and 2005 Julia Carson received $4100.00 fo...

2009-10-02T15:59:45.639-05:00

In 2006 and 2005 Julia Carson received $4100.00 form Stevens...did Andre get the balance of Julia’s war chest?
Stevens went from donating a high of $9900.00 in 2004 to the democrat party, democrat candidates and associations to $42,938.00 in 2008. The democrats should have known something was up.

And these figures don't account for her girlfriend's donations.

Correction that should be $9200.00 in March 2008 a...

2009-10-02T15:47:29.675-05:00

Correction that should be $9200.00 in March 2008 alone to Andre Carson from this thief.

You didn't read the post correctly, Ernie. Tog...

2009-10-02T15:44:01.413-05:00

You didn't read the post correctly, Ernie. Together, the two gave a little over $25,000 to Carson since he formed a campaign committee.

Andre Carson accepted $6900.00 from Stevens in 200...

2009-10-02T15:40:43.968-05:00

Andre Carson accepted $6900.00 from Stevens in 2008. How much of the stolen money did her partner donate?

And the insurance company had no idea.....? And t...

2009-10-02T14:43:52.335-05:00

And the insurance company had no idea.....?

And the bank had no idea.....?

And illegal gambling can go on in perpetuity under the noses of the DoJ but they bust these two ladies for this, five years into the program?

My guess is that someone moved someone's toaster on this one, so the DoJ came in to shut it down.

Ed Feigenbaum of the Indiana Legislative Insight o...

2009-10-02T12:56:35.139-05:00

Ed Feigenbaum of the Indiana Legislative Insight offers this view on the subject:

"There will undoubtedly be a push to recover the political
contributions on several levels: by the insurance company, by
the feds, and by those inimical to the interests of the
candidates and other entities that were recipients of what
seems to be the ill-gotten largesse. From the latter, you will
also see candidates attempt to be tied to the alleged fraudulent
activity. This may be one of the largest cases involving
fraudulently obtained cash being directed into federal
campaigns outside of some recent high-profile prosecutions
involving foreign nationals and related contributions."

Notice how the Republican Party is asleep at the s...

2009-10-02T12:33:39.217-05:00

Notice how the Republican Party is asleep at the switch on this one. God forbid the party point out anything that might harm Andre Carson.

An ethical politician would repay the funds to the...

2009-10-02T12:32:01.839-05:00

An ethical politician would repay the funds to the victim without being asked.

Can Congressional office holders be forced to retu...

2009-10-02T12:02:28.474-05:00

Can Congressional office holders be forced to return these funds?