Does Dirty Money Trail to Clinton Campaign Spell More Trouble for Vince Gray?

The parallels between the clandestine campaign funds applied to
Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2008 primary campaign,
revealed in Wednesday’s federal court proceedings, and Mayor
Vincent Gray’s 2010 campaign are unmistakable and intriguing.

But do they get us any closer to connecting the candidates directly to the dirty money?

The latest development in US Attorney
Ronald Machen’s ongoing corruption investigation exposed a pipeline of $608,750 in unreported cash
to help drum up votes for Clinton in the Texas primary. New York City businessman

Troy White pleaded guilty in federal court to one misdemeanor for failing to file corporate tax
returns for the funds.

In following the money, federal investigators traced the funds to an unnamed DC businessman,
according to court documents. The businessman is reported to be contractor and financier
Jeffrey Thompson. The documents describe a trail of funds from Thompson through Belle International,
a DC-based firm owned by
Jeanne Clarke Harris. Belle transferred the $608,750 to White’s firm, Wytehouse Marketing, which paid
for workers in Texas to put up street signs and do other campaign chores for Clinton.

The pipeline of funds to the Clinton campaign flowed “off the books” and were never
reported as federal campaign contributions. They fit the pattern Machen described
as “an assembly line for illegal campaign contributions” that funneled $653,000 through
Thompson’s accounting firm in a “shadow campaign” to help elect Vince Gray.

Some of Gray’s closest advisers and political insiders have pleaded guilty to federal
offenses in connection with the illegal campaign contributions, including Jeanne Clarke
Harris.
Vernon Hawkins, the most recent to take a plea, had been one of Gray’s intimate advisers since the
1990s. Hawkins pleaded guilty to lying to federal officials; he admitted overseeing
the shadow campaign.

Thompson has not been charged with any crime, but he’s under investigation for allegedly
steering hundreds of thousands of dollars of unreported funds to help elect Gray.

But the question is whether Gray—or Clinton—knew about the corrupt contributions,
and whether prosecutors can prove a direct connection.

In Clinton’s case, she attended a fundraiser Thompson held for her 2008 campaign.
They have been described as “pals.” Documents filed in federal court in the White
case describe direct contacts between White and the Clinton campaign, but the documents
do not say whether the source or the reporting of those funds were discussed. For
the investigation to reach into the Clinton campaign all the way to Clinton herself,
prosecutors would have to have evidence to prove that campaign workers and the candidate
knew the money was dirty.

The same holds true for Gray. So far the mayor has remained mum on any connection
he might have with the ongoing federal probe. Vernon Hawkins has described connections
and conversation between Gray’s legal campaign and the corrupt organization that he
operated. But if Hawkins discussed the shadow campaign with his buddy Vince Gray,
it has not become public.

At this point in the investigation, it seems clear that prosecutors are building an
airtight case against the DC businessman, presumed to be Jeff Thompson. But unless
Thompson or other Gray associates can provide solid evidence—in the form of documents,
recordings or witness testimony—that Gray knew of the corrupt campaign, prosecutors
might not have enough to bring charges.

Given this week’s document dump and guilty plea, the pressure is still on Thompson
rather than Gray.

Harry Jaffe