Blue 7th, a grassroots organization group focusing on NJ's 7th congressional district, called today for Rep. Mike Ferguson to finally purge his campaign of cash connected to indicted Texas Congressman and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After being indicted and having more than one top former aide convicted of corruption, DeLay announced yesterday that he would resign his seat in Congress and not seek reelection.
"The culture of corruption is pervasive in Washington DC, reaching to the highest levels of Congress and to individual members like Mike Ferguson," said Blue 7th chairman Nathan Rudy. "DeLay's resignation proves that Ferguson's Texas benefactor was crippled by corruption scandals, and it is time for Ferguson to give up the tainted cash he received from DeLay and his cronies."
Rep. Ferguson has repeatedly refused calls from good government groups and the media to return money he has received from Delay, despite the continued connections to Congressional corruption. Ferguson has been quoted in the media as saying, "those contributions were appropriate."
Rep. Ferguson has accepted $54,413 directly from DeLay and his political action committee known as ARMPAC since 1998. The Ferguson campaign has also accepted close to $200,000 from fundraising programs run by former DeLay employees embroiled in corruption scandals.
"Mike Ferguson was bragging again last week about his fundraising prowess and how much money his campaign has on hand," said Nathan Rudy. "But with $250,000 – a quarter million dollars – coming from tainted and corrupted sources this is nothing to brag about.
On Friday of last week, former DeLay Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Rudy pled guilty to charges of corruption and misusing his official connections. He has contributed $3,000 directly to Rep. Ferguson over the past two years, and his now closed lobbying firm Alexander Strategies threw a big ticket fundraiser for Rep. Ferguson on September 30, 2005 that brought in tens of thousands of dollars.
DeLay was named as "Representative #2" in the plea agreement, as was former Delay Communications Director and Chief of Staff Ed Buckham. Buckham was Tony Rudy's partner at Alexander Strategies, and in addition to the fundraiser last fall has also contributed $3,000 to Rep. Ferguson.
Jim Ellis, who serves as DeLay's treasurer for ARMPAC, was indicted with DeLay in 2005 for laundering money and violating campaign finance law. Ellis coordinated a fundraising program for Rep. Ferguson in 2001 that raised more than $130,000.
Mark Valente III is a lobbyist who also serves on DeLay's ARMPAC steering committee, and held a big-ticket fundraiser to help Ellis build his defense fund after his indictment last summer. Valente and his wife have contributed more than $3000 to Ferguson campaigns, and also serves as the treasurer for Rep. Ferguson's own political action committee, MIKE PAC.
Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) has been named as "Representative #1" in both the Abramoff and Rudy plea agreement, and is under investigation for making statements on the House floor favorable to clients of the lobbyists. Ney's political action committee, American Liberty PAC, has contributed $7,500 to Rep. Ferguson's campaign.
Jack Abramoff, who DeLay called a "close friend" and whose conviction this winter for bribery and influence peddling led to the conviction of Tony Rudy, contributed $1,000 to Rep. Ferguson. The campaign donated that money after Abramoff's indictment last summer to a charity.
For the past year people connected to the political operations of Tom DeLay have been investigated, indicted and convicted of corrupting Washington, D.C. and our government. Each time a new revelation of corruption is made, we discover a direct connection through money or personnel to Rep. Ferguson's campaigns.
Blue 7th is asking all residents of NJ7 who are interested in clean government to contact Congressman Ferguson and tell him to return or donate to charity all the money he has received from Tom Delay and any colleagues touched by scandal and corruption. Congressman Ferguson's Washington Congressional office can be reached at (202) 225-5361 and his New Jersey office can be reached at (908) 757-7835. The Ferguson for Congress campaign can be reached at (732) 560-4700.
Blue 7th PAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a multi-candidate political action committee, and is dedicated to returning clean government to Washington, DC. This press release was paid for by Blue 7th PAC, and was not authorized by any candidate or other committee. More information is available at http://www.blue7th.com and http://www.dumpmike.com .
