Criticism of John McCain
From Wikinfo
As an Arizona United States Senator and candidate for President of the United States, John McCain has faced criticism throughout his long career.
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Keating Five scandal
McCain became enmeshed in a scandal during the 1980s as one of five United States Senators comprising the so-called "Keating Five".[1] Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful[2] political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets[1] that McCain belatedly repayed two years later.[3] In 1987, McCain was one of the five senators whom Keating contacted in order to prevent the government’s seizure of Lincoln, and McCain met twice with federal regulators to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln.[1] On his Keating Five experience, McCain has said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."[4] In the end, McCain was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of acting improperly or violating any law or Senate rule, but was mildly rebuked for exercising "poor judgment".[4][2] In his 1992 re-election bid, the Keating Five affair was not a major issue, and he won handily, gaining 56 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic community and civil rights activist Claire Sargent and independent former Governor Evan Mecham.[5][6]
Contributions
In 1997, McCain became chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee; he was criticized for accepting funds from corporations and businesses under the committee's purview, but in response said the restricted contributions he received were not part of the big-money nature of the campaign finance problem.[7]
Lobbying ties to 2008 campaign
The McCain campaign faced criticism about lobbyists in its midst, and issued new rules in May 2008 calling for campaign staff to either cut lobbying ties or leave, so as to avoid any potential conflict of interest; five top aides left.[8][9]
References
- ^ a b c Abramson, Jill; Mitchell, Alison. "Senate Inquiry In Keating Case Tested McCain", New York Times (1999-11-21). Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ a b "Excerpts of Statement By Senate Ethics Panel", New York Times (1991-02-28). Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ Rasky, Susan. "To Senator McCain, the Savings and Loan Affair Is Now a Personal Demon", New York Times (1989-12-22). Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ a b Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: The Keating Five", Arizona Republic (2007-03-01). Retrieval date 2007-11-23.
- ^ Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. "John McCain Report: Overcoming scandal, moving on", Arizona Republic (2007-03-01). Retrieved 2007-11-23.
- ^ Alexander, Man of the People, 150–151.
- ^
- ^ Shear, Michael. "A Fifth Top Aide To McCain Resigns", Washington Post (2008-05-19). Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ Kammer, Jerry. "Lobbyists on John McCain's Team Facing Some New Rules", The Arizona Republic (2008-05-26). Retrieved 2008-06-04.
