Vito J. Fossella Seeks Campaign Funding
From Right-wing Polluter Koch
April 21, 2008 -- Dick Cheney comes to New York City to raise money for Congressman Vito J. Fossella at the home of David Koch [1].
Koch Industries is listed as one of the top contributers to Vito J. Fossella [2].
Koch Industries (pronounced “koke”) is a private corporation with subsidiaries engaged in the production of petroleum, natural gas, gas liquids, chemicals and chemical technology equipment as well as securities and finance [3].
The Koch brothers, of Koch Industries, operate the Koch Family Foundations, a major source of funding for conservative political causes in the United States, including think tanks such as the Cato Institute [4].
In 1989, a U.S. Senate Committee on Investigations stated that “Koch Oil, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, is the most dramatic example of an oil company stealing by deliberate mis-measurement and fraudulent reporting.” [5]
During the Clinton administration Koch was charged with 315 acts of pollution. Koch Industries denied the allegations, and the cases were settled in January of 2000 for $35 million in fines [6].
Koch was separately charged with 97 counts of covering up evidence in the case of a benzene spill of 91 metric tons in Corpus Christi, Texas. The United States government sought fines as high as $350 million [7]. Four employees were also charged with criminal offenses in the case and faced up to 35 years in prison [6].
During this time Koch donated $800,000 to the Bush election fund and other Republican candidates [6].
Just before the case went to trial the justice department dropped all the counts and settled the case for $20 million in fines. Koch plead guilty to one count of concealing evidence and the criminal charges against the employees were dropped [6].
About Truth13: Founded in 2007, Truth13 is a group of concerned citizens residing in New York's 13th Congressional District who are concerned about how their Representative in Congress is failing to work towards the interest of his constituents. Their mission is to educate voters of the 13th Congressional District (NY) to the voting record of their elected Representative in Washington, D.C. For more information visit: http://truth13ny.googlepages.com or email truth13ny@gmail.com.
http://www.observer.com/2008/fossella-and-cheney
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00000983&cycle=2008
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/21/VMZQ.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=KOCH_FAMILY_FOUNDATIONS
http://www.mediatransparency.org/reprints/bobdolekoch.htm
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Koch-Industries-Inc.