What is it with these major Democrat Party donors? Seems like they all have major corruption problems. So much for the claim that the Dems are the party of clean government -- this case would clearly make them the party of trading with the enemy.

In an unexpected midtrial reversal, Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr., the Texas oilman accused of corrupting the United NationÂ’s oil-for-food program, pleaded guilty today to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks to Saddam HusseinÂ’s regime in 2001 to gain access to lucrative Iraqi oil contracts.

Mr. WyattÂ’s guilty plea came without warning this morning, on the 14th day of his trial in United States District Court in Manhattan, and it arrived before federal prosecutors had even finished presenting their case.

Under an agreement with the government, Mr. Wyatt pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The sentence he receives is likely to be between 18 and 24 months in prison, rather than the potential maximum of 70 years he could have faced if convicted on all five counts of the indictment.

This sudden change of mind was somewhat startling, not only because it came as the prosecution was about to rest its case, but also because Mr. Wyatt, a former drill-bit salesman, had proclaimed his innocence almost from the moment he was first arrested two years ago at his home in River Oaks, Houstons most exclusive residential district.

After rising before Judge Denny Chin to admit his guilt today, Mr. Wyatt, a plain-spoken octogenerian, embraced his wife, Lynn, a doyenne of the Houston social scene who is known for her philanthropic work and for her taste for haute couture.

Somehow, the New York Times missed the Democrat connection -- something that wouldn't have happened if Wyatt's donations had trended Republican. But for your information, here is a list of his contributions -- and I should remind you that Wyatt's wife matched these donations as well out of the couple's community property, so you should probably double the amounts. But a 3 or 4-to-1 disparity in favor of the Democrats is hardly worth noting, right?

The donations over the years include, to Democrats:

$1,000 to Bill Clinton
$3,900 to Hillary Clinton
$2,300 to Bill Richardson
$150,000 DNC
$101,000 DCCC
$60,000 DSCC
$2,000 to Texas Democratic Party
$500 Democratic Party of Harris County
$2,000 to Ted Kennedy
$500 to Joe Kennedy
$1,000 to Sheila Jackson Lee
$5,000 to Martin Frost.
$2,000 to Dick Gephardt
$1,000 to Jeff Bingaman
$1,000 to Lee Hamilton
$4,000 to Nick Lampson
$2,000 to Bob Kerrey
$1,000 to Jim Turner
$7,000 to Tom Daschle
$2,000 to Henry Gonzalez
$2,000 to Chris John
$1,000 to Chris Bell
$7,000 to Ken Bentsen
$1,000 to John Glenn
$4,000 to Greg Laughlin
$1,000 to John Bryant
$1,000 to Joe Biden
$1,000 to Scott Baesler
$1,000 to Leonard Boswell
$2,000 to Bob Graham
$1,000 to Max Sandlin
$1,000 to Ed Bernstein
$1,000 to Bill Sarpalius
$1,000 to Tim Johnson
$500 to Charles Sanders
$1,000 to Dick Zimmer
$7,500 to Gene Greene
$1,000 to Joel Hyatt
$5,000 to John Dingell
$4,300 to Jay Rockefeller
$1,000 to Richard Romero
$1,000 to Kent Conrad
$1,000 to Jim Mattox
$1,000 to Joe Lieberman
$2,000 to John Breaux

Donations to Republicans include:

$100,000 RNC
$5,000 NRSC
$5,000 Americans for a Republican Majority
$1,000 to Larry Craig
$1,000 to Don Nickles
$1,000 to Richard Shelby
$1,000 to Bob Bennett
$1,000 to Michael Huffington
$1,000 to James Hansen
$1,000 to John Isakson
$2,000 to Jim DeMint
$2,000 to Pete Domenici
$3,000 to Kay Hutchison
$3,000 to Jack Fields
$2,000 to Bob Dole
$2,000 to Phil Gramm
$4,600 to John Cornyn
$2,000 to Al DÂ’Amato
$3,000 to John McCain

And let us note that, even while under indictment, Democrats are taking donations -- on June 1, Jay Rockefeller took $2300 from Wyatt. I guess being indicted for trading with the enemy isn't all that big a deal.

H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 10:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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