Jim Bopp Slams Brownback for Pro-Rudy Comments

Looks like our local Kelty supporter/attorney, Jim Bopp, is back in the news because he is irate that former presidential candidate Sam Brownback is giving Rudy Guiliani a pass on his pro-choice position. Bopp is a supporter of Mitt Romney so one can imagine why he might be angry. However, publicly attacking Brownback before he's even made an endorsement is not particularly good politics; then again this is the same guy that helped send Matt Kelty's mayoral campaign into the tank because he wanted to further his own anti-campaign finance reporting agenda.

Note to candidates - avoid Jim Bopp at all costs...

One of the big stories of the day in GOP primary politics is conservative Senator Sam Brownback's new and eyebrow-raising assertion yesterday that he is suddenly "much more comfortable" than before about Rudy's abortion views. Brownback said this after meeting with Rudy yesterday.

Now there's been another key development in the story.

Jim Bopp, one of Mitt Romney's top social conservative supporters, just lashed out repeatedly at Brownback in an interview with me for his kind words about Rudy's abortion views, accusing Brownback in scathing terms of putting "personal benefit" before the pro-life cause.

"There's obviously something more going on here than fidelity to the pro-life cause," said Bopp, a legendary pro-life activist and lawyer who is an important voice for Romney because he vouches for his conservatism. "Brownback is angling for some personal political benefit by cozying up to Giuliani."

Bopp's stinging criticism of Brownback is somewhat surprising, because the support of Brownback, who recently dropped out of the Presidential race, is coveted by GOP candidates such as Romney because it would shore up their conservative credentials. Romney and Rudy are engaged in a heated war over the evangelical and social conservative vote.

Brownback's dalliance with Rudy, Bopp said, is "particularly surprising in light of his unwillingness to accept Romney's conversion, which happened several years ago. Now he is willing to accept Giuliani's statements of the last day or so."

"Giuliani is unequivocal -- he wants abortion to be legal," Bopp continued. "Brownback claimed that the raison d'etre of his campaign was protecting human life. "So the only way that you can look at what he is saying now and what he is doing now is that he is prepared to compromise the pro-life movement and cause to advance his own personal political agenda."

The suggestion here is that Brownback is cozying up to Rudy because he thinks the Mayor is on his way to winning the GOP nomination -- and that he's willing to throw the pro-life movement under the bus to be with the winner.

H/T: TPM

An Update on the Kelty-Bopp-Delay Connection

Readers may remember this post where I pointed out that Matt Kelty's lawyer James Bopp had represented Tom Delay in an unsuccessful effort to be removed from the ballot in the 2006 election.

James Bopp took exception with that characterization and left the following comment to correct the record:

I hope that the other posts on this blog are more accurate than this one. I have never represented Tom Delay. The case you are apparently referring to arose out of Tom Delay's moving out of his House district and the attempt of the Texas Republican Party to replace him on the ballot. I represented the Chairman of the Texas Republican Party, not Tom Delay. Jim Bopp

Ok so evidently Mr Bopp's paychecks (I'm assuming he was paid) weren't coming from Tom Delay - they were coming from the Chairman of the Texas GOP. Six one way, half a dozen the other if you ask me, but I suppose the readers can draw their own conclusion. The gist of the post is still correct - namely that Bopp worked on an unsuccessful effort to get Delay removed from the ballot.

Based on Bopp's comment above, I think it's safe to say that splitting hairs isn't reserved solely for campaign finance laws...

Unconvincing Argument from Kelty's Attorney

Previously, I blogged that, in my opinion, Matt Kelty had clearly violated campaign finance laws. The gist of my argument was that the loans he received from Fred Rost and others were certainly contributions and thus they needed to be reported as such.

In Thursday's press conference Kelty's lawyer, James Bopp, agreed that "a loan is a contribution". However, he went on to argue that personal loans to the candidate are no different than cash advances on credit cards, home equity loans, etc. He added that only loans incurred by the campaign committee and not the candidate need to be disclosed. First off the credit card and home loan argument is weak on its face. This is because the loan is not being made to influence an election - they are simply open lines of credit established outside the bounds, and not specifically earmarked for, the election.

What was interesting is Bopp made a few references to the campaign finance manual but never to any statute. I believe this is because he is simply wrong and the statutes don't support his argument. I'll share my thought process as I've attempted to wade through the relevant sections of the Indiana Code.

The relevant part of the code, I believe, comes from the following statute:

IC 3-9-5-14. Committee’s treasurer reports.
(b) The report of each committee’s treasurer must disclose the following:
(3) The following information regarding each person who has made one (1) or more contributions within the year, in an aggregate amount that exceeds the threshold contribution amount in actual value to or for the committee, including the purchase of tickets for events such as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fundraising events:

Note that the statute clearly says that the contribution doesn't have to go TO the committee but simply be FOR the committee. So the only question remaining is, were the Kelty loans FOR the campaign committee? I'll let Bopp's quote from the press conference speak for itself:

"He was obtaining the loan to use for his campaign"

Like I said before, Matt Kelty clearly violated campaign finance laws...

Quick Summary of Kelty-Bopp Press Conference

1. Bopp assures everyone of his expertise at least half a dozen times.

2. Bopp went through a convoluted argument as to why a personal loan from an individual to a candidate (not the candidate's committee) need not be reported.

3. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Editorial page editor Tracy Warner asks if it's legal for one individual to loan another individual money for the purposes of loaning a candidate money.

Bopp becomes agitated at the volume of Tracy's question (it was loud in there) and asks, I kid you not, "Is he a member of the press?" He then asked him his name and assured him that it was perfectly legal to do what he suggests. Then he arrogantly added:

"If you don't like it then there's a road, it's called I69 and it ends in the middle of Indiana at the state legislature"

4. Bopp and Kelty admit that the loan was made for the purpose of the campaign

5. Bopp says he would not encourage candidates to report their personal loans and also stated - "There's no lack of transparency here"

6. Ben Lanka of the JG asked if Kelty expected to use campaign money to repay himself so he could repay the loan. Kelty responded "I don't see why I couldn't". Bopp agreed.

7. Press packet included copies of the promissory note and Bopp's resume - no mention of his case with Tom Delay of course.

I'll hopefully have more to come later...

Matt Kelty & Tom Delay - the James Bopp Connection

With the news of James Bopp coming to Fort Wayne to become the savior of the GOP nominee Matt Kelty's campaign woes, I thought readers of this blog should know that James Bopp was also the man that represented Tom Delay in his effort to get off the ballot in the 2006 election (How many ultraconservative lawyers named James Bopp could there be?). I guess whenever a Republican politician is mired in corruption they might as well pull Tom Delay's card out of their pocket. But just a reminder to the Kelty campaign - Bopp lost that case and the Democrats took Delay's seat.

The worse part of it all is that even after Delay lost his appeal to the Supreme Court - when Justice Scalia of all people turned them down - Bopp still looked for a way around the law:

The lawyer who argued the Republicans' case, James Bopp Jr., said Tuesday that there might still be ways to keep Mr. DeLay off the ballot. For instance, Mr. Bopp said in a telephone interview, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, could appoint or nominate Mr. DeLay to another office, making him ineligible to serve in Congress.

So look on the bright side Matt. Even though you seem to have violated campaign finance law and hired the lawyer of the most corrupt politician of the last two decades - at least he may still find a technicality that will keep you out of trouble.

The bad news? It didn't work for Delay...