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EXHIBIT A
CREW Icitizens for responsibilityand ethics in washington
February 14,2011
By facsimile: 202-514-6117
Rena Y. KimChief, FOIA/PA SectionCriminal DivisionU.S. Department of JusticeSuite 1127, Keeney Building950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear Ms. Kim:
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") makes this request forrecords, regardless of format, medium, or physical characteristics, and including electronicrecords and information, audiotapes, videotapes and photographs, pursuant to the Freedom ofInformation Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.c. §§ 552, et seq., and U.S. Department of Justice ("DOT')regulations, 28 C.F.R. Part 16.
Specifically, CREW requests all records related to investigations conducted by DOJ andthe Federal Bureau ofInvestigation ("FBI") of Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) that are notcovered by grand jury secrecy pursuant to Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,including but not limited to DOl's decision not to bring criminal charges against him. DOJconducted an investigation of Rep. Mollohan related to $250 million in earmarks that benefittednon-profit organizations of Rep. Mollohan's campaign contributors. See Paul Kane, JusticeDept. ends probe of Rep. Mollohan, The Washington Post, January 26, 2010 (attached as ExhibitA). DOJ notified Rep. Mollohan in January 2010 it had concluded its investigation of him anddeclined to prosecute him, and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbiaconfirmed it had closed its investigation. ld.
Please search for responsive records regardless of format, medium, or physicalcharacteristics. Where possible, please produce records electronically, in PDF or TIF format on aCD-ROM. We seek records of any kind, including electronic records, audiotapes, videotapes,and photographs, Our request includes any letters, emails, facsimiles, telephone messages, voicemail messages, and transcripts, notes, or minutes of any meetings, telephone conversations, ordiscussions. Our request also includes any attachments to these records.
If it is your position that any portion of the requested records is exempt from disclosure,CREW requests that you provide it with an index of those documents as required under Vaughnv. Rosen, 484 F.2d820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1972). As you are aware, a
1400 Eye Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, D,C, 20005 I 202.408,5565 phone I 202.588,5020 fax I www.citizensforethics.org
Rena Y. KimFebruary 14,2011Page 2
Vaughn index must describe each document claimed as exempt with sufficient specificity "topermit a reasoned judgment as to whether the material is actually exempt under FOIA."Founding Church ofScientology v. Bell, 603 F.2d 945, 949 (D.C. Cir. 1979). Moreover, theVaughn index must "describe each document or portion thereof withheld, and for eachwithholding it must discuss the consequences of supplying the sought-after information." King v.Us. Dep 't 0/Justice, 830 F.2d 210,223-24 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (emphasis added). Further, "thewithholding agency must supply 'a relatively detailed justification, specifically identifying thereasons why a particular exemption is relevant and correlating those claims with the particularpart of a withheld document to which they apply. ,,, ld. at 224 (citing Mead Data Central v. Us.Dep 't a/the Air Force, 566 F.2d 242,251 (D.C. Cir. 1977)).
In the event some portions of the requested records are properly exempt from disclosure,please disclose any reasonably segregable non-exempt portions of the requested records. See 5U.S.C. § 552(b). If it is your position that a document contains non-exempt segments, but thatthose non-exempt segments are so dispersed throughout the document as to make segregationimpossible, please state what portion of the document is non-exempt, and how the material isdispersed throughout the document. Mead Data Central, 566 F.2d at 261. Claims ofnonsegregability must be made with the same degree of detail as required for claims ofexemptions in a Vaughn index. If a request is denied in whole, please state specifically that it isnot reasonable to segregate portions of the record for release.
Finally, CREW welcomes the opportunity to discuss with you whether and to what extentthis request can be narrowed or modified to better enable DOJ to process it within the FOIA'sdeadlines. Adam 1. Rappaport, the CREW attorney handling this matter, can be reached at (202)408-5565 or arappaport(m,citizensforethics.org.
Fee Waiver Request
In accordance with 5 U.S.c. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii) and 28 C.F.R. § 16.l1(k), CREWrequests a waiver of fees associated with processing this request for records. The subject of thisrequest concerns the operations of the federal government and expenditures, and the disclosureswill likely contribute to a better understanding of relevant government procedures by CREW andthe general public in a significant way. Moreover, the request is primarily and fundamentally fornon-commercial purposes. 5 U.S.c. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). See, e.g., McClellan Ecological v.Carlucci, 835 F.2d 1282,1285 (9th Cir. 1987).
These records are likely to contribute to greater public awareness of alleged malfeasanceand possible criminal behavior by Rep. Mollohan and why, despite this apparent malfeasance,DOJ refused to prosecute Rep. Mollohan.
Rena Y. KimFebruary 14, 2011Page 3
From 2006 to 2010, the Justice Department investigated possible connections betweenRep. Mollohan and five non-profit organizations that he created and supported with earmarks.See Kane, Wash. Post, Jan. 26,2010. Rep. Mollohan earmarked $250 million for five nonprofits: West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, Institute for ScientificResearch, Canaan Valley Institute, Vandalia Heritage Foundation, and MountainMadeFoundation. See Judi Rudoren, Special Projects by Congressman Draw Complaints, The NewYork Times, April 8,2006 (attached as Exhibit B). Employees of the organizations, includingboard members and contractors, contributed at least $397,122 to Rep. Mollohan's campaignsfrom 1997 to 2006. ld. The non-profits were run by close friends and real estate partners of Rep.Mollohan. See Kane, Wash. Post, Jan. 26,2010. DOJ notified Rep. Mollohan in January 2010 ithad concluded its investigation of him and declined to prosecute him. ld.
The requested documents would shed light on the conduct of DOJ and the FBI inconducting the investigation of Rep. Mollohan, and DOl's decision to close the investigationwithout bringing charges against him. In addition, while DOJ decided not to prosecute Rep.Mollohan, his activities still may have been illegal or violations of the rules of the House, and therequested records would shed light on them.
CREW is a non-profit corporation, organized under section 501(c)(3) of the InternalRevenue Code. CREW is committed to protecting the public's right to be aware of the activitiesof government officials and to ensuring the integrity of those officials. CREW uses acombination of research, litigation, and advocacy to advance its mission. The release ofinformation garnered through this request is not in CREW's financial interest. CREW willanalyze the information responsive to this request, and will share its analysis with the public,either through memoranda, reports, or press releases. In addition, CREW will disseminate anydocuments it acquires from this request to the public through its website,www.citizensforethics.org, which also includes links to thousands of pages of documents CREWacquired through its multiple FOIA requests as well as documents related to CREW's litigationand agency complaints, and through www.scribd.com.
Under these circumstances, CREW satisfies fully the criteria for a fee waiver.
News Media Fee Waiver Request
CREW also asks that it not be charged search or review fees for this request becauseCREW qualifies as a "representative of the news media" pursuant to the FOIA. In Nat 'I Sec.Archive v. Us. Dep 't ofDefense, 880 F.2d 1381, 1386 (D.C. Cir. 1989), the Court of Appeals forthe District of Columbia Circuit found the National Security Archive was a representative of thenews media under the FOIA, relying on the FOIA's legislative history, which indicates the phrase"representative of the news media" is to be interpreted broadly; "it is critical that the phrase'representative of the news media' be broadly interpreted if the act is to work as expected. . .. Infact, any person or organization which regularly publishes or disseminates information to the
Rena Y. KimFebruary 14,2011Page 4
public . . . should qualify for 'waivers as a (representative ofthe news media. '" 132 Congo Rec.S14298 (daily ed. Sept. 30,1986) (emphasis added), cited in id.
CREW routinely and systematically disseminates information to the public in severalways. First, CREW maintains a frequently visited website, wvvw.citizensforethics.org, thatreceived 53,145 page views in January 2011. In addition, CREW posts all of the documents itreceives under the FOIA on www.scribd.com. and that site has received 607,799 visits toCREW's documents since April 14, 2010.
Second, since May 2007 CREW has published an online newsletter, CREWCuts, thatcurrently has 16,960 subscribers. CREWCuts provides subscribers with regular updatesregarding CREW's activities and information the organization has received from governmententities. A complete archive of past CREWCuts is available athttp://www.citizensforethics.org/nev,/sletter.
Third, CREW publishes a blog, Citizens bloggingfor responsibility and ethics inWashington, that reports on and analyzes newsworthy developments regarding government ethicsand corruption. The blog, located at http://www.citiznesforethics.org/blog, also provides linksthat direct readers to other news articles and commentary on these issues. CREW's blog had4,045 page views in January 2011.
Finally, CREW has published numerous reports to educate the public about governmentethics and corruption. See Record Chaos, which examines agency compliance with electronicrecord keeping responsibilities; The Revolving Door, a comprehensive look into the postgovernment activities of 24 former members of President Bush's cabinet; and Those Who Dared:30 Officials Who Stood Up For Our Country. These and all other CREW's reports are availableat http://wvvw.citizensforethics.org/reports.
Based on these extensive publication activities, CREW qualifies for a fee waiver as a"representative of the news media" under the FOIA and agency regulations.
Conclusion
If you have any questions about this request or foresee any problems in releasing fully therequested records please contact me at (202) 408-5565. Also, if CREW's request for a feewaiver is not granted in full, please contact our office immediately upon making such adetermination. Please send the requested records to Adam J. Rappaport, Citizens for
Rena Y. KimFebruary 14, 2011Page 5
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 1400 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 450, Washington, D.C.20005.
Sincerely, ." ."~, /"I /' '\
,/"'!-'- "'/~/-;/' "{:fe> ~ /
Adam J. RappaportSenior Counsel
Enclosures
EXHIBIT A
Justice Dept. ends probe of Rep. Mollohan
fLIJt bJl1U;~ingrott postJustice Dept. ends probe of Rep.Mollohan
By Paul KaneWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, January 26, 2010; 3:25 PM
The Justice Department has shuttered its nearlyfour-year investigation into the personal finances ofRep. Alan Mollohan (D- W.Va.), freeing the l4-termlawmaker to pursue what could be a tough bid forreelection without the lingering cloud of a federalcriminal probe.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbiahad been overseeing an investigation of Mollohan, a senior member of the House AppropriationsCommittee, for steering roughly $250 million in line-item expenditures to several nonprofit organizationsrun by close friends, who also were real estate partners with him.
Mollohan's office was notified this month that the investigation had been closed without criminal chargesfiled. Federal prosecutors declined to elaborate on what the investigation had found.
"We're not going to get into any details, but I can confirm we've closed the investigation into AlanMollohan," Ben Friedman, spokesman for the u.s. attorney's office, said Monday evening,
Mollohan, 66, is expected to notify House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. David R. Obey(D-Wis.), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, of the development in a letter Tuesday. Thatwould clear the way for him to resume full control of a subcommittee that oversees the roughly $28billion budget for the Justice Department and the nearly $8 billion budget for the FBI.
In a statement, Mollohan said the investigation was sparked by a conservative watchdog group's partisanactions. The probe was launched when he was serving as the top Democrat on the House ethicscommittee.
"For nearly four years, in the face of a politically-motivated assault on my character, I have continued tofight for jobs and the working families of West Virginia. With this behind me, I am more determined thanever to stand up for the people of the First Congressional District and fight for what matters," Mollohansaid.
He recently filed to run for reelection, squelching whispers that he might join several other longtimeincumbents who decided to retire rather than face a tough political environment in November.
In recent weeks, the independent political handicappers Cook Political Report and the RothenbergPolitical Report have downgraded Mollohan's seat to "lean Democratic" status. The Republican Partydid not field a challenger to Mollohan in 2008, but national party leaders have recruited several potentialcandidates while seeking to maintain a drumbeat of criticism related to the criminal investigation, Theypivoted away from the ethics matter Tuesday and sought to focus on the state's economy.
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"Alan Mollohan's support for Obama's war on Mountaineer State jobs proves that it doesn't matterwhether he's in Congress or behind bars -- he stopped representing West Virginians a long time ago," saidAndy Sere, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
A federal grand jury issued a flurry of subpoenas to West Virginia-based nonprofits in 2006 and 2007,after a SOO-page criminal complaint regarding Mollohan's fmances in February 2006.
The complaint came from the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative group that discovereddiscrepancies in Mollohan's personal financial disclosure forms. It raised questions about how hispersonal wealth rose -- according to congressional disclosure reports he filed -- from a minimum of$180,000 in 2000 to a minimum of $6.3 million in 2004.
Mollohan attributed much of that increase to a family inheritance and to the soaring property values of acondominium building he owns in the District's West End. After a self-imposed audit, Mollohan filedamended reports that corrected roughly 20 mistakes in his disclosure forms. He contended they wereminimal in nature.
However, federal investigators continued to focus on multimillion-dollar eannarks that Mollohan steeredto entities such as Vandalia Heritage Foundation, a historic-preservation group that was run by LauraKuhns, a former Mollohan staff member.
The lawmaker's family also invested with Kuhns's family in North Carolina beach property, including alot in Bald Head that went to foreclosure late last year.
Pete Flaherty, who co-founded the NLPC, questioned whether the Justice Department backed off theinvestigation because Mollohan is a loyal vote for the Obama administration. "Has Attorney GeneralEric Holder now made it legal for members of Congress to earmark money to their business partners?This is a horrible precedent," Flaherty said.
The Mollohan investigation came at the height of Democratic attacks on what Pelosi, then the minorityleader, called the Republican "culture of corruption." Mollohan served as ranking Democrat on theethics panel when it admonished House Majority Leader Tom DeLay CR-Tex.) in 2004 over fundraisingactivities. Mollohan also fought rules changes that GOP leaders imposed in 2005, leading to a virtualshutdown of the committee's work for several months.
Shortly after the investigation became public, Mollohan stepped down from the ethics committee. WhenDemocrats claimed the majority in January 2007, Mollohan took over as chairman of the Appropriationsjustice subcommittee, but recused himself from voting on matters specifically related to the FBI and theattorney general's office.
In his statement Tuesday, Mollohan defended helping to fund the nonprofit groups: "These nonprofitsare all about building West Virginia's economy and making our state a better place to live. I am veryhappy that they will be able to put this behind them and refocus on their core missions to create goodjobs and improve the lives of West Virginians."
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Justice Dept. ends probe of Rep . Mollohan
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EXHIBIT B
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April 8, 2006
SPECIAL PROJECTS BY CONGRESSMAN DRAWCOMPLAINTSBy JODI RUDOREN; David Johnston and Aron Pilhofer contributed reporting for this article.
As lawmakers have increasingly slipped pet projects into federal spending bills over the pastdecade, one lawmaker has used his powerful perch on the House Appropriations Committee tofunnel $250 million into five nonprofit organizations that he set up.
Those actions have prompted a complaint to federal prosecutors that questions whether any ofthat taxpayer money helped fuel a parallel growth in his personal fortune.
The most ambitious effort by the congressman, Alan B. Mollohan, is a glistening glassand-steel structure with a swimming pool, sauna and spa rising in a former cow pasture inFairmont, W.Va., thanks to $103 million oftaxpayer money he garnered through specialspending allocations known as earmarks.
The headquarters building is likely to sit largely empty upon completion this summer, becausethe Mollohan-created organization that it was built for, the Institute for Scientific Research, isin disarray, its chief executive having resigned under a cloud of criticism over his $500,000annual compensation, also paid by earmarked federal money.
The five organizations have diverse missions but form a cozy, cross-pollinated network in theforlorn former coal capitals of north-central West Virginia. Mr. Mollohan has recruited many oftheir top employees and board members, including longtime friends or former aides, who inturn provide him with steady campaign contributions and positive publicity in theirnewsletters.
The conservative National Legal and Policy Center in Falls Church, Va., filed a 500-pagecomplaint with the United States attorney for the District of Columbia on Feb. 28 challengingthe accuracy of Mr. Mollohan's financial disclosure forms. The forms show a sharp spike inassets and income from rental properties from 2000 to 2004.
Federal authorities said yesterday that they were reviewing the complaint, which was reportedin The Wall Street Journal.
The case has led several Republican leaders to call for Mr. Mollohan's removal from the Houseethics committee, where he is the senior Democrat.
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In a statement yesterday, he said, "These groups were not created to benefit me in any way,and they never have."
Mr. Mollohan noted that the National Legal and Policy Center had attacked other Democratsand their union supporters and that it began its inquiry last May after he had voted againstRepublican efforts to water down House ethics rules.
"Obviously, I am in the crosshairs of the National Republican Party and like-minded entities,"said Mr. Mollohan, who faces a serious electoral challenge in November. Vice President DickCheney is scheduled to headline a fund-raiser on April 21 for the Republican whom the WhiteHouse recruited to run against Mr. Mollohan.
"They are angry at me, and I fully expect that from now until November they will continue tomake baseless charges against me, my record and my family," the statement said. "I willvigorously defend my service and not be intimidated by their heavy-handed tactics."
In previous interviews, Mr. Mollohan acknowledged that he had failed to pay 2004 taxes onincome from rental properties in Washington and North Carolina, resulting in a state lien of$8,948.28 being filed on Dec. 1. He said the case was resolved by final payments of all taxes,interest and penalties by January.
"Obviously it's totally my fault," he said. "I just neglected this, and it was paid late, and I regretthat."
In the last three years, Mr. Mollohan, a Democrat first elected in 1982 to a seat long held by hisfather, has bought $2 million worth of property on Bald Head Island, N.C., with Laura KurtzKuhns, a former employee who now runs one ofthe organizations and is on the boards oftwoothers.
He was unapologetic about his earmarks, saying that local lawmakers knew their constituents'needs best, and that he was hardly alone in mainlining money back home. "The amount ofmoney in the transportation bill spent in Illinois in earmarked projects is astronomical," hesaid. "It puts $100 million on the LS.R. building in real perspective."
The earmarking occurred as an abundance oflocal projects was added to spending bills outsidethe normal budget review, from $32.9 billion in 2000 to $64 billion in 2006, theCongressional Research Service said. Although it is impossible to trace individual earmarks forcertain, an analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington watchdog, found$480 million added in the House or in conference committees, most likely by Mr. Mollohan, forhis district since 1995. That sum helped West Virginia rank fourth on the watchdog list -$131.58 for each ofthe 1.8 million West Virginians this year.
Although Mr. Mollohan's mentor, Senator Robert C. Byrd, has long blanketed the state inbacon in the form oflarge public works projects and federal complexes, Mr. Mollohan hasdirected more than half his earmarks to his five organizations of his design.
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Several people involved in the appropriations process said no other lawmaker employed thatstrategy to the same extent.
The first and largest is the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, which isabsorbing the troubled Institute for Scientific Research. Another, the Canaan Valley Institute,works on stream restoration and wastewater treatment. The Vandalia Heritage Foundationredevelops dilapidated buildings, and the MountainMade Foundation helps artisans marketwares.
"He's basically judge, jury and executioner for all this money," said Keith Ashdown, vicepresident of the Taxpayers for Common Sense in Washington.
Of the empty building in Mr. Mollohan's hometown, Fairmont, Mr. Ashdown added, "This issort of Mollohan's field of dreams, but in his case, he's building it, and it doesn't look likethey're going to come."
Kenneth F. Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, said the bulk of hiscomplaint to the federal prosecutors was made up of public documents that showed 260
instances of omitted or undervalued assets on the financial disclosure forms that Mr. Mollohanfiled with the ethics committee from 1996 to 2004.
Those forms show a jump in Mr. Mollohan's portfolio from less than $500,000 in assetsgenerating less than $80,000 in income in 2000 to at least $6.3 million in assets earning$200,000 to $1.2 million in 2004, along with large mortgage debts.
Among the concerns in the complaint, Mr. Boehm said, are commissions that Ms. Kuhns'shusband, Donald, received as a real estate broker on deals for the organization that shecontrols. The couple have donated at least $10,000 to Mr. Mollohan's political committeessince 1998.
The complaint also looks at whether Mr. Mollohan properly reported 27 condominiums in theRemington, near Foggy Bottom in Washington. He and his wife own the building with acousin, Joseph 1. Jarvis, whose business once received money from a federal contract in Mr.Mollohan's district.
"The $64,000 question that's all over this thing is during the period oftime all these earmarkswent to very closely associated nonprofits run by people who were very close to him, did any ofthe money go from Point A to Point B?" Mr. Boehm asked in an interview. "Did any of hisnewfound wealth result from, in any way, shape or form, individuals who had benefited fromhis official actions?"
Lifeblood for a Weak Economy
About 75 miles southeast of Fairmont along windy roads in Thomas (pop. 473) sits the Buxton& Landstreet Building, whose lifeblood is Mr. Mollohan's largess. The Vandalia Heritage
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Foundation used $1.2 million in earmarks from the Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment to help transform the yellow-brick behemoth, built in 1901 as the coal companystore, from broken down to bustling.
The first floor is a vibrant gallery where the MountainMade Foundation, relying on its ownearmarks from the Small Business Administration to pay Vandalia its $5,166.67 in monthlyrent, sells items like Mr. Byrd's thick autobiography for $35 and a maple desk for $5,250.
Upstairs, 41 people work on stream restoration and wastewater treatment in the Canaan Valleyoffice, whose $5,100 rent to Vandalia is covered by earmarks from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
"What else are you going to do to reinvent this economy?" asked Ms. Kuhns, Mr. Mollohan'sformer aide who runs Vandalia and is the co-owner of the North Carolina beach property with
the congressman. "A lot of what we do would not get done otherwise."
Created in 2000 to help artisans market their creations over the Internet -- Mr. Mollohanfavors the earthenware pottery -- MountainMade also runs glassblowing, spinning andfelt-making workshops in another downtown building that Vandalia renovated.
The Canaan Valley Institute, which grew out of an effort to create a wildlife refuge nearproperty that Mr. Mollohan owns, is building a $33 million headquarters with classrooms andlaboratories on 3,208 acres that it bought with earmarks he secured.
Vandalia owns more than a score of properties throughout Mr. Mollohan's district like theBaltimore & Ohio station in Grafton that it is turning into a museum and office space and lotsin Fairmont, where it plans to build houses. Earmarks from HUD bought the mothballedWaldo Hotel in Clarksburg ($230,000 in 2000) and 1,129 acres in Canaan Valley ($2-4 millionin 2004).
Mr. Mollohan and the organizations' managers said their goal was to wean from earmarks andbe self-sustaining. But Canaan Valley, the oldest, continues to rely on earmarks for 97 percentof its money. Last year, MountainMade received $1,085,308 from the S.B.A., nearly twice its$553,000 in sales. MountainMade also had a $124,000 state grant.
As for Vandalia, 92 percent of its $31.5 million in grants since 1999 arrived through federalearmarks. Separately, the 2004 tax return for the organization shows that 96 percent of its$8.5 million revenue was from government grants.
None of the three groups have dues-paying members, like many such organizations, or runregular fund-raisers. They worry about the crackdown on earmarks. The Vandalia pipeline hasbegun to dry up since Mr. Mollohan left the subcommittee that appropriates HUD money. Theorganizations said success in finding other sources had been sporadic.
The Quid Pro Quos
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"The congressman gave us money" for this or that is how the groups' leaders frequently explaintheir programs. And they generally return the favor at fund-raisers.
A review of campaign finance records by The New York Times shows that from 1997 throughFebruary 2006, top-paid employees, board members and contractors of the five organizationsgave at least $397,122 to Mr. Mollohan's campaign and political action committees.
Thirty-eight individuals with leadership roles, including all five chief executives -- all but oneof whose 2004 salaries outpaced the $98,456 national average among nonprofit leaders -contributed, often giving the maximum allowed.
At the same time, workers at companies that do business with the federally financed groupswere among Mr. Mollohan's leading contributors. Employees ofTMC Technologies, which hada $50,000 contract with Vandalia in 2003, have given $63,450 since 1998. Workers atElectronic Warfare Associates and Man Tech International, military contractors that rent spacefrom the technology consortium and whose chief executives are on the board of the Institute for
Scientific Research, combined to give $86,750.
For Kate McComas, a weaver who is the executive director of MountainMade, the $1,000 checkthat she wrote in March 2004 at a Mollohan fund-raiser was a first. "I bought a pair of highheels to wear," Ms. McComas recalled. "I thank him every occasion I see him for theopportunity we have here."
Asked whether contributions were required or expected, Kevin Niewoehner, the departed chiefexecutive of the Institute for Scientific Research, said: " 'Required' is such a strong term. Thepolitical environment and the access that goes along with it has a number of expectations thatinvolves what is appropriate and what isn't appropriate." He added that the first hint that hewas falling out of favor occurred in October, when a $250 check he wrote to the campaign wasreturned uncashed.
"I received invitations to those events on a regular basis," he said. "I was invited to participate,and I participated."
'Teaming to Win'
Mr. Mollohan scoffed at the suggestion that the overlap among the groups that he SUPPOltS
and his supporters meant anything more than a meeting of the minds.
"I like to think I'm supported because I work hard," he said. "Because I bring a collaborative, a'teaming to win,' if you will, approach to solving the really difficult challenges facing WestVirginia."
The team includes overlapping rosters among the five organizations. In addition to Ms.Kuhns's multiple roles, Jack Carpenter, an old friend of the congressman, is vice president ofthe consortium and chairman of the MountainMade board. The board once included Mr.
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Mollohan's wife, Barbara.
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Raymond A. Oliverio, executive vice president of the consortium, is also treasurer of the RobertH. Mollohan Foundation, named for the congressman's late father. Gina Fantasia, Vandalia'slegal counsel, moved over last year from the Institute for Scientific Research. Her brother Nick,mayor of Fairmont, is chairman ofthe Vandalia Redevelopment Corporation, a heritagefoundation sister.
"He effectively referred to it as a family," said a person involved in the Mollohan network,likening the operation to keiretsu, the Japanese concept of intermeshed corporate boards.
Down the hill from the steel structure here is the more pedestrian $14 million Alan B.Mollohan Innovation Center, built with $3.5 million in earmarks. It is the home of thehigh-tech consortium, which began in 1990 as six small companies hoping to seed a neweconomic area. The center has 200 affiliates throughout the state. Earmarks are its engine,underwriting high-tech projects like AmberView, which seeks to create a national database of
three-dimensional school photographs to help find missing children.
The consortium has had better luck following earmarks with competitive grants. ItsInformation Research Corporation was spun off as a for-profit subsidiary after obtaining a $10
million Navy contract to build 2,500 BomBots, robotlike tractors that remotely deliverexplosives.
"The congressman has enabled programs and entities to get started," said Tom Witt, director ofthe West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "But at some point,they're going to have to make the transition or they'll die."
The big test will be the $134 million Institute for Scientific Research building, three-quarterspaid by NASA and HUD earmarks. The 57-member staff is barely large enough to fill a cornerof the ooo-plus capacity ofthe building.
Photos: Alan B. Mollohan, left, senior Democrat on the House ethics committee, withCommerce Secretary Carlos Guitierrez at an appropriation hearing yesterday. (Photo byStephen Crowley/The New York Times); (Photographs by Vandalia Foundation [Canaan ValleyInstitute, MountainMade Foundation] and Jeff Swensen for The New York Times)(pg. AlO)
Chart: "Local Projects, Federal Funds"Alan B. Mollohan's Congressional district in West Virginia has received $480 million in specialspending allocations known as earmarks since 1995. About half the money has gone to the fiveorganizations at right, all of which Mr. Mollohan set up.
Earmarks for Mr. Mollohan's Congressional District
Graph tracks earmarks for the following groups since 1995.
2114/20113:17Pl
SPECIAL PROJECTS BY CONGRESSMAN DRAW COMPLAINTS ... http://query.nytimes.comlgstJfullpage.html?res=9BO 1E6D61 130F93B..
7 of 8
West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation
FOUNDED: 1990EMPLOYEES: 148TOP SALARY: $260,000ACTIVITIES: Runs its own research projects and works with companies to seed hightech
projects. Planning a technology park.EARMARKS SINCE 1995: $39 million from HUD, S.B.A. and the Justice Department
Institute for Scientific ResearchFOUNDED: 1990EMPLOYEES: 57TOP SALARY: $362,286ACTIVITIES:Conducts basic information technology and engineering research for federal
agencies,EARMARKS SINCE 1995: $108 million from NASA and HUD
Canaan Valley Institute
FOUNDED: 1995EMPLOYEES: 49TOP SALARY: $147,450ACTIVITIES: Partners with local groups on environmental problems, particularly stream
restoration and wastewater treatment.EARMARKS SINCE 1995: $71 million (awarded funds) from E.P.A. and NOAA
Vandalia Heritage FoundationFOUNDED: 1998EMPLOYEES: 12TOP SALARY: $102,000ACTIVITIES: Restores historic buildings, acquires property for development and runs "legacy"
projects of oral histories.EARMARKS SINCE 1995: $28 million from HUD
MountainMade FoundationFOUNDED: 2000EMPLOYEES: 19TOP SALARY: $65,565ACTIVITIES: Helps local artisans sell wares. Runs craft workshops.EARMARKS SINCE 1995: $8 million from S.B.A.
(Sources by Citizens Against Government Waste; tax returns of the five nonprofits) (pg. AlO)
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8 of 8
Map of West Virginia highlighting First Congressional District: Fairmont, W.Va., is thehometown of Representative Alan B. Mollohan. (pg, AlO)
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2/14/2011 3: 17 Pt
EXHIBIT B
U.S. Department of Justice
Criminal DivisionOffice of Enforcement Operations
Washington, D.C. 20530
CRM 2011000123F
Adam J. Rappaport, Senior CounselCREW1400 Eye Street, N.W. Suite 450Washington, D.C. 20005
Dear Mr. Rappaport:
FEB 22 Z011
The U.S. Department of Justice (Department), Criminal Division acknowledges receipt ofyour Freedom ofInformation Act (FOIA) request dated February 14,2011. In that request, youasked for all records related to investigations of Representative (Rep.) Alan B. Mollohan(D-WV) including the Department's decision not to bring charges against him. This request hasbeen assigned file number 2011000123F. Please refer to this number in any futurecorrespondence with this Unit.
We will conduct a search to determine what records (if any) we have that are within thescope of your request. Once we have completed our search, we will notify you as to ourdisposition of your request. Please note that this search will encompass only Criminal Divisionrecords.
We will consider your request for a fee waiver once we determine what records wemaintain within the scope of your FOIA request (if any) and whether any fees will be incurred inthe processing of your request.
The office that oversaw the investigation into Rep. Mollohan was the United StatesAttorney's Office, District of Columbia. Accordingly, the records you are seeking are likelymaintained by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. Therefore, we have routed yourrequest to the following office, which will respond directly to you: William G. Stewart, II,Assistant Director, FOIA/Privacy Act Unit, Executive Office for United States AttorneysU.S. Department of Justice, Room 7300, 600 E Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20530-0001(202) 252-6020.
If you have any questions regarding the status of this request, you may contact our Unit at202-616-0307.
Sincerely,
Rena Y. Kim, ChiefFreedom of Information/Privacy Act Unit
EXHIBIT C
-------------- -----~-_.-._.
Office of Enforcenu-n! Opera/ions
CRM-201100123F
Adam 1. Rappaport, Senior CounselCREW1400 Eye Street, N, W., Suite 450Washington, DC 20005
Dear Mr. Rappaport:
U.S. Department of Justice
Criminal Division
Washington, D.C. 20530
APR 11 2011
This is in response to your Freedom ofInformation Act request dated February 14,2011,for Criminal Division records related to investigations of Representative (Rep.) Alan 13,Mollohan (D- WV) including the Department's decision not to bring charges against him,
We have conducted a search of the appropriate indices to Criminal Division records andhave located no records responsive to your request.
If you consider this response to be a denial of your request, you have a right to anadministrative appeal of this determination. Your appeal should be addressed to: Office ofInformation Policy, United States Department of Justice, 1425 New York Ave., NW, Suite11050, Washington, DC 20530-0001. Both the envelope and the letter should be clearly markedwith the legend "FOIA Appeal." Department regulations provide that such appeals must bereceived by the Office ofInformation Policy within sixty days of the date of this letter. 28 C.F.R.16.9. If you exercise this right and your appeal is denied, you also have the right to seek judicialreview of this action in the federal judicial district (l) in which you reside, (2) in which you haveyour principal place of business, (3) in which the records denied arc located, or (4) for theDistrict of Columbia, If you elect to file an appeal, please include, in your letter to the Office ofInformation Policy, the Criminal Division file number that appears above your name in thisletter.
Sincerely,
')
())/"'lil/IU ~icW:£ Gdl~ J"e/Rena Y. Kim, ChiefFreedom ofInformation/Privacy Act Unit
EXHIBIT D
Appropriations, Local Ties And Now a Probe of a Legislator - WSlcom http://online.wsj.com/article/SB l14438416727219853.html?mod=tod...
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
BUSiNESS APRil 7, 2006
HELPING HANDS
Appropriations, Local Ties And Now a Probe of a LegislatorWest Virginia Rep. Mollohan Has Real-Estate Holdings That Also Bring Scrutiny; Growth ofBudget'Earmarks'
By JOHN R. WILKE
This story was published on April y, 2006.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- On a mountaintop above old coal seams that once fueled West Virginia's economy, agleaming steel-and-glass research center is taking shape, its winged design and rzo-foot data tower visible formiles.
The $136 million building is being built with taxpayers' money for the Institute for Scientific Research, anonprofit group launched by the local congressman, Democrat Alan Mollohan, and funded almost entirelythrough provisions he put into annual spending bills.
Allan B. Mollohan
A rz-term congressman, Mr. Mollohan sits on the House Appropriations Committee,a panel that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff dubbed the "favor factory." Workingwith fellow West Virginian Sen. Robert Byrd, Mr. Mollohan has steered at least $178million to nonprofit groups in his district over the past five years using "earmarks" -special-interest provisions that are slipped into spending bills to direct money to petprojects.
The money has brought more than jobs and building projects to his district. It hasformed and financed a tight-knit network of nonprofit institutions in West Virginiathat are run by people who contribute regularly to Mr. Mollohan's campaigns,political-action committee and a family foundation. One of these people also investsin real estate alongside Mr. Mollohan and his wife. The network of contributors alsoincludes private companies that get contracts through these nonprofits.
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Such a pattern raises questions about whether the donations or deals might be a way beneficiaries of earmarkscould influence the legislator's actions. Now, federal prosecutors have opened an investigation of Mr. Mollohan'sfinances and whether they were properly disclosed, according to people contacted in the inquiry. Mr. Mollohanhasn't been accused of wrongdoing. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, whose publiccorruption unit is conducting the inquiry, declined to comment.
Mr. Mollohan said in an interview he had no knowledge of any investigation. But he said, "I welcome any reviewof my efforts to diversify the economy of West Virginia, as well as any of our financial investments. All of themare aboveboard, and we operate transparently." He added that "every one of the earmarks is held to the higheststandards of accountability" and publicly disclosed. He said he was "extremely proud of what we've been able todo for my state."
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For the first time in years, Mr. Mollohan is facing a serious Republican challenge for his seat, from a candidatewith active backing of the White House. Mr. Mollohan said he didn't want to suggest that scrutiny of hisearmarks might be politically motivated. But he also said, ''I'd rather have this explained and understood nowrather than a week before the election."
Central to the Mollohan network is a former staffer, Laura Kuhns, who heads the nonprofit Vandalia HeritageFoundation. It is a historic-preservation group that is financed almost exclusively by earmarks backed by Mr.Mollohan. It paid her $102,000 in 2004. Vandalia is coordinating construction of the new building for theInstitute for Scientific Research, or ISR, and Ms. Kuhns sits on its board and those of three other nonprofits thatget funds via earmarks.
She and her husband also are partners with Mr. Mollohan and his wife in five properties in Bald Head Island,N.C., valued in local real-estate records at a total of $2 million. The Mollohans recently bought a $1-45 millionoceanfront home on the island, called the Peppervine House, which they rent out for $8,555 a week, next to theKuhns' house, known as Cape Fearless. These and other investments, including a stake in a nine-story luxurycondominium complex in Washington, appear to have made the Mollohans wealthy.
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Mr. Mollohan's government financial disclosure form, whichshows only broad ranges of debts and assets, showed householdassets of up to $565,000 in 2000, offset by debt of up to$465,000, including $100,000 in credit-card bills. Four yearslater, the couple's reported assets had soared to between $6.3million and $24.9 million, with liabilities of $3.7 million to $13.5million, mostly mortgages. Mr. Mollohan said his true assets areat the low end of those ranges.
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He and Ms. Kuhns say there is no link between the earmarkappropriations Mr. Mollohan pushed through Congress andtheir real-estate investments, and they deny any improprieties.Mr. Mollohan said that any time he invests with others in realestate, he puts in half the money to avoid the appearance of aconflict. "I wish you were correct that I'm worth millions, but infact it's borrowed money," he said.
20f4
Casting a ShadowThe previously undisclosed investigation of Mr. Mollohan, 62 years old, comes amid a still-continuing Abramoffprobe that has cast a shadow over two top Republicans, Bob Ney of Ohio and former House Majority LeaderTom DeLay, who is giving up his seat from Texas. Another Republican, former Rep. Randall "Duke"Cunningham of California, who had also served on the Appropriations Committee, left Congress and wassentenced to prison last month after pleading guilty to accepting $2-4 million in bribes from defense firms inexchange for earmarks and other favors. A criminal bribery investigation is under way into a LouisianaDemocrat, Rep. William Jefferson, who has denied wrongdoing.
The cases are part of a widening attack on public corruption, with some 200 Federal Bureau of Investigationagents working on such cases nationwide, according to the chief of the Justice Department's criminal division,Alice Fisher. "We are seeing a surge in these cases and we're adopting aggressive tactics, including undercoveroperations," she said.
The House Ethics Committee, on which Mr. Mollohan is the senior Democrat, cautions lawmakers about ties toprivate entities because of the risk of actions inconsistent with their obligation to the public. The ethics panel hasbeen unable to function -- despite the Abramoff corruption scandal, Washington's biggest in years -- because of apartisan squabble over staffing in which Mr. Mollohan has led his party's forces.
Mr. Mollohan was among House members embarrassed by having received campaign donations from MZM Inc.,
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one of the contractors from which Mr. Cunningham admitted taking bribes. MZM and its executives gave$23,000 to a political-action committee affiliated with Mr. Mollohan. A spokesman for Mr. Mollohan said thatin December, he gave the MZM gifts to charity.
Mr. Mollohan attributes his success in real estate to the hard work of his wife, Barbara, who manages rentals at a52-unit condo called The Remington. It offers one-bedroom suites on a weekly and monthly basis, advertising as"Washington's Best-Kept Secret." City records show its units are valued at between $220,000 and $275,000each. The Mollohans have a half interest in 27 of them.
They co-own them with a relative, Joseph L. Jarvis, a retired businessman who received subcontracts from anEnergy Department facility in Mr. Mollohan's district. Mr. Jarvis's business address at the time was a buildingconstructed with money approved as a result of federal earmarks provided by Mr. Mollohan. Mr. Jarvis said hisgoing into business with Mr. Mollohan had nothing to do with his prior work on the federal contracts.
The jump in Mr. Mollohan's wealth attracted the attention ofthe National Legal and Policy Center, a self-styledethics-in-government nonprofit in Falls Church, Va. Funded by donations averaging $100 to $200, theconservative group helped ignite a procurement scandal a couple of years ago that brought down an Air Forcecontracting official and a chief financial officer of Boeing Co. The group said it found at least 200misrepresentations or omissions in Mr. Mollohan's disclosure forms over the years that had the effect of grosslyundervaluing his assets. It said it forwarded a list to prosecutors.
One focus of their probe is whether Mr. Mollohan's prior disclosure forms properly valued his interest in TheRemington and fully disclosed income from it, said people close to the inquiry. Mr. Mollohan's accountant, BlairEiler, said in an interview that the building's full value "may not have been properly reported in the early years"on the disclosure forms. He added that its value had risen sharply in recent years in the hot real-estate market.
More ScrutinyThe probe could bring more scrutiny to earmarks. Attached to appropriations bills, they are usually intended tobenefit a specific project in a congressman's district and often escape the scrutiny that is supposed to accompanypublic expenditures. The number of earmarks has risen sharply in the past decade, to 14,211 in fiscal 2004 from4,15510 years earlier, says the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The fiscal 2004 earmarks caused$53 billion of federal spending.
Mr. Mollohan is well-positioned to press for earmarks. He has sat on the Appropriations Committee since 1986and is the senior Democrat on a subcommittee handling appropriations for science projects and the departmentsof State, Justice and Commerce.
Mr. Mollohan acknowledges having steered federal-agency funds and tenants to a sprawling technology parkwhere the mountaintop ISR building is under construction, even though in some instances the agencies didn'task for these facilities. The park's anchor is named for him: the Alan B. Mollohan Center for Innovation. Abronze bust of the congressman surveys the lobby.
Government contractors and executives of the nonprofit groups in his network regularly give to his campaignand to an affiliated political-action committee, Summit PAC.A third conduit for funds is the Robert H. MollohanFamily Charitable Foundation, named for the congressman's father. It holds an annual charity golf tournamentat the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va., named a top-lOO course by Golf Magazine. The tournament hasbeen very successful. It received $455,000 in contributions in 2003 -- the latest available figures -- fromgovernment contractors and other firms. The donors included at least two of the federally funded nonprofits,ISR and Vandalia, the group Ms. Kuhns runs.
A spokesman for Mr. Mollohan said the foundation's board wouldn't release a list of sponsors or their gifts "torespect their privacy." The family foundation gets staff and office services from the West Virginia HighTechnology Consortium, another Mollohan-backed nonprofit. Its executives are unpaid, however, according tofederal tax filings.
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The congressman rejects any link between campaign contributions and his efforts on behalf of his district. "Iknow where the lines are," he said. "Is it credible to say I encouraged the growth of these nonprofits to getfund-raising? That's ludicrous. These nonprofits should be judged on what they have done for the state." Everyone of them has created jobs, boosted the economy or rescued natural resources, he said. And Mr. Mollohan saidhe has earned the political gifts that have come from government contractors and others "by being an effectiveand hard-working representative."
Ms. Kuhns has long been a central figure in the congressman's efforts to earmark spending for West Virginia.After leaving his staff, where she handled appropriations projects, 16 years ago, she went to work for a localreal-estate developer that now does work for many of the Mollohan-funded nonprofits and employs herhusband.
Since 2000, she has run Vandalia, which has won $28 million in the past five years in federal funding torehabilitate historic buildings and invest in depressed real estate in the district, largely through Mollohanbacked earmarks. Besides ISR, she serves on the board of MountainMade Foundation, a small federally fundednonprofit dedicated to promoting West Virginia crafts. She's also on the board of the only out-of-statefoundation to get Mr. Mollohan's backing, the National Housing Development Corp. It is a California group thathas won $31 million in earmarks over five years.
Ms. Kuhns said she and her husband have done nothing wrong and have worked hard for West Virginia. "There'sno smoking gun here," she said. "Allof these entities are rigorously audited. There is a misperception that thereis no accountability in earmarks. Nothing could be further from the truth."
ISR is the largest nonprofit funded by Mr. Mollohan's efforts, winning at least $76 million of federal spendingthrough his earmarks in the past five years. It paid its top three executives a total of $777,000 in 2004, the latestavailable figures. The president of ISR, James Estep, said in an interview that it has created hundreds of WestVirginia jobs and nurtured dozens of high-tech companies. From his office overlooking the 1-79 Technology Park-- on 500 acres largely purchased with federal funds -- Mr. Estep pointed to bulldozers at a building site. "Thiswas cow pasture in 1995. Now there are 1,000 people working here," he said.
The research center will offer laboratory and office space and huge manufacturing bays built into the mountain.Mr. Estep said he won't have trouble drawing tenants. Until then, he said he would fill part of the new buildingwith a small robot-manufacturing firm spun off from the West Virginia High Technology Consortium -- anothergroup funded by Mollohan-backed earmarks. The robot firm, known as Innovative Response Technologies andnow a for-profit, recently won a $10 million Navy contract for 3,500 mobile "BomBots" for remotely inspectingpossible roadside bombs.
Mr. Mollohan earmarked $3.75 million in the 2004 and 2005 Defense Department spending bills to develop therobots, funneling the money to the nonprofit consortium. The new Navy contract will be shared with anotherdefense firm in Mr. Mollohan's district that has also been a contributor to his campaign, called Azimuth Corp.
Mr. Mollohan said he had no role in getting the Navy contract and applauded the work. But he acknowledged hesometimes has pressed federal agencies to spend money for projects they didn't want. The FBI and NationalAeronautics and Space Administration didn't seek to move operations into the 1-79 Technology Park in WestVirginia, he said, but they're now part of a thriving federal-services sector in the state. "I'm sure that NASAdidn't want to build the space center in Houston, either, when Lyndon Johnson sent them out there," he said.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1
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EXHIBIT E
Page 1
Lexisfvexis"1 of 4 DOCUMENTS
Copyright 2006 Charleston NewspapersCharleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)
May 24,2006, Wednesday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. P2C
LENGTH: 735 words
HEADLINE: Mollohan beneficiary strikes back;High-tech group's chief says conservative organization employing 'slash-and-bum tactics'
BYLINE: GEORGE HOHMANN
BODY:
DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR
Jim Estep, the head of the leading high-tech organization in north central West Virginia, has accused the chairmanof a conservative group of using "slash-and-bum tactics" to cast suspicion on his organization and all of the nonprofitsestablished by Rep. Alan Mollohan.
But Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, called Estep's complaint a "rant" and said Estephasn't challenged a single fact.
The battle of words comes six weeks after Boehm announced his group had filed a 500-page complaint with theU.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia detailing "hundreds of ethics law violations" by Mollohan.
Boehm has repeatedly declined to release a copy of the complaint. Last week he said, "I have shared many of thepublic records with reporters but not the complaint itself because it contains sensitive information meant to assist theU.S. Attorney in their direction of the investigation."
Boehm has said, among other things, that Mollohan's business dealings with Laura Kuhns "is about as big a red flagas one can imagine." Kuhns, a former Mollohan staffer, runs the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organizationheadquartered in Fairmont that is financed mostly with federal money obtained by Mollohan through an appropriationprocess called earmarking.
Mollohan has said he's the subject of a partisan political attack. Mollohan maintains he has done nothing improper.Kuhns also has denied any improprieties.
Boehm has criticized Mollohan for steering $250 million in government earmarks to Vandalia and other nonprofitgroups with close ties to the Fairmont Democrat. The other nonprofits include the West Virginia High TechnologyConsortium Foundation, which Mollohan created, and the Institute for Scientific Research, which Mollohan inspired.
Estep has headed the foundation since 2000. He became head of the institute in January when it merged into thefoundation.
Following Boehm's allegations and stories in several newspapers last month, Mollohan stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee pending an investigation.
Also, more than two-dozen organizations in north central West Virginia with ties to Mollohan have been subpoenaed.
Page 2Mollohan beneficiary strikes back; High-tech group's chief says conservative organization employing 'slash-and-burn
tactics' Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia) May 24, 2006, Wednesda
Estep said Tuesday, "Mr. Boehm has certainly created the perception of some type of illegal activity at all of thenonprofits. Since he has created that perception, I think he owes the foundation and me an explanation.
"His approach is slash and burn the whole community," Estep said. "Was that his intention - to try to permanentlydamage the entire community? Or has he just not thought about it from that perspective?
"I don't understand why the foundation is getting lumped into this," Estep said. "We've received plenty of earmarksfrom Congressman Mollohan and I'll stand behind each one. I would like to know his specific issues with the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation because I take this personally.
"I've worked my butt off to maintain the highest level of integrity with this organization," Estep said. "Whensomeone comes in throwing aspersions, I think he owes me an explanation. This is borderline defamation of character,in my opinion."
Estep's comments were e-mailed to Boehm, who replied, "I read Mr. Estep's strident statement accusing me of a'slash and burn' approach, 'throwing aspersions,' and 'borderline defamation of character.'
"What I could not find in his rant was a single quote from either me or the National Legal and Policy Center withwhich he takes exception. Not one.
"If Mr. Estep is upset with the attention he and his nonprofits have received from The Wall Street Journal, The NewYork Times, Washington Post, and most of the media in West Virginia, he should say so," Boehm wrote. "Overwhelmingly, that coverage has been excellent and based squarely on the facts. Moreover, I have not seen any letters to the editor from Mr. Estep challenging a single fact."
On Tuesday evening Estep replied to Boehm by compiling excerpts from stories that have appeared in the Morgantown newspaper that mention Boehm's criticisms of connections between Mollohan and the nonprofits.
"What Mr. Boehm has done is paint all of the nonprofits who have received earmarks from Congressman Mollohanwith a brush of suspicion," Estep said. "I consider this to be very irresponsible on his part."
Contact writer George Hohmann at [email protected] or 348-4836.
LOAD-DATE: May 25,2006
