McCain was exhonorated in the Keating Five scandal

[Bucky]

Be prepared to hear this a lot. I've read DUers posting, wandering what they can do to respond to this when Dems bring up the question of McCain's involvement in this scandal. You need to be prepared to respond to this, because on the surface it sure seems final when they say "exhonorated".

Here's my response:
  "McCain is attacking Obama for knowing William Ayers. No one has ever said Obama did anything
  wrong. McCain is attacking Obama's judgment for simply being one of thirty people on two charity
  boards that happened to also include William Ayers.

  McCain is guilty of the same thing. McCain had the judgment to know and hang out with and 9 times
  even go on vacation with Charles Keating, a man convicted of defrauding his bank's customers and
  then using his contacts among US Senators to intimidate federal regulators from pursuing him.

  Sure, McCain was cleared of breaking the law. But Obama was never even accused of being close to
  any wrongdoing. McCain was hanging out with a corrupt banking official while the guy was actively
  courting and seducing lawmakers. Obama, when he learned of Ayers's views, condemned his actions
  and severed any ties to Ayers.

This is a work in progress. Please feel free to add or alter my argument so that we can all have a better smackdown ready to unleash.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. OJ was found Not Guilty of murder.

[faithfulcitizen]

27. lol. You said it! I was going to say so was OJ.

[begin_within]

2. Not to be nitpicky, but do you mean "exonerated?"

[Elidor]

3. No, he wasn't exonerated

The Senate Ethics Committee criticized him for exercising poor judgment. Additionally, McCain himself, in his autobiography, admitted he messed up and was sorry for his error. Now suddenly he claims he never erred?

[Bucky]

14. The precise term is cleared of acting improperly but criticized for having "poor judgment"

I knew they must've gotten the phrase "poor judgment" from some place.

[rucky]

28. "Implicated" is a good word.

[LSparkle]

4. He was "admonished" or ... SOMETHING by the Senate, though ...

Even though he didn't technically "break the law," he was
censured or something ... and the only reason he wasn't
sent off to jail was because they couldn't prove that he'd
taken any money (unlike the other Keating Four). Maybe
that was only because it was CINDY'S DAD that Keating was
doing favors for, not BombBomb ...

[Demeter]

19. The Only Reason He Wasn't Taken off to Jail Was the GOP Domination

Poppy, Gingrich, and Co. ring a bell?

[Heather MC]

29. But McCain did break the law

I wonder what would have happen to McCain if the evidence had been presented before jury???

Keating had a reputation for paying people, off and offering them high paying jobs to get them to do what he wanted. McCain recieved more free gifts than any of the other Senators. And had the longest friendship with Keating than any of the other Senators

He certainly has the appearance of quilt by association and I doubt that if McCain had to sit at the table next to Keating in a trial he would have walked out a free man
JMO

[mucifer]

5. I thought he was censured by the senate. That's NOT a good thing.

[Bucky]

21. No, not censured b y the Senate. Here's sources and the legal mumbo jumbo

He was criticized (not censured) by the Ethics Committee (which by itself doesn't have the power to censure a colleague).

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/law/corruption/history.html

The Keating Five scandal from 1989 implicated five senators in another corruption probe. Democrats Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, Donald Riegle of Michigan, John Glenn of Ohio and Alan Cranston of California, and Republican John McCain of Arizona, were accused of strong-arming federal officials to back off their investigation of Charles Keating, former chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan association. In exchange, the senators reportedly received close to $1.3 million in campaign contributions.

The Senate Ethics Committee concluded that Glenn and McCain's involvement in the scheme was minimal and dropped the charges against them. In August 1991, the committee ruled that the other three senators had acted improperly in interfering with the Federal Home Loan Banking Board's investigation.



Citing this: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2D71539F93BA15751C0A967958260
Wikipedia's article on Keating Five says...

McCain was criticized by the Committee for exercising "poor judgment" when he met with the federal regulators on Keating's behalf. The report also said that McCain's "actions were not improper nor attended with gross negligence and did not reach the level of requiring institutional action against him....Senator McCain has violated no law of the United States or specific Rule of the United States Senate."

[JuniperLea]

30. "poor judgement"

Odd they can say he exercised poor judgement... but say he didn't break a law or bend a rule... then what was poor about his judgement?

[1corona4u]

6. I don't think exonerated is the right term

regardless of what they say.

Definitions;

Definitions of Exonerated on the Web:

Alleged action(s) occurred but were justified, lawful and proper.
www.flaccreditation.org/FCAC%20web/Standards%20files/Third%20Edition%20Glossary.6.28.05.doc

absolved: freed from any question of guilt; "is absolved from all blame"; "was now clear of the charge of cowardice"; "his official honor is ...
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Exoneration occurs when a person who has been convicted of a crime is later proved to have been innocent of that crime. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially where new evidence is put forth after the execution has taken place. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exonerated

Freed from any question of guilt, acquitted
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exonerated




In NO WAY were his actions justified.

[LynnTheDem]

7. Obama did not "sever any ties" with Aysers.

Obama had no ties with Ayers.

Or no more than Ronald Reagan and the Hon. Annenberg did.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. No one give a sweet one about Ayers at this point.

Everyone is focused on the economy and how it affects them and their lives.

Let that foolish old bastard yap all he wants about that Ayers/Wright shit.

Nobody's listening to it anymore.

[bluestateguy]

9. He was exonerated of criminal wrongdoing (along with the other 4 senators)

I accept that.

He himself admitted that he excercised poor judgement in that case, took campaign money and favors from Keating and most importantly, bought into all of this deregulation bullshit that fucked this country over so bad for the last 20 years.

[rucky]

10. Obama was 8, McCain was in office, and recieved over $100K in contributions

from keating

[americanstranger]

11. He got off on a technicality.

The Senate Ethics Committee did not pursue, for lack of jurisdiction, any possible ethics breaches in McCain's delayed reimbursements to Keating for trips at the latter's expense, because they occurred while McCain was in the House. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said that it too lacked jurisdiction, because McCain was no longer in the House.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five

He basically escaped being expelled from congress because of his switch from the House to the Senate.

Typical Loophole Republican.

- as

[Youphemism]

12. Congress found McCain guilty of exercising "poor judgment" leading to our last economic meltdown...

McCain questions Obama's judgment and friends. We have a congressional report on McCain's judgment and friends.

Given the folks he's hanging around with these days and his continuing mantra ("Deregulate Here, Deregulate Now"), he never learned his lesson.

[BlueIdaho]

17. Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding - give this DU member a cigar!

Its about judgement and his congressional colleagues have already found him guilty of poor judgement - something that a more honest McCain actually admitted about a decade ago.

[ailsagirl]

13. I'm very surprised that John Glenn was among the Keating Five

I thought he had integrity?? Although he was cleared of charges...

[Imperialism Inc.]

15. It is much more than that.

It isn't just that McCain knew Keating. He lobbied against the regulations that would have stopped the S&L crisis. The fact that he was cleared of wrong doing is irrelevant. He supported and reckless actions that led to a major financial crisis and continued to support such measures throughout his career.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/06/fact-check-did-mccain-intervene-on-behalf-of-charles-keating/

Fact Check: Did McCain intervene on behalf of Charles Keating?

(snip)

In January 1985, while in the U.S. House, McCain co-sponsored a resolution that would have delayed the effective date of proposed government limits "on direct investment in real estate, service corporations, and equity securities by federally insured savings and loan associations." He was one of the early sponsors, although a majority of Congress eventually signed on to sponsor it. The legislation would have impacted Keating's business, but would have regulated the entire industry, not specifically Lincoln Savings and Loan.
McCain also wrote several letters to government regulators and other officials regarding the issue. One, dated Jan. 30, 1985, to White House chief of staff James Baker, called the proposed regulations "unwise," saying the effort "flys (sic) in the face of our recent efforts to remove the hand of government from the affairs of private enterprise."
On April 9, 1987, McCain and the other senators attended a meeting with federal regulators investigating Keating.

(snip)

The Verdict: True. McCain did push to delay regulations that would have cracked down on savings-and-loans practices and intervened on Keating's behalf, although he was cleared of wrongdoing in the "Keating Five" case.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

16. Works by osmosis

The Repugs are trying to impugn Obama through guilt by association: simply mentioning his name in the same sentence as Ayers.

Turnabout is fair play: if the Keating 5 scandal is resurrected, all we have to do is mention that

John McCain was one of the Keating 5

[mucifer]

18. I found the perfect link to explain how he was censured by the senate

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/mccain/1205087,CST-NWS-fact07web.article

Breaking down the facts on McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal
Recommend (11)
Comments

October 7, 2008

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/[e-mail]

Here are the truths and falsehoods regarding Sen. John McCain's role in the Keating Five savings and loan scandal:

1) John McCain was "exonerated" of any role in the scandal.
RELATED STORIES
Obama hits back with Keating 5 video

False.

The Senate Ethics committee censured McCain, saying he "exercised poor judgment in intervening with the regulators."

Bob Bennett, the high-powered Democratic attorney who headed the investigation, said he recommended McCain and Democratic Sen. John Glenn be dropped from the inquiry because he found them far less culpable than the other three senators. But the Senate's Democratic majority refused his recommendation because it would have taken the only Republican out of the inquiry.

[Greyskye]

20. McCain on K5: "...it was the wrong thing to do, and it will be on my tombstone and deservedly so."

[still_one]

22. He was NOT exhonorated /nt

[Bucky]

25. I'm working on a re-edit. He was only "cleared of wrongdoing" and accused of bad judgment

[still_one]

26. cool /nt

[Overseas]

23. McLiar is guilty of much worse. He delayed regulation of the banking industry

which benefited Keating and led to the bailout.

McLiar's association with Keating was directly harmful to the country. He almost got indicted for helping Keating but that didn't stop McLiar he went on to push for deregulation of the financial sector for years afterward.



Obama's association with Ayers got him a small fundraiser and helped the local charity on whose board they served. Very very different. Much looser association.

[kestrel91316]

24. Keating was a HUGE contributor to McCain's campaigns, also.