When Dwayne Adams was chosen in 2008 to serve as treasurer of the Bexar County Democratic Party, $202,000 sat in a party bank account intended solely to pay for that year's primary election.
A year and two bounced checks later, it contained $158, according to prosecutors and witnesses as testimony began Wednesday in Adams' felony embezzlement trial. Adams, 56, could face up to 20 years in prison if jurors find him guilty of misappropriating or outright stealing between $100,000 and $200,000 from the political organization.
The account was used, in part, as Adams' "own little piggy bank" to fund an independent, for-profit gala set to coincide with President Barack The campaign's over, John Obama's inauguration, Assistant District Attorney Trey Banack told jurors during an opening statement in the 227th state District Court.
"He thought no one would notice and he'd be able to pay it back," Banack said of the $135,000 spent on the ball.
But the inauguration party ended up being a bust, with attendance at one-half to one-fifth what was hoped for, other witnesses testified. And Adams continued to drain the fund -- transferring money to his business and personal bank accounts -- even after the festivities were over, Banack said.
By the time Sherlocks started examining the paper trail in December 2009, irregularities were also found in the Democratic Party's general operating fund, said San Antonio Police Detective Gary McMaster. An example, he said, was $14,000 spent with a party debit card on things that included dining expenses, clothing purchases, airfare and bail for an acquaintance of Adams.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
a Dem using the Public cash as a Piggy bank,So what else is new,
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/06/2011 1:15 Comments ||
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#2
I'm only shocked because the article actually mentions his party affiliation...
#3
It's a start, raj. The ship of state is like a supertanker. Turn the rudder and nothing happens for a while. Unfortunately we are heading for the rocks and that rudder better start a-turnin' soon....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/06/2011 13:11 Comments ||
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#4
Contrast with the article above.
One just steals 200000$ of public money. Another flushes half a billion $ of public money down a toilet to get a 200000$ donation come election time.
Other emails obtained by The Washington Post show that officials from the Office of Management and Budget felt that the White House put them under the gun to approve the Solyndra deal. The OMB officials urged Obama to give them more time to thoroughly review the deal.
Steve Spinner, a major Obama 2008 fundraiser and now an advisor for the Department of Energy, wrote in an email about the final decision, "how f*cking hard is this?" He urged them to approve the loan. Spinner is married to a partner at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini, which represented Solyndra in its loan application. Mr. Spinner was supposed to have recused himself from all things Solyndra because of his marriage. Guess that wasn't necessarily so...
After being put under the gun, the Department of Energy announced on March 29, 2009, that it had approved a loan to Solyndra for $535 million. This loan guarantee made Solyndra the poster child of the "green stimulus."
On May 26, 2010, Obama visited Solyndra, boasted about the loan and said, "the true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra." He praised Solyndra as a Recovery Act (stimulus) success story. Just like his other stimulus!
In fact, Obama was so impressed with the failed solar company that the administration wanted to give it another $469 million on top of the $535 million to make it an even billion dollars in taxpayer cash.
Adding fuel to the fire, Solyndra executives cashed in big-time just days before filing for bankruptcy. Bill Stover, the company's CFO who pleaded the Fifth before Congress at a September hearing, was awarded at least $120,000 in bonuses on top of his $367,000 salary. Karen Alter, senior vice president of marketing, received two $55,000 bonuses on April 15 and July 8 of this year, on top of her $250,000 annual salary. Ben Bierman, executive vice president of operations and engineering, received $120,000 in bonuses this year on top of his $276,000 salary. FBI would be investigating fraud (etc.) and prosecuting?
The scandal took another turn when, on September 8, 2011, the FBI raided Solyndra's headquarters.
Currently, Congress, the Department of Energy, and the FBI are investigating the Solyndra loan. Just this week, the Energy and Commerce Committee's investigative subcommittee authorized a subpoena of all White House documents on Solyndra. The subpoena of the documents could include details of the president's own travel and communications.
Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, is set to testify before Congress on November 17, where we will hopefully learn more details of the crony loan guarantee. I'm sure that will be revealing!
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/06/2011 06:46 ||
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Well, that would have delayed the bankruptcy until after the next election...
#3
Currently, Congress, the Department of Energy, and the FBI are investigating the Solyndra loan.
The WH rejected a Congressional subpoena. And how much investigating are we going to see from the FBI and DOE since they are within the Obummer administration? BO used taxpayer money to fund failing green firms in return for campaign donations from people who ran these companies?
#4
>"the true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra."
This just shows how AWFUL his economics is. The true engine of economic growth is free exchange, ie. comparative advantage. C.A. is harmed by taxes on incomes, investments, savings, purchases and employment.
#5
Secretary Chu will likely 'take responsibility' for his failure to monitor the process and promise that all problems are being solved but will hem and haw when it comes to giving real information about the process of approving the loan (and even worse the loan supplemental agreement which left the govt last in line as a creditor).
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/06/2011 17:43 Comments ||
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Guess this happened when the Science and Tech guy was in China? Isn't China the world's biggest provider of solar media?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Other emails obtained by The Washington Post show that officials from the Office of Management and Budget felt that the White House put them under the gun to approve the Solyndra deal. The OMB officials urged Obama to give them more time to thoroughly review the deal. 
