In the comments to this thread, Lawrence notes that former Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker was a heavy contributor to John McCain and other Republican politicians.
The Fiesta Bowl Special Committee Report (as I also noted in that thread) contains a list of political figures and organizations receiving contributions from Fiesta Bowl employees; contributions that were reimbursed by the Fiesta Bowl. This is, of course, illegal. (The report uses the phrase “a Class 6 felony violation”. If you check out the link, a Class 6 doesn’t sound all that awful; but remember, it is a felony, with all the burdens that come with a felony conviction.)
I want to quote this from the report:
Although we have not interviewed any of these individuals or entities, no one we spoke to alleged that any of these candidates had any knowledge that the Fiesta Bowl reimbursed contributions to their campaigns or related entities.
Which is an interesting statement. Why would the Fiesta Bowl be giving money to these people, if they didn’t want these people to know they were giving money and were looking for something in exchange? That’s also strange in the light of quoted statements such as this one:
John: I spoke with Senator Carloyn [sic] Allen and said we would round-up some checks for her campaign: [¶] Checks should be made out to CAROLYN ALLEN 2006 [¶] The maximum individual contribution is $296.00 [¶] I told her we would have them by Friday. Thanks. GH168
(John is former Bowl CEO John Junker. “GH” is attorney Gary Husk, “an attorney and public affairs professional on retainer with the Fiesta Bowl.” “Husk, and his company Husk Partners, were public-affairs consultants or lobbyists for the Fiesta Bowl.”)
Here’s the list of political figures and organizations that received contributions later reimbursed by the Fiesta Bowl. I’ve added notes of political affiliation when I could find it, along with links to websites.
- Allen, Carolyn (R)
- Arizona Republican Party (R – duh)
- AZ Wins (The only “AZ Wins” I could find was this group, which I’m not sure is political.)
- Bennett, Ken (R)
- Brewer, Jan (R)
- Bundgaard, Scott (R)
- Carpenter, Ted (R)
- Cummiskey, Christopher (D? He appears to have been former Arizona CIO under Napolitano, and now has a management position in DHS with the current administration.)
- Flake, Jake (R – apparently deceased)
- Gardner, Mike (R)
- Hayworth, JD (R – ran against McCain in 2010. Hedging your bets, anyone?)
- Knaperek, Laura (R – sorry for the Wikipedia link, but her campaign site doesn’t seem to be active)
- Kunasek, Andrew (R)
- Kyl, Jon (R)
- Lane, Jim (R)
- Manross, Mary (D – former mayor of Scottsdale, defeated by Jim Lane)
- Martin, Phil (I can’t find anything about this guy.)
- McCain, John (R)
- Mitchell, Harry (D)
- Navarro for City Council
- Pearce, Russell (R)
- Rios, Pete (D)
- Shadegg, John (R)
- Weiers, James (R)
- Wilcox, Mary (D)