Is John McCain a Crook?
Chris Suellentrop
Posted Friday, Feb. 18, 2000, at 2:35 PM ET

The controversial George W. Bush-sponsored poll in South Carolina
mentioned John McCain's role in the so-called Keating Five scandal, and
McCain says his involvement in the scandal "will probably be on my
tombstone." What exactly did McCain do?

In early 1987, at the beginning of his first Senate term, McCain
attended two meetings with federal banking regulators to discuss an
investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan, an Irvine, Calif., thrift
owned by Arizona developer Charles Keating. Federal auditors were
investigating Keating's banking practices, and Keating, fearful that the
government would seize his S&L, sought intervention from a number of
U.S. senators.

At Keating's behest, four senators--McCain and Democrats Dennis
DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of California, and John Glenn of
Ohio--met with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, on
April 2. Those four senators and Sen. Don Riegle, D-Mich., attended a
second meeting at Keating's behest on April 9 with bank regulators in
San Francisco.

Regulators did not seize Lincoln Savings and Loan until two years later.
The Lincoln bailout cost taxpayers $2.6 billion, making it the biggest
of the S&L scandals. In addition, 17,000 Lincoln investors lost $190
million.

In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation
into the meetings between the senators and the regulators. McCain,
Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, and Riegle became known as the Keating Five.

(Keating himself was convicted in January 1993 of 73 counts of wire and
bankruptcy fraud and served more than four years in prison before his
conviction was overturned. Last year, he pleaded guilty to four counts
of fraud and was sentenced to time served.)

McCain defended his attendance at the meetings by saying Keating was a
constituent and that Keating's development company, American Continental
Corporation, was a major Arizona employer. McCain said he wanted to know
only whether Keating was being treated fairly and that he had not tried
to influence the regulators. At the second meeting, McCain told the
regulators, "I wouldn't want any special favors for them," and "I don't
want any part of our conversation to be improper."

But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain--he was a longtime
friend and associate. McCain met Keating in 1981 at a Navy League dinner
in Arizona where McCain was the speaker. Keating was a former naval
aviator himself, and the two men became friends. Keating raised money
for McCain's two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and for
McCain's 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received
$112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees--the most
received by any of the Keating Five. (Keating raised a total of $300,000
for the five senators.)

After McCain's election to the House in 1982, he and his family made at
least nine trips at Keating's expense, three of which were to Keating's
Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he was required
to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989. At that point, he
paid Keating $13,433 for the flights.

And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators,
McCain's wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating
strip mall.

The Senate Ethics Committee probe of the Keating Five began in November
1990, and committee Special Counsel Robert Bennett recommended that
McCain and Glenn be dropped from the investigation. They were not.
McCain believes Democrats on the committee blocked Bennett's
recommendation because he was the lone Keating Five Republican.

In February 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee found McCain and Glenn to
be the least blameworthy of the five senators. (McCain and Glenn
attended the meetings but did nothing else to influence the regulators.)
McCain was guilty of nothing more than "poor judgment," the committee
said, and declared his actions were not "improper nor attended with
gross negligence." McCain considered the committee's judgment to be
"full exoneration," and he contributed $112,000 (the amount raised for
him by Keating) to the U.S. Treasury.
-salon.com

The Two Faces of the Liberal Lying Democrats :
"The Keating Five" Senators were All John "Smiley" McCain - NOT !
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...c6c7f9ce0b1a3a

On Oct 6, 9:50*am, Dave wrote:
Is John McCain a Crook?
Chris Suellentrop
Posted Friday, Feb. 18, 2000, at 2:35 PM ET

The controversial George W. Bush-sponsored poll in South Carolina
mentioned John McCain's role in the so-called Keating Five scandal, and
McCain says his involvement in the scandal "will probably be on my
tombstone." What exactly did McCain do?

In early 1987, at the beginning of his first Senate term, McCain
attended two meetings with federal banking regulators to discuss an
investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan, an Irvine, Calif., thrift
owned by Arizona developer Charles Keating. Federal auditors were
investigating Keating's banking practices, and Keating, fearful that the
government would seize his S&L, sought intervention from a number of
U.S. senators.

At Keating's behest, four senators--McCain and Democrats Dennis
DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of California, and John Glenn of
Ohio--met with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, on
April 2. Those four senators and Sen. Don Riegle, D-Mich., attended a
second meeting at Keating's behest on April 9 with bank regulators in
San Francisco.

Regulators did not seize Lincoln Savings and Loan until two years later.
The Lincoln bailout cost taxpayers $2.6 billion, making it the biggest
of the S&L scandals. In addition, 17,000 Lincoln investors lost $190
million.

In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation
into the meetings between the senators and the regulators. McCain,
Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, and Riegle became known as the Keating Five.

(Keating himself was convicted in January 1993 of 73 counts of wire and
bankruptcy fraud and served more than four years in prison before his
conviction was overturned. Last year, he pleaded guilty to four counts
of fraud and was sentenced to time served.)

McCain defended his attendance at the meetings by saying Keating was a
constituent and that Keating's development company, American Continental
Corporation, was a major Arizona employer. McCain said he wanted to know
only whether Keating was being treated fairly and that he had not tried
to influence the regulators. At the second meeting, McCain told the
regulators, "I wouldn't want any special favors for them," and "I don't
want any part of our conversation to be improper."

But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain--he was a longtime
friend and associate. McCain met Keating in 1981 at a Navy League dinner
in Arizona where McCain was the speaker. Keating was a former naval
aviator himself, and the two men became friends. Keating raised money
for McCain's two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and for
McCain's 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received
$112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees--the most
received by any of the Keating Five. (Keating raised a total of $300,000
for the five senators.)

After McCain's election to the House in 1982, he and his family made at
least nine trips at Keating's expense, three of which were to Keating's
Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he was required
to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989. At that point, he
paid Keating $13,433 for the flights.

And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators,
McCain's wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating
strip mall.

The Senate Ethics Committee probe of the Keating Five began in November
1990, and committee Special Counsel Robert Bennett recommended that
McCain and Glenn be dropped from the investigation. They were not.
McCain believes Democrats on the committee blocked Bennett's
recommendation because he was the lone Keating Five Republican.

In February 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee found McCain and Glenn to
be the least blameworthy of the five senators. (McCain and Glenn
attended the meetings but did nothing else to influence the regulators.)
McCain was guilty of nothing more than "poor judgment," the committee
said, and declared his actions were not "improper nor attended with
gross negligence." McCain considered the committee's judgment to be
"full exoneration," and he contributed $112,000 (the amount raised for
him by Keating) to the U.S. Treasury.
-salon.com

Yes

http://www.keatingeconomics.com/?sou...FQNaFQodpXNOEQ

Responding to the Keating blast from the past, a Republican official
said the Obama team seemed “frantic” at “the mere mention of the word
‘Ayers.’”

McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers said: “The difference here is
clear. John McCain has been open and honest about the Keating matter,
and even the Democratic special counsel in charge recommended that
Senator McCain be completely exonerated. By contrast, Barack Obama has
been fundamentally dishonest about his friendship and work with the
unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, whose radical group bombed the
Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. Nor has Barack Obama come clean on his
close friendship with Tony Rezko, a felon convicted on bribery charges
who subsidized the purchase of Barack Obama’s home. It’s obvious that
Barack Obama is frantically attacking because he knows that most
voters find these kinds of friendships, and the failed judgment they
expose, to be unacceptable for our next president.”

In 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee cleared McCain of corruption
charges but cited him for “poor judgment” in meeting with federal
regulators on behalf of Charles H. Keating Jr., a political patron who
went to prison for fraud in connection with the collapse of the
California-based Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which at the
time was one of the biggest financial failures in the nation’s
history.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14302.html

Let’s clear some things up right now.

Who are they?
The Keating Five is a group of five senators: Alan Cranston (D-CA),
Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and
Donald W. Riegle (D-MI). Notice that four of them are Democrats.

What did they do?
They were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr.,
chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was
the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.

What happened to Keating?
Keating served five years in prison for his mismanagement of Lincoln.

What happened to the senators?
The Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Cranston,
DeConcini, and Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with
the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Senators Glenn and
McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for
having exercised “poor judgment”.

What are the details?
In the 1980s Keating contributed $1.3 million to these Senators, later
he called on those Senators to help him resist regulators, which some
of them did. Keating and DeConcini asked McCain to travel to San
Francisco to meet with regulators regarding Lincoln Savings; McCain
refused. According to testimony DeConcini told Keating that McCain was
nervous about interfering and Keating called McCain a “wimp” behind
his back, On March 24, 1987 Keating and McCain had a heated,
contentious meeting. Additional meetings were held in April, and when
the regulators then revealed that Lincoln was under criminal
investigation on a variety of serious charges, McCain severed all
relations with Keating. Furthermore, McCain paid Keating back $13,433
to cover the cost of the trips that Keating had provided in the early
1980s after learning that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. All
told, McCain attended two meetings. Two meetings.

Officially, McCain was criticized by the Ethics 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.”

McCain is an honorable man and acknowledged the situation. He has
repeatedly said “The appearance of it was wrong. It’s a wrong
appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group
of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper
influence. And it was the wrong thing to do.” Senator John Glenn, also
cleared of any wrongdoing, said in 2002 that attending the two April
1987 meetings was “the worst mistake of my life”.

This is the only negative political issue or investigation that has
marred McCain’s political career. He has asked for and received $0 in
earmarks. He is a staunch advocate of fighting government corruption
and excess. THIS EXPERIENCE WITH KEATING WAS THE GENESIS FOR HIS FIGHT
AGAINST GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION [ in which ObaMao is deeply steeped ].
He acknowledge his error in judgment and has moved on with his career.
Barack Obama will not acknowledge any of his errors of judgment.

So now that we know the story of the Keating Five, allow me to present
to you the Obama Five:

Willam Ayers - Unrepentant Domestic Terrorist with whom Obama has had
a long and more than casual relationship.
Tony Rezko - Convicted Chicago-style felon, neighbor and house
shopping partner.
Reverend Doctor Jeremiah Wright - Inflammatory and divisive preacher
that admitted that Obama would need to distance himself from.
Franklin Raines - Former Fannie Mae CEO mired in a $6.3 billion book
cooking scandal, and an Obama economic advisor.
James Johnson - Another former Fannie Mae CEO, improperly deferred
$200M in expenses, allowing him to receive a bonus of nearly $20
million. He also briefly led Obama’s search and selection of Joe Biden
as Obama’s VP candidate.

http://TheRealBarackObama.wordpress.com/

McCain met twice with a constituent and distanced himself from the
issue as soon as he learned of any potential criminal wrongdoing.
Obama has a long track record of questionable relationships and poor
judgment. To me there is no comparison.

http://cann0nba11.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/obama-five/