Governor, Boren drop questioned donations
By Chris Casteel, Contributing Nolan Clay
Oklahoman - NewsOK, March 13, 2007

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren and Gov. Brad Henry are giving campaign funds to charities in light of the alleged illegal campaign contribution scheme revealed last week by the FBI.

Boren's campaign donated $35,600 to a veterans' charity Monday to shed money linked to the scheme.

See David Boren's helping Gene Stipe

The FBI has alleged 21 "straw donors" gave illegally to Boren's 2004 campaign.

Henry said he will give $35,000 to two charities because some of those same donors gave that much to his first campaign for governor.

The FBI has not said whether the donations to Henry also were illegal but the governor said, "Even the perception that a problem might exist is unacceptable to me."

Boren's campaign sent a check to the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Trust, the congressman said in a statement.

The amount includes $34,600 that allegedly was contributed in 2004 through the "straw donor" scheme and $1,000 contributed in 2005 by former Oklahoma state Sen. Gene Stipe, who has been implicated in the scheme.

According to the FBI, there is no evidence Boren, D-Muskogee, knew that Stipe and a business partner, Steve Phipps, were reimbursing some of the donors, as alleged in an FBI affidavit last week. Such straw donor schemes are illegal under federal campaign finance law. People can't give money in their name that came from someone else. And a person can't reimburse a donor for a contribution made to a candidate.

Boren, who was traveling back to Washington on Monday from Iraq, said, "As I previously indicated, I was surprised and certainly had no knowledge that anyone who gave to my campaign was reimbursed for a contribution. In campaigns that have thousands of contributors, we must rely upon the accuracy of the information provided by donors.

"I feel strongly about setting the highest ethical standards, and I am therefore making a donation in the amount of the contributions that have been questioned, $35,600, to the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, which benefits troops who have been injured in the service of our country."

Henry said he is "donating $35,000 in campaign funds to two good causes: The USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor, which will honor fallen and surviving soldiers who served on the ship; and the Oklahoma National Guard Relief Fund, which provides assistance to Guard members who serve our country and their families."

"Throughout my career in public service, my campaigns have operated under the highest of ethical standards and complied with all state laws and ethics rules. I am proud of that record," Henry said.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson on Friday said he is donating $3,000 from his campaign to the state Ethics Commission to purge himself of donations from Stipe and Phipps.

Owl: The Attorney Grandstander had a sudden change of heart when learning the FBI was investigating Stipe's donations, an authority beyond his influence. Yet it seems the AG did violate unethical boundaries 1) spending his campaign funds on state Auditor Jeff McMahan's campaign and 2) trying to manuver his way into the FBI's investigation. See foot note about his family's political connections with Gene Stipe. [Ref N103]

Edmondson to Keep Stipe Donation
Did attorney general violate rules?
Edmondson tries horning in on FBI

At the time Stipe allegedly helped funnel illegal money into Boren's campaign, he was under house arrest for his guilty pleas to federal felony charges of orchestrating and then covering up a straw donor scheme in the 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts.

Stipe, 80, is still serving federal probation for those felony charges.

The money attributed by the FBI to the straw donors was less than 2 percent of what Boren raised for his 2004 campaign; it was donated during Boren's primary race against former Pittsburg County prosecutor Kalyn Free.

Contributing: Staff Writer Nolan Clay