Walden's Week
Democratic Party of Oregon
232 NE 9th Ave.
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 224-8200
For Immediate Release
Friday, March 21, 2008
Contact: Marc Siegel
Walden's Week
2010 gubernatorial candidate can't escape his fiscal negligence and feckless leadership. Newspapers, statewide radio and blogs report on his failure of leadership.
Portland - How does a 2010 gubernatorial candidate sink his campaign in 2008?
By dropping the ball from 2003 to 2006 as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee's auditing panel.
Republican U.S. Congressman Greg Walden's lax oversight of the NRCC's finances while hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen has led to a media firestorm over his inaction and his 2010 prospects. This week, Oregon's largest newspaper, statewide radio, the blogs and even a cartoonist have all exposed his failure of leadership. The reports follow earlier stories in The Bulletin, The Hill, and other outlets.
"Greg Walden has set a record for campaign self destruction. Two years out, he has torpedoed his 2010 gubernatorial run," DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. "Now that newspapers, radio stations and blogs have reported on his fiscal negligence and feckless leadership, he may want to reconsider his run for governor."
Walden's Week:
MONDAY
The Oregonian runs a front page story on Walden and the scandal. OPB broadcasts a similar story statewide. And Blue Oregon reports on how Walden never even called the auditor to set up a meeting to fix the problem. Walden's successor made that call, and it unraveled the whole accounting scheme.
"Walden was the audit chairman of the National Congressional Campaign Committee from 2003 until 2006. Republicans have said close to a million dollars went missing from their accounts during that time."
(OPB, 3-17-08)
"‘It took Walden's successor only one year to solve a problem Walden couldn't figure out in three,' said Marc Siegel, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Oregon. ‘How can Oregonians trust Greg Walden to stand up for them when he can't even stand up to his own accountant?'"
On Blue Oregon, Kari Chisholm reminds Walden he could have actually called the accounting firm to fix the auditing problem. After all, that's what his successor did to identify and fix the problem.
"So, how did Congressman Conaway finally break this gigantic scandal? How did he uncover this massive fraud? How did he discover that the NRCC's treasurer had faked audits for years? Conaway, a caped crusader to be sure, tried something radical, something astonishing, something SOOOO creative that Greg Walden couldn't possibly be expected to have tried it. Conaway picked up the phone. And called the number on the fake audit's letterhead."
(Kari Chisholm, Blue Oregon, 3-17-08)
TUESDAY
PolitickerOR.com runs this telling political cartoon about Walden napping on the job when he was supposed to be leading the NRCC's auditing panel.
The East Oregonian runs the below story on Walden's defensive, blame anyone but himself answers. Note in this article how weeks into this scandal, Walden is still eagerly blaming everyone but himself for his negligence. Remember, Walden was the chair of the auditing committee, yet his successor ended up identifying and fixing the problem! Not exactly a sign of leadership.
Blame One:
"Although Walden chaired the committee, he described its system of operation as ‘a staff-driven organization' with periodic, not regular, executive committee meetings. Moreover, he said the committee gives political advice and counsel and doesn't have managerial power."
(The East Oregonian, 3-18-08)
Blame Two:
"Walden said he studied the
audits, and they appeared authentic. He also said he wasn't the only one Ward
may have fooled.
‘Other audits were submitted, not only to the executive committee or the chairman,
but also to the banks - Wachovia. They reviewed them. It now appears all of
those audits were fraudulent.' Walden said."
(The East Oregonian, 3-18-08)
The full East Oregonian article:
Congressman dismisses
accusations
The Associated Press and The East Oregonian
3/18/2008 10:58:00 AM
Oregon Republican Rep. Greg Walden responded Monday to
accusations of incompetence from the Democratic Party of Oregon regarding his
role as chairman of the audit committee for the National Republican Campaign
Committee.
The committee is the party's principal tool for helping elect its candidates to
Congress, and for keeping them there. At issue is whether NRCC Treasurer Chris
Ward falsified audits and stole money from the committee while Walden served as
its chairman in 2003 until 2006.
Ward had been with the committee since 1995, working first in the compliance
department, then as assistant treasurer. He became treasurer in 2003 and held
the office until the committee fired him in January.
Walden said the audits of the GOP fund appeared authentic and trustworthy, as
did Ward. Walden said that's why he didn't have any reason to believe there was
a systemic problem.
"This fellow was the gold standard - quote-unquote - of election law and
accounting," Walden said.
The Democratic Party of Oregon has been hammering Walden on his role as
chairman, and they are trying to make Walden pay a political price for the
problems that occurred during his tenure.
"It took Walden's successor only one year to solve a problem Walden
couldn't figure out in three," said Marc Siegel, spokesman for the
Democratic Party of Oregon. "How can Oregonians trust Greg Walden to stand
up for them when he can't even stand up to his own accountant?"
At the center of the controversy are bogus audits Walden and others say
concealed money someone was draining from accounts intended to underwrite
Republican candidates.
It's unclear how thoroughly Walden and other committee managers monitored the
finances of the operation that raised $49 million last year. The problem grows
more complex for Republicans, many of whom had hired Ward to manage their own
campaign finances.
The committee's chairman, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, said it's possible someone
illicitly siphoned as much as $1 million from the committee between 2002 and
2006.
The FBI is investigating the discrepancies and Ward's possible role.
Walden, the state's lone Republican House member and perhaps a candidate for
governor in 2010, said he feels "very betrayed, very angry." He
dismissed the Democrats' claims.
Like other principals in the case, Walden insisted he paid close attention to
his responsibility as audit chair.
"By all appearances this was a very elaborate fraud perpetrated on the
committee," he said.
Although Walden chaired the committee, he described its system of operation as
"a staff-driven organization" with periodic, not regular, executive
committee meetings. Moreover, he said the committee gives political advice and
counsel and doesn't have managerial power.
"I had no hire-and-fire authority; nobody reported to me," Walden
said.
Walden said he studied the audits, and they appeared authentic. He also said he
wasn't the only one Ward may have fooled.
"Other audits were submitted, not only to the executive committee or the
chairman, but also to the banks - Wachovia. They reviewed them. It now appears
all of those audits were fraudulent." Walden said.
Yet, drawing on his experience in private business, Walden said he asked Ward
repeatedly to set up a meeting with outside auditors to discuss the reports.
"So for two years I tried to do that, and for two years he was my go-to
guy to get it done," Walden said.
Ward also provided similar services over the past 10 years to as many as 80
Republican committees, Walden said.
"Those committees now are finding irregularities in their own books,"
he said.
The leadership learned Ward hadn't conducted any audits for 2006. Later,
investigators determined "that the last year for which the NRCC obtained a
completed independent audit report was calendar year 2001," the committee
said in a statement.
Walden said he did everything he could to monitor the committee's finances,
including trying to meet with the auditors. Now, as the scandal unfolds, he
said, "I realize my gut instinct was right."
Walden said because Ward was the treasurer, he's the one legally responsible.
"So now it's about what did he do, how did he do it, how do you prevent
him from doing it again, what was lost, what was stolen, what were we lied to
about and where do you do from here," Walden said.
Walden said submitting false financial statements to a financial institution is
a felony.
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Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
232 NE 9th Ave.
Portland, OR 97232