McCain Helped Keating Friend in ’05
When the Latch School, an Arizona special education institution, asked Sen. John McCain in 2003 to help it secure a $288,000 grant from the Federal
Jul 31, 2020265.6K Shares3.7M Views
When the Latch School, an Arizona special education institution, asked Sen. John McCain in 2003 to help it secure a $288,000 grant from the Federal Communications Commission — after the school’s request was denied in 2002 — his office didn’t appear to do much.
In 2005, the school made another plea for help to McCain, and this time his office “sprang into action,” writing three letters in as many months on Latch’s behalf.
What happened between 2003 and 2005?
According to the New York Daily News, the Latch School appointed Mark Voigt, an old friend, donor and associate of Charles H. Keating Jr., as the head of its board.
“„Voigt had been the vice president of Charles Keating’s holding company, the American Continental Corp., when Keating was breaking all those banking laws in the ’80s and his associates donated more than $100,000 to McCain.
“„In 2005, Voigt wrote McCain about the matter, and his office followed up with three letters in three months and finally got action.
“„Again, it appears to be a worthy cause and the kind of thing legislators do for constituents all the time, but to Democrats, it shows that McCain does do favors for people, in spite of claims from advisers like Charlie Black who said last February, “John McCain does favors for no one.”And in this case, it would be someone tied to a time McCain would like to forget, but which the Obama campaign now wants everybody to remember.
Sure, what McCain did was a legitimate service that any number of senators do for their constituents.
But when companies like, say, Freddie Mac, keep an old McCain friend like Rick Davis on the payroll for no other reason than his close ties to the man who may be president, would they be more likely to have the president’s ear in a McCain administration?
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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