Scandal: An Ohio county commissioner, a state official and a company president answered questions in front of a federal grand jury on Wednesday in the political funding case against Tom Noe.
The grand jury is investigating whether Noe, a long-time GOP fund-raiser, funneled contributions to the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign by reimbursing donations from these three notables, among many others. It appears he may have laundered over $100,000.
Bush’s re-election team listed Noe as a “pioneer” for raising more than $100,000 in last year’s presidential campaign.
Federal prosecutors began the grand jury inquiry as state officials continue to investigate Noe’s handling of a $55.4 million coin investment scheme using money from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
Last week, investigators said $10 million to $13 million in state money was missing.
The investigation focuses on Noe’s work at the fund-raiser that raised more than $1 million for Bush.
Turmoil: Meanwhile, in the State Senate,the Democrats are getting “testy” and the floor “erupted into a shouting match” with Republicans, who control both houses in the state government. The issue at hand was the state’s $51 billion spending plan.
The Dems were demanding that the Republicans justify the bill’s “tax cuts for the wealthy, defend local government cuts that disproportionately harm cities and answer a series of technical questions.”
The bill included significant changes to Ohio’s tax system. “Pushed by Gov. Bob Taft and crafted mainly by the Ohio Business Roundtable, it calls for replacing the state’s corporate franchise tax and tangible personal property taxes with a new tax on businesses’ gross receipts.”
(Thanks Julie!)
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