Obama fundraising in White House may be criminal

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus on Monday called on the Department of Justice to investigate whether or not President Barack Obama broke federal election laws by conducting illegal political fundraising activity in the White House. A fundraising video featuring the President appears to have been recorded in the Map Room which is not part of the White House residence, but rather “occupied in the discharge of official duties.” According to federal law, it is a crime for the President of the United States to solicit political contributions in a place of official government business.

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"Has the Obama White House stolen a few pages from the Clintons’ well-worn campaign fundraising playbook?" asked the president of a well-known watchdog group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption. According to the the New York Times , recent secret meetings with Wall Street executives inside the Obama White House are more than raising eyebrows: A few weeks before announcing his re-election campaign, President Obama convened two dozen Wall Street executives, many of them longtime donors, in the White House’s Blue Room.… The event, organized by the Democratic National Committee, kicked off an aggressive push by Mr. Obama to win back the allegiance of one of his most vital sources of campaign cash — in part by trying to convince Wall Street that his policies, far from undercutting the investor class, have helped bring banks and financial markets back to health. The Obama White House response was predictable: “Nothing to see here.” Politico reported White House Press spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One, “What needs to be made clear is, contrary to suggestions otherwise, this was not a fundraiser.” "Really? Nothing wrong with the meeting? Then why was there no mention of it on the President’s public schedule?" asks Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton “I’m not aware -- I don’t remember. I actually wasn’t in this position,” Carney said defensively. "Actually, Politico notes Carney was in his position when the meetings took place. Carney came on board on February 16. The meetings were held on March 7," according to Fitton. Meanwhile, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for the Department of Justice to investigate the matter to determine if, in fact, federal laws were broken by President Obama. The parallels between the Obama Wall Street hustle and the Clintons’ infamous coffee klatches are way too obvious to ignore, even for the liberal reporters who have noted the similarities, but continue to protect Obama and his minions, according to Judicial Watch. "The Clinton White House was notorious for illegally using the White House facilities for political fundraising, from pimping out the Lincoln bedroom, to Al Gore’s calls to the Buddhist Monks, to the Clinton White House coffee meetings," states Fitton, whose group Judicial Watch investigated both the Clinton White House and the Bush White House. 1,000 major contributors back in 1995 and 1996, as just one component of their massive and corrupt campaign fundraising operation. Some Democratic fundraisers explicitly sold invitations for $50,000 to $100,000 to the coffees with the president, vice president and their respective wives. Now his cheerleading section in the press is quick to defend the president, saying that it is not yet known whether or not these Wall Street execs were expressly pumped for cash. "Let's be real about this: The president, through the DNC, didn’t invite his Wall Street friends over to the White House because he sincerely wanted their advice on the economy. No, the meetings and the president’s follow-up phone calls to those who could not attend had one purpose: To make his fundraising pitch. Even the liberal New York Times sees that," stated Fitton at the time. "And if I’ve learned one thing about how Washington politicians operate, it is this: When politicians operate in secret, their intentions are less than upstanding. There is a reason why this meeting was conveniently “left off” Obama’s public schedule," he added. "When he last ran for office, Barack Obama promised to rid the White House of special interests and lobbyists. Now he’s inviting them over for secret visits while withholding key records on who visits the White House and for what purpose,: notes Fitton. "Remember how the mainstream news media hounded Bush for records of who attended meeting at his request? They tried to insinuate there was something illegal or immoral about those meetings," said political strategist Mike Baker. "But whatever details regarding these White House Wall Street meetings that remain obscured, this much we do know. Obama’s top fundraisers are rewarded with some pretty sweet jobs," added Judicial Watch's Fitton. "As Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I have the responsibility to hold the President accountable for his reckless spending, for the unsustainable growth of government and the crushing debt he is leaving for future generations of Americans, and now, sadly, for his apparent criminal behavior. I never expected I would be in this regrettable position, but the President’s conduct and the White House staff’s stonewalling leave me no choice," said Priebus.