White House group pour money to Lieberman

The Journal Inquirer connects the dots and exposes the money trail between Joe Lieberman and President Bush.

The Connecticut Issues Project, a tax-exempt group behind campaign literature lauding U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, has received nearly all of its funding from five people who don't live in Connecticut, including two who each contributed $20,000 to the Republican National Committee, government records show.

The stated purpose of the Washington, D.C.-based group, established in April as what the IRS calls a "527" political organization, is "to educate the public in Connecticut about the records and positions of elected officials and public policy issues."

The group is perhaps best known for a flier mailed under its name to state voters last month that on one side asked, "When George Bush wanted to close the New London Sub Base, who was there to stop him?"

The answer, printed on the other side, was "Connecticut's Joe Lieberman," whom the flier praised not only for "saving" the sub base but also for "fighting for the needy."

The Connecticut Issues Project by the end of September spent a total of $236,964, primarily on consulting services and opinion research, according to its latest report to the IRS.

The document reveals that more than 95 percent of that money - $225,000 - came from a handful of big donors who all contributed to the group immediately before the Democratic primary in August:

* Stephen Lazovitz, a nursing home developer from New Jersey who contributed $75,000.

* John Doerr, a venture capitalist from California who gave $50,000.

* Alan and Miriam Goldberg, a New York financier and his wife who also gave $50,000.

* Patrick Rohan, a corporate executive in New York, another $50,000 donor.

[...]

Lazovitz, identified in IRS and Federal Election Commission records as the owner of Lavovitz Builders, a developer with Seniors Management, or the chief executive officer of Seniors Health Care Inc., made $36,750 in campaign contributions to various candidates since 2001.

Recipients included Republican leaders George Bush and Dick Cheney, Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state in Florida.

Alan Goldberg, a partner in the new York firm of Goldman, Lindsay and Co. and the former chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Private Equity, and Miriam Goldberg, identified in IRS and Federal Election Commissions records as a "housewife," each made $20,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2001.

Mr. Goldberg also has a long record of contributions to Republican committees and candidates, including Bush and the Bush-Cheney Compliance Committee, as well as Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

Joe Lieberman (R-CT).