McAtee Under Fire For Contributions To Sheriff Frank Anderson

Republican sheriff's candidate, Bart McAtee, is under fire by Republicans for contributions he made to Democratic Sheriff Frank Anderson. McAtee, son of former Sheriff Joe McAtee, has been facing tough questions from Republican precinct committeepersons about his loyalty to the party. Campaign finance records indicate he donated $2,500 to Anderson's campaign committee. His father endorsed Anderson in the 2002 sheriff's race after narrowly losing the Republican primary to former Lawrence Mayor Tom Schneider after a very tough and negative primary race. Joe later got a job with the sheriff's office and Bart got a promotion. Bart gives an unguarded response to a question at a recent Republican gathering in the video clip above. Acknowledging his contributions to Anderson, McAtee said it was the least he could do after Anderson gave him a promotion and a 40% pay raise. Ouch! So that's how business is conducted. McAtee is vying for the party's slating against IMPD Sgt. Dennis Fishburn and former sheriff's deputy Steve Davis, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for sheriff in 2006.

Exclusive: Another City-County Councilor Under Investigation

A well-placed source tells me FBI agents showed up at IMPD today to question City-County Councilor Lincoln Plowman, a high-ranking officer in the department. I'm told Plowman quickly lawyered up. Chief Michael Spears ordered Plowman suspended according to my source. He was forced to turn over his badge and gun and received a police escort home. Mayor Greg Ballard had originally promoted Plowman to head up IMPD's Investigations division. Plowman was quietly removed from that position without explanation a short time later. Plowman holds the rank of Major in the administration division. I'll update you as I learn more on this developing story.

UPDATE: FOX 59 News' Russ McQuaid just confirmed from an IMPD spokesperson that Plowman has been placed on administration leave because of an FBI investigation. He says the FBI would neither confirm nor deny an ongoing investigation of Plowman.

Kent Smith Resigns From Council

City-County Councilor Kent Smith (R) announced today that he is resigning his at-large seat on the council. Smith is citing new Department of Defense rules on reservists' participation in political activities as the reason for his resignation. Not sure why those same rules don't apply to 5th District congressional candidate Dr. John McGoff. Smith has been a big disappointment since his election to the council in 2007. Like Greg Ballard, he used anti-tax activists and grassroots reformers to win election in 2007 and then conveniently reneged on most of his campaign pledges. Smith's departure from the council is welcome news. Marion County precinct committeepersons will be called together for a caucus in the near future to appoint his replacement.

UPDATE: An online story in the Star speculates on several possible candidates, including Aaron Williams, a city employee and son of Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams, successful financial adviser Chris Douglas, and Dorothy Henry, a former CIB member who is in Bob Grand's pocket. Henry's husband is also city employee.

UPDATE II: I spoke to Dr. John McGoff about the DoD policy and his candidacy. He's been advised by military counsel that his candidacy poses no problem. I'm also hearing that Smith could have obtained a waiver if he had wanted one. It's beginning to look a lot like someone is in a hurry to get the hell out of Dodge.

Dan Coats For U.S. Senate?

Here's a shocker. Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats (R) plans to enter the race for Sen. Evan Bayh's seat today according to Politico. Coats chose to retire rather than face a difficult challenge from Bayh in 1998. Coats had been appointed to the Senate after Dan Quayle became vice president and convincingly defeated former Indiana Secretary of State Joe Hogsett in his 1992 Senate race. Coats has maintained a very low visibility in the state since his retirement. I assumed he didn't live her anymore but apparently that's not the case. He served as an ambassador to Germany during the Bush administration. I suspect party leaders will be happy to see him enter the race.

UPDATE: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is already firing the first salvos against Coats in this potential race. They intend to portray Coats as a "D.C. lobbyist." Here's their first press release on his campaign:

“Dan Coats is a federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors. Coats is a Washington DC insider who lined his own pockets as taxpayers spent $700 billion bailing out Wall Street banks. Indianans won't ignore Dan Coats’ decade as a lobbyist working the system to gain special favors for the banking industry at the time of financial collapse and at the expense of working Americans.”

Dan Coats is Currently a Federally Registered Lobbyist. Dan Coats is currently a federally registered lobbyists, whose clients include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors. [Lobbying Disclosure Act Database]

Coats Lobbied for Bank of America Just As Bank Took $15 Billion in Bailout Funds. According to filings, Coats lobbied for Bank of America in October 2008, just as the bank was receiving $15 billion in bailout funds. Coats firm was compensated $120,000 in the period just before the Wall Street bailouts.

UPDATE II: The hits on Coats just keep coming. Politico's Ben Smith reports that Coats has resided and voted in Virginia for the past decade.

Durham's Bugatti For Sale On E-Bay?

A source claims this 2008 Bugatti listed for sale on E-Bay for $1,225,000 belongs to Indianapolis businessman Timothy Durham. Click here to see a WISH-TV interview with Durham when he received delivery of the car. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis originally filed a civil forfeiture action against Durham's assets but dropped the action days later without explanation. Recently, a yacht owned or once owned by Durham showed up in Turkey listed for sale at $4.78 million. A source tells me that Durham stated during a court-ordered civil mediation hearing in Grand Rapids, Michigan last week in another lawsuit against one of his companies that he could not transfer any assets without the prior approval of Winfield Ong, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who filed the original civil forfeiture action.

UPDATE: Fellow blogger Paul Ogden confirms the VIN numbers for the car matches Durham's.

Houchins Linked To Willoughby Case

FOX 59 News' Russ McQuaid previously broke a story on how a woman sentenced to 110 years in prison for hiring a hit man to murder her husband got her sentence reduced to 18 years and was recently released from prison after her father, Harrison Epperly, contributed $29,000 to Carl Brizzi's campaign committee and another $2,500 to his chief deputy, David Wyser. McQuaid reported tonight on how Epperly used Perry Township Constable Roy Houchins, whose office has been the subject of a federal probe into a badge-selling scheme by his office, on two different occasions in recent years as a paid escort after a Marion County judge signed orders allowing her to leave prison to attend the funerals of her son and her brother. Sheriff Frank Anderson's office said it refused to provide an escort for Willoughby after being contacted by her attorney, who offered to pay for the escort. According to McQuaid, Epperly made contributions totalling $2,500 to Houchins after securing the escort service for his daughter. A judge would not agree sign the order unless she was released into the custody of a law enforcement agency to attend the funerals. A former deputy constable in Houchins' office, Michael Sherfick, has already pleaded guilty to bribery charges and is cooperating with an investigation being run out of the Justice Department's Public Integrity section in Washington.

City On Pace For Record Murder Rate

The City of Indianapolis recorded 14 homicides during the month of January. At that pace, Indianapolis will record 160 homicides by year's end. The highest number recorded in the City was 161 in 1998. The Ballard administration boasted about a significant drop in the murder rate at the end of last year. There is some dispute over those figures. The administration claimed there were 99 homicides in 2009, while others put the figure as high as 105.

Rokita To Seek Buyer's Seat

Howey Politics is reporting that Secretary of State Todd Rokita will enter the 4th District Republican primary race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN). Rokita had considered entering the race for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN). State Sen. Brandt Hershman, a double-dipper who not only draws a state paycheck as a senator but also draws a federal paycheck as a paid staffer for Buyer, is also expected to enter the race. Democratic operatives in Washington are salivating over the prospect of taking on Hershman in November. The abortion controversy with his first wife simply doesn't match his "family values" mantra he has touted as a state lawmaker. His first wife has publicly claimed that he forced her to have an abortion and then filed for divorce one week later. Democrats would destroy him over that issue. Rokita should have no problem defeating Hershman in a primary race.

Daniels Angers Republicans With Oxley Hire

Gov. Mitch Daniels has been firing thousands of state workers to keep the state's budget balanced in these tough economic times. Officially, he has imposed a state hiring freeze. Yet, his administration managed to find a job at the Department of Corrections for former State Rep. Dennis Oxley, Jr., Jill Long Thompson's running mate during the 2008 gubernatorial race against Daniels. This past year, Oxley has faced charges of drunk driving, public intoxication and impersonating a state lawmaker. According to a WTHR report, Oxley will be responsible for assisting inmates at the Branchville Correctional Facility for their re-entry into society. The job pays $52,000 annually.

Why would the Daniels' administration go out of its way to find a job for Oxley, Jr.? Something doesn't smell right. Was Oxley, Jr. a mole for the Daniels' campaign during the 2008 gubernatorial campaign? Is this his reward? Regardless of his motivation for giving Oxley, Jr. a job, Daniels' judgment in this matter is not good, particularly after he has fired so many long-time state employees due to the state's financial woes. It's a slap in their faces.