The federal investigation, however, did not stop Stanford from using corporate money to become a big man at last year’s Democratic convention in Denver.
“I would like to thank the Stanford Financial Group for helping to underwrite this,” Clinton said to the crowd at the event. Stanford Financial was listed as the “lead benefactor” for the gathering, and Stanford was permitted to address the audience of several hundred. Stanford contributed $150,000 to underwrite the event, said NDI president Kenneth Wollack. More recently, Stanford gave $5,000 to help pay for a luncheon hosted by the group. At the time NDI had no idea of Stanford’s trouble, and it is has not had any contact with him since the December event, said Wollack. “We had no reason to believe that a very public company that was also engaged in philanthropic work might be suspect,” said a spokesperson for the National Democratic Institute, Amy Dudley. The SEC charged yesterday that Stanford was running a fraudulent investment scheme that may have bilked customers out of as much as $8 billion. Over the last decade, Stanford has spent more than $7 million on lobbyists and campaign contributions to Washington politics in both parties, although the vast majority of the money has gone to Democrats.
Donations to Democrats Outweigh those to Republicans