FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 10, 2008
Davis Received Money from Company He Secured Money For
BRISTOL, TN – U.S. Rep. David Davis (R) is this election season’s leading congressional recipient of donations from a billion-dollar global defense contractor accused of bribing Saudi officials with call girls and money, according to a published newspaper report.
The donations to Davis, totaling $11,000, began after he requested $4.4 million in federal funding for the contractor, the Bristol Herald Courier reported on Sunday.
Last year, as the political action committee (PAC) of the London-based contractor BAE Systems Inc. funneled donations to Davis’ campaign fund, the congressman was busy helping set aside two federal funds for facility upgrades to the company’s Kingsport, TN, location – Holston Army Ammunition Plant, the newspaper reported.
The PAC’s $11,000 worth of donations to Davis, made in various increments throughout 2007, puts the congressman slightly ahead of all the other House and Senate members on the arms dealer’s donation list. Among the others are Democrats Sen. Edward Kennedy, with $1,000, and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, with $5,000, according to campaign finance reports.
At the time of Davis’ March 2007 multimillion-dollar requests, BAE Systems had just emerged from a British investigation into allegations of bribing Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan in 1985, the newspaper reported. In June last year, BAE Systems became the subject of a federal probe in the United States, this time on allegations the company set up a “slush fund” worth millions of dollars for members of the Saudi royal family, according to the newspaper. The Herald Courier, quoting other published reports, said the money paid for high-priced prostitutes, planes and hotel stays.
The revelation of Davis’ involvement prompted harsh words from the newspaper in its lead editorial on Sunday. “Davis’ contributor sheet…reads like a Who’s Who list of those seeking regulatory breaks and other favors from Congress,” wrote the newspaper’s editorial board. Davis is opposed in the Aug. 7 Republican primary by Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe. Roe has pledged to not accept any campaign contributions from lobbyists, political action committees or other special interests.