Ed Buckham

Edwin A. Buckham (Ed Buckham) founded the Alexander Strategy Group, a Republican Party-associated lobbying and political strategy firm with offices in Washington DC and Hong Kong. Buckham served as Chief of Staff to House Majority Leader Thomas D. DeLay when DeLay was House Whip.

In the 1980s, Buckham was an elder of the Washington DC chapter of the controversial group, Maranatha Campus Ministries. 

Buckham was the creator, founder, consultant, fundraiser, and political mover and shaker for a number of activities which are so intricately intertwined that they appear to be inseparable.

U.S. Family Network, Inc.
Buckham founded and served as the consultant for U.S. Family Network, Inc. (USFN): a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) corporation founded in Virginia with principal offices located in the District of Columbia. 

Buckham "received more than a third of all the money collected by the U.S. Family Network, a nonprofit organization [created while Buckham was in DeLay's employ], to promote a pro-family political agenda in Congress, according to the group's accounting records," R. Jeffrey Smith reported March 25, 2006, in the Washington Post.

Buckham and his wife, Wendy, were "the principal beneficiaries of the group's $3.02 million in revenue, collecting payments totaling $1,022,729 during a five-year period ending in 2001, public and private records show," Smith wrote.

U.S. Family Network revenue was "drawn mostly from clients of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to its records," Smith wrote. "From an FBI subpoena for the records, it can be inferred that the bureau is exploring whether there were links between the payments and favorable legislative treatment of Abramoff's clients by DeLay's office."

DeLay's Political Money Carousel
Buckham also:


 * created and raised funds for the Republican Majority Issues Committee (RMIC): a tax-exempt 527 committee, organized as a corporation under the laws of Virginia with principal office located in Virginia. Karl Gallant, a close political ally of DeLay, ran RMIC and served as its registered agent. Gallant "formerly ran ARMPAC and has served as a fundraiser for DeLay."


 * consulted for Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC), a political action committee controlled by Tom DeLay. ARMPAC is managed by Jim Ellis, who is also a paid consultant to National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and controls Americans For Economic Growth (AFEG), a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) corporation organized under the laws of North Carolina with principal office located in Virginia. Ellis, a close political ally of DeLay, is also a consultant for Alexander Strategy Group with Buckham.


 * duped Chris Geeslin, an evangelical minister in Maryland, into solidifying Buckham's "man of faith" persona by convincing Geeslin to ordain Buckham as a minister. The million-dollar donations rolling in to (through, actually) U.S. Family Network later made Geeslin suspicious.  He says Buckham told him "You know where that million dollars came from? That money came from Russian energy magnates, or oil magnates, who wanted to influence Congressman DeLay so he would not vote against the IMF funding of the bailout of Russia. That’s the way Washington works, it runs on money."


 * Note: Alexander Strategy Group, USFN, and RMIC have all shared the same office.

Other affiliations

 * John Feehery, Tom DeLay's communication director for 3 1/2 years beginning in late 1995, wrote April 9, 2006, of Buckham:


 * "Ed Buckham, DeLay's chief of staff, gatekeeper and minister, constantly pushed DeLay to be more radical in his tactics and spun webs of intrigue we are only now beginning to unravel."


 * Buckham created the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council.


 * Alexander Strategy Group once represented Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar. "In a July 2006 letter to the Justice Department, [Buckham] wrote that the contract 'lasted less than a month and was ended prior to any payment.'"

Fined
Re RICO Law Suit: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Inc. vs Tom DeLay, U.S. Family Network, Inc. (William J. Olson), Republican Majority Issues Committee, Inc. (Karl Gallant), Americans for Economic Growth, Inc. (Jim Ellis), and Does 1-20, filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia, May 3, 2000.

The National Republican Congressional Committee "agreed to pay a $280,000 civil fine for transferring big donations known as 'soft money' to an outside group to finance ads in the 2000 election.

"The Federal Election Commission says the NRCC transferred $500,000 in soft money to the U.S. Family Network during the primary season in 1999 to fund political ads that the NRCC should have paid for with a mix of soft money — unlimited donations from companies and others — and hard money, limited contributions from individuals.

"The U.S. Family Network sent $300,000 to another group, Americans for Economic Growth. AEG then spent about $260,000 to run radio ads in fall 1999 accusing Democrats of planning to raid the Social Security fund and use it on other programs. ...

"The NRCC knew the U.S. Family Network planned to transfer money from the party committee to another group to pay for anti-Democratic ads, the FEC found.

"The commission announced the outcome of the case Friday [April 9, 2004]. The FEC inquiry was prompted by a complaint filed by the NRCC’s rival, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"Under a law that took effect after the 2002 election, the national party committees are banned from spending soft money." --Associated Press.

SourceWatch Resources

 * Republican 'culture of corruption'

Profiles

 * Profile: Ed Buckham, TPMmuckraker.
 * Ed Buckham in the Wikipedia.
 * Ed Buckham, PoliticalFriendster.com.
 * Profile: Ed Buckham, NNDb.com.
 * "The Grand Ole Docket," Talking Points Memo, updated April 2007.

1999-2000

 * George Loper, "Elections 2000: National Republican Congressional Committee Funds National Right to Life Committee and U.S. Family Network," Loper.org, December 1999.
 * Jim Burns, "Democrats File RICO Suit Against DeLay," USConservatives, May 3, 2000.

2004

 * "GOP group pays $280,000 campaign fine," Associated Press (MSNBC), April 9, 2004.
 * "NRCC busted for illegal 'soft money' donations," The Carpetbagger Report, April 9, 2004.
 * "Political Contributions by DeLay Alumni During the 2003-2004 Election Cycle," Tech Politics (CQ Weekly, Federal Election Commission downloaded March 2005.)

2005

 * Karen Tumulty, "DeLay And Company," TIME Magazine, March 13, 2005.
 * "Buckham," DCCC/The Stakeholder, March 24, 2005.

2006

 * Roy Temple, "The Linchpin In The DeLay Abramoff Investigation Is Ed Buckham And The Alexander Strategy Group," Fired Up! America, January 9, 2006.
 * R. Jeffrey Smith, "Former DeLay Aide Enriched By Nonprofit. Bulk of Group's Funds Tied to Abramoff," Washington Post, March 25, 2006.
 * Norman J. Ornstein, "Reading about Buckham's Activities Takes Strong Stomach," Roll Call (American Enterprise Institute), March 29, 2006.
 * Josh Marshall, "Following the DeLay money trail to his Russian patrons," The Hill, March 30, 2006.
 * Charles Kuffner, "Next Up: Ed Buckham," Off the Kuff, March 31, 2006.
 * Paul Kiel, "Rudy Plea Deal Implicates Buckham," TPMmuckraker, March 31, 2006.
 * Justin Rood, "The Man Who Knows Too Much," TPMmuckraker, April 2, 2006.
 * Charles Kuffner, "More on Ed Buckham," Off the Kuff, April 3, 2006.
 * John Feehery, "Hammered. What I Saw at the Republican Revolution," Washington Post, April 9, 2006.
 * John Ydstie, "Church Leader Says He Was Lured into Abramoff Web," NPR, Morning Edition, May 23, 2006.
 * Paul Kiel, "Scandal Firm Earned Big Till The End," TPMmuckraker, August 22, 2006.

2007

 * Mike Soraghan and Susan Crabtree, "FBI searches Republican lawmaker’s home," The Hill, April 18, 2007.
 * Kevin Bogardus, "Nigerian vice president lobbies in U.S. over voting in his country," The Hill, April 24, 2007.
 * Michael Hedges, "DeLay associate tied to Abramoff probe. Investigation widens to include the lawmaker's former staff chief," Houston Chronicle, April 25, 2007.
 * Paul Kiel, "Paper: Investigators Bear Down on Former DeLay Aide," TPMmuckraker, April 25, 2007.
 * Greg, "Charges Coming Against Ed Buckham?" Greg in TX22 Blog, April 25, 2007.