Charlie Justice Begins Indictment of Bill Young

Charlie Justice Begins Indictment Of Bill Young For Corrupting Federal Budget, Exploding Deficits

‘Bill Young has embraced the corrupt ethics of a bygone era’

First Count of Indictment: The Floating Museum in New York

Young’s New York Museum Engages in Direct Attack on Florida’s Tourism Industry

St. Petersburg, FL - February 16, 2010 - Charlie Justice says Congressman Bill Young has engaged in a systematic “Earmarks for Cash” conspiracy that has corrupted the federal budget process and helped explode the deficit.

“Congressman Bill Young has betrayed the trust of the people of Pinellas County by trading taxpayers’ money for contributions to his campaign,“ Justice said today. “Congressman Young has taken $737,000 in campaign cash in return for inserting so-called budget ‘earmarks’ into the federal budget.”

Justice said Young’s behavior has helped corrupt the federal budget process even as Congressman Young has fought against reforming the process.

“Beginning today, my campaign will present a ten count indictment of Congressman Bill Young’s corrupting abuse of the federal budget process for his own political gain. I believe that Congressman Young’s behavior is disgraceful, disqualifying and completely out of the step with the people of Pinellas County,” Justice said.

Justice said his examination of Young’s earmarks show a clear link between earmarks and contributions to his campaign.

“There appears to be a formula for Young’s corrupting behavior. The larger the budget earmark, the higher the contributions to Young’s campaign. For every million dollars in tax money Young has doled out, he receives an average of $7,836 to his campaign,” Justice said. “Bill Young has embraced the corrupt ethics of a bygone era and made it a part of the federal budget process. Until Bill Young is removed from Congress, the federal budget process cannot be healed and deficits cannot be controlled.”

“Here’s what I will do differently as the next Congressman from Florida’s 10th District. I will vote to eliminate the practice of earmarking pet projects in the federal budget. I can bring home federal tax dollars to Pinellas County without engaging in the corrupting earmarking process,” Justice said. “I will also fight for jobs and tourism dollars right here in Pinellas County and let New York take care of itself.”

Indictment #1 – The Floating New York Museum

$13 million hidden in the federal budget by Young.

$120,000 to Young’s Campaign.

“It’s curious that a congressman who represents a tourist destination state like Florida would hide $13 million in taxpayers’ money for a tourist destination in New York Harbor. It’s curious, at least, until you learn that Congressman Bill Young got $120,000 in contributions to his campaign in return for boosting tourism in New York,” said Charlie Justice.

New York real estate tycoon Zachary Fisher led efforts to restore the USS Intrepid as a museum in the Hudson River. The project received a shot in the arm to the tune of $13 million thanks to an earmark supported by Rep. Young, who served as Appropriations Committee Chairman at the time. In return he received $120,000 in campaign contributions from members of the Fisher family and employees of Wall Street investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, whose CEO was on the museum’s board of directors.

“Congressman Bill Young often crows about bringing money home to Pinellas County. Why then did Bill Young use his influence to hide $13 million in the budget for a floating museum in New York Harbor? Perhaps Young shepherded the $13 million into the budget because he then received $40,000 in campaign contributions to his campaign right after the earmark and $120,000 in total over the last ten years,” said Charlie Justice.

Justice added, “It is particularly galling to see the website for the floating museum promote bringing the Space Shuttle to New York harbor as part of their program. That is a direct attack on the Florida tourism industry.”

Petition to Bring Space Shuttle to New York

How Young Did It: $13 Million Earmark Not Requested by Military

A line-item earmark for $13 million mysteriously appeared in conference report for the fiscal year 1998 military spending bill. The money, though not requested by the military, was to be funneled through the Navy for the benefit the U.S.S. Intrepid museum in New York.

The appropriation - to be routed through the U.S. Navy and given strictly to the Intrepid - was not requested by the Navy.

And the line-item doesn't appear in either the original version passed by the House or a similar spending bill passed through the Senate. But when members of both chambers met under Young's leadership to hammer out their differences, the $13 million grant suddenly appeared in the final version that was ultimately approved by Congress and signed by President Clinton in October 1997. (Tampa Tribune, Jan. 16, 1999)

How Young’s Campaign Benefitted

The Intrepid museum had some powerful patrons, including Zachary Fisher, a wealthy real estate mogul from New York, and Howard Lutnick, CEO of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald and a member of the museum’s board of directors. Their gratitude came in the form of tens of thousands toward Bill Young’s re-election campaign.

Seven months after he helped secure a $13 million government grant to resurface the flight deck of a New York family’s floating dream, the clan of real-estate moguls and their associates donated a hefty $40,000 to U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young’s uncontested re-election bid.

That total, given in bundles over several days in April and May 1998, amounts to more than a third of all individual contributions to the Pinellas Republican’s campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. (Tampa Tribune, Jan. 16, 1999)

Name, Date, Amount, Employer

Buehler, Christine 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Buehler, Christine 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Anne E 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Anne E 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Arnold 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Arnold 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Elissa 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Kenneth 4/20/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Kenneth 4/20/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, M Anthony 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, M Anthony 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Richard L 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Richard L 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Steven 4/20/98 $1,000 Plaza Construction
Fisher, Suzanne 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Suzanne 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Tammy 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Tammy 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Fisher, Zachary 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Zachary 4/14/98 $1,000 Fisher Brothers
Fraser, Stuart 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Fraser, Stuart 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Fraser, Elsier 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Fraser, Elsier 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Ginsberg, Philip 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Ginsberg, Philip 5/26/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Ginsberg, Leslie 5/26/98 $1,000 SBC Communications
Ginsberg, Leslie 5/26/98 $1,000 SBC Communications
Kenowsky, Sunnie 4/14/98 $1,000 Veterinarian (shared address with Zachary Fisher)
Kenowsky, Sunnie 4/14/98 $1,000 Veterinarian
Lutnick, Howard 5/6/98 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Lutnick, Howard 4/2/97 $1,000 Cantor Fitzgerald
Lutnick, Allison 5/6/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Lutnick, Allison 4/2/97 $1,000 Homemaker
Pope, Lois 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker (friend of Zachary Fisher)
Pope, Lois 4/14/98 $1,000 Homemaker
Stern, Michael 4/14/98 $1,000 Intrepid Board of Directors
Stern, Michael 4/14/98 $1,000 Intrepid Board of Directors
Stern, Margaret 4/20/98 $1,000 Margaret Stern Comm.
Stern, Margaret 4/20/98 $1,000 Margaret Stern Comm.

$120,000 since 1998

Ten years after donating $40,000 to Bill Young, the Fisher family, employees of Cantor Fitzgerald, and employees of the Fisher-owned Plaza Construction donated another $80,000 to Rep. Young’s campaign between June and August 2008. (Federal Election Commission)

Name, Date, Amount, Employer
Fisher, Arnold 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Arnold 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Audrey 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Audrey 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Karen 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Fisher, Karen 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Fisher, Kenneth 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Kenneth 8/5/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Steven 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Steven 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Tammy 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Fisher, Tammy 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Fisher, Winston 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Fisher, Winston 8/26/2008 $2,300.00 Fisher Brothers
Lutnick, Allison 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Lutnick, Allison 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Lutnick, Howard 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Lutnick, Howard 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Barnard, Douglas 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Barnard, Douglas 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Fraser, Stuart 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Fraser, Stuart 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Ficarro, James 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Ficarro, James 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Merkel, Stephen 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Merkel, Stephen 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Pion, Paul 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Pion, Paul 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Spar, Anne 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Spar, Anne 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Spar, Elon 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Homemaker
Spar, Elon 6/19/2008 $2,300.00 Cantor Fitzgerald
Whalen, John 8/26/2008 $2,000.00 Plaza Construction
Wood, Richard 8/20/2008 $2,300.00 Plaza Construction
Wood, Richard 8/20/2008 $2,300.00 Plaza Construction