Via Berger:
Happy Times are here again…Head St. Louis GOP Loon Bill Federer is considering another race for the 3rd District.
In the same article, it looks like Carnahan might be entering the race making it a three-way with Stoll and Favazza. Of course, does one count Favazza as one person? Given his heft he might be worth three people or none given his lack of political heft. The interesting aspect of the development is that Carnahan had been rumored to be recruited for a state-wide run. His comments suggest he is headed for a try at Congress.
Back to the loon. One of Federer’s more amusing tactics was to sue Gephardt for breaking into his and his brother’s office. Who broke in on behalf of Gephardt? Unidentified individuals. Uh-huh.
He got into a tussle with a student intern that taped him at a parade–though he was acquitted of assault.
From the P-D 2000 coverage some other irregularities include:
* Mr. Federer’s former campaign manager has met with Gephardt aides and allegedly told them that Mr. Federer had failed to report political gifts.* St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch has asked federal authorities to investigate Mr. Federer’s failure to report the proceeds from the sale of a book of religious quotes from national leaders.
* Attorney General Jay Nixon is investigating allegations of self-dealing between Mr. Federer, a Catholic charity his family runs and the Federer real estate company.
The Post-Dispatch did a good piece of investigative reporting in October of 2000. The last bullet above is the most interesting. The family runs a Catholic Charity and essentially what is a fundamentalist Catholic charity that owns a building which brings in income for rents of around $226,000. Those rents go directly to the Federer family real estate management company. Non-profits are prohibited from paying directors for services. Duh. The Federer’s don’t seem to understand the conflict and actually tried to defend the relationship. And Bill Federer was paid significantly for managing the property, yet many tenants claim not to have seen him for quite some time.
But he sued Gephardt for break-ins by unknown assailants. Uh-huh.
Federer is a social conservative who rails against teaching evolution and the usual litany of social ills. On top of that, he is a complete loon. I hope the Republicans run him becaue he is great political theater. And the Democratic candidate will have it even easier.