Despite Sponsoring New Law, Hodes Holds on to Some Earmark Cash

Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) continues to hold on to some donations from an employee of a company that benefited from his Congressional earmarks and has received significant campaign cash from a major labor union that benefited from the auto bailout he supported despite his sponsorship of a new bill ostensibly designed to prevent such transactions, an investigative report by NowHampshire.com shows.

Rep. Hodes’ office did not respond to numerous requests for comment on this article.

Earlier this week Hodes introduced legislation in Congress to prohibit lawmakers from accepting campaign contributions from beneficiaries of that lawmaker’s earmarks. Earmarks are the special requests members of Congress use to steer money back to their districts.

Hodes has repeatedly stated throughout his political career that he does not accept donations from “anyone connected to earmarks.”

But a review by NowHampshire.com into Hodes’ campaign finance filings shows that Hodes has accepted three donations from Brian Rater, a software engineer from BAE Systems in Nashua, a defense contractor and beneficiary of Hodes-authored earmarks. Hodes has not returned these donations totaling $1,700 over a three year period.

Hodes has accepted a much larger bundle of cash–$16,000—from the United Auto Workers, a labor union that benefited significantly from a $14 billion bailout by the federal government. Hodes voted for the bailout. Hodes also called for funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to be used to further bailout the automakers.

It is unclear whether the labor donations violate the letter of Hodes’ proposed law or just its spirit.

This is not the first time Hodes has failed to live up to his campaign rhetoric or the spirit of his legislation. Earlier this month Hodes was forced to return earmark-tainted campaign donations after such donations became the subject of a review by the Nashua Telegraph.

Hodes, a candidate for U.S. Senate, has significantly increased his earmark requests. In 2008 he asked for 35 earmarks totaling $35 million. In 2009 he has asked for 64 earmarks totaling $230 million.