The other day, we posted a video of Fairfax County Clerk of the Court candidate, Dale Evans, describing a highly questionable real estate deal by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37th) with lobbyist Stuart Miller (see below for more on him). Among other issues, Evans pointed out that Cuccinelli had avoided paying Grantor's Tax - a tax you pay when selling real estate in Virginia. That's bad enough, but it's even more infuriating when you realize that Cuccinelli, the Chair of the Virginia Caucus for Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, actually voted to give the Northern Virginia transportation authority the power to raise the Grantor's Tax! Beyond that, Evans asks whether there are possible financial improprieties by Cuccinelli, including a failure to properly disclose income as required by law.
In yesterday's live blog with Dale Evans, Doug in Mt. Vernon asked what Cuccinelli's relationship with these people in the land deal was. Evans replied that he did not know, and that Frey and Cuccinelli had not responded to questions about the deal. Now, the crack team at RK -- equipped with VPAP, Fairfax County online tax assessment records, Google, Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, etc. -- has teamed up to find out what the deal is. For starters, it turns out that Cuccinelli cut his land deal with Stuart A. Miller, who was acting as trustee of his mother's (Susan Miller's) trust.
Who is Stuart A. Miller? He claims to be a registered federal lobbyist, advisor, and Senior Legislative Analyst for the American Coalition for Fathers and Children (ACFC). For more on this group, see here. ACFC also has an active Virginia affiliate - Fathers for Virginia. Both of these groups advocate for "father's rights" and reforming divorce laws to make it harder to divorce. So what does Cuccinelli have to do with the ACFC and Father's for Virginia?
*January 2005: Ken Cuccinelli sponsors a bill about visitation rights, touted by Fathers for Virginia as a means "of countering no fault divorce." Cooch is one of only 5 votes for the bill, which fails 5-10 in committee.
*February 2005: Stuart Miller's boss at ACFC, Stephen Baskerville, praises Cuccinelli for his work sponsoring a bill for "no fault divorce" and specifically thanking him for his work along with Ron Grignol (Mark Sickles' '05 opponent and Patricia Phillips (Mark Herring's '07 opponent).
*March 2005: ACFC President Stephen Baskerville again praises Cuccinelli's bill, claiming that it will "give Virginia the strongest family protection provisions in the Western world."
*December 2005: According to Fairfax County Land Records, Cuccinelli buys a 1/3 interest in a Stuart Miller's mother's house from sister for $160K and transfers that 1/3rd interest to Miller's Mother's trust in exchange a $185,000 1-year promissory note at 10.25% interest secured against the ACFC's lobbyists's mother's house - folks that's interest of almost $19,000 per year - netting him a profit of $25K to $40K+ depending on when the note got paid - he signs a deed claiming he doesn't have to pay the Grantor's Tax by certifying he was a beneficiary of the Miller trust and that he received no consideration (he must have forgot about that $185K note referenced in the land records).
*January 2006: VPAP says Cuccinelli files an economic disclosure failing to list any interest in the house, the note, or any income earned from outside his firm and sponsors yet another bill on child custody (does anyone have the paper copy of these disclosures? I can only find VPAP's summary.).
*March 2006: The Miller property is sold for $600,000, according to land records and tax records.
*January 2007: VPAP says Cuccinelli files another economic disclosure failing to list any interest in the house, the note, or any income earned from outside his firm.
*June 21, 2007, Susan Miller donates $500 to Ken Cuccinelli's campaign (the Trustee of her Trust was Stuart Miller). This is the first donation Cuccinelli received "from her" (depending on what the profit he made on her house was).
Now, we're not tax lawyers here at RK, but here are a few questions:
1. Why didn't Sen. Ken Cuccinelli pay Grantor's Tax?
2. Why won't Republican Clerk of Court John Frey who publically endorsed Cuccinelli comment on the matter?
3. Why didn't Cuccinelli disclose this $25,000-$40,000 transaction or his $185,000 interest in this note and real estate on his economic disclosure form so that his constituents could determine if he has an economic conflict of interest about his votes?
4. Did Cuccinelli really make $40K from a lobbyist and his mother on a quick land deal only six months after the lobbyists' boss praised Cuccinelli for pressing their legislation? (or does the Washington Post only ask questions about loans between elected officials and lobbyists if it involves their favorite punching bag, Jim Moran?)
What was the prevailing interest rate for a mortgage or a second mortgage in December 2005? If I recall correctly, December 2005 was when interest rates were just starting to rise from there historic lows. According to the Federal Housing Finance Board, the average morgage rate for the purchase of an existing home on November 29, 2005 was 5.98%. On December 28, it had risen to 6.22%.
In either case, the amount paid to Cucinelli was nearly double the prevailing rate.
The guy lends money to a lobbyists family right after he pushes their legislation, doesn't disclose it in his conflict of interest report and they don't think this is newsworthy???
You can probably get the hard copy of economic disclosures from the Clerk of the Senate. Someone ought to get it fast!
And this one takes the cake- he thinks the people that support marital rape laws lack "common sense"!
http://www.strike-th...
There's tons more out there. This is truly scary shit.
Gee, and I always thought that it was the UNION of only one man and one woman. I wish these people would make up their freakin' minds!
"The power of feminism to destroy families is exemplified by statements like: 'I don't want to lead the life that my mother had'"
Good grief, these guys are regular throwbacks to cavemen!
I KNEW THERE WAS SEXISM BEHIND CUCCINELLI'S SMEARING OF JANET OLESZEK AS "JUST A WOMAN" AND "SHORT ON SUBSTANCE"!!
I can't believe the Washington Post bought into that propaganda. Now that they see where it's likely coming from, they better f-ing apologize.
Ok stay in a marriage because the man is your king and is beating you and demands you are a lessor person. That healthy.
"along came feminism and public education, which turned male culture inside out. Today 85% of teachers are white women. Boys, who used to be schooled by men, are now schooled by women. Boys, who used to learn from men how to be honorable and ethical and participate as responsible adults in their culture, are now being taught by women how to get a job. It's like training eagles to eat grass."
So, just so I understand, part of what this group Cuucinelli associates with believes, is that women are not capable of teaching boys to be honorable, ethical, or to responsibly participate as adults in their culture?
Oh man.
And people were making fun of me for suggesting there was a sexist undertone to the Cuccinelli campaign, and that the Post was echoing it.
Please people, wake up.
Lowell, thanks so much for digging all this information out. You guys do an impressive public service no matter who else is willing to pick it up.
This kind of dealing is embarassing, and both Cuccinelli and Frey NEED to comment on this, and more importantly, the press needs to fulfill its obligations to the people and our Constitution which provides them FREEDOM, and inform the electorate.
The whole thing just stinks. And given the interaction on votes involving legislation this anti-woman group clearly pushed Cuccinelli on, a broader investigation needs to be opened up on why such a land deal happened between two such people.
To me, it looks like a way to generate a large sum of personal wealth to the Senator as a thank you for his work in the legislature, at best. At worst, it was a way to skirt campaign finance disclosure laws.
Any way you look at it, it stinks.
Folks, please get out there and help elect Janet Oleszek.
Construction firm (of HOT Lanes) Fluor Virginia paid Cuccinelli $2000 to oppose the Metro rail project to Dulles. His solution? Taxpayer-funded toll lanes whose revenue will go to Fluor. If it's anything like the proposed Beltway HOT lanes, that's up to $5 per car for the next 80 years. Talk about a return on investment!
If Stuart Miller had known this, he wouldn't have needed to give Cuccinelli such a generous land deal.
Former Washington lobbyist Stuart Miller, 49, described his secret life as a mushroom user as "bizarre."
Miller had frequent cluster headaches and carried capsules containing ground mushrooms everywhere.
As he passed through security daily on Capitol Hill, or made his way through an airport, Miller worried a search would uncover the capsule "and my career would be gone."
He was never caught. Since then, he has moved to Mexico to care for an aging parent.
Magic mushrooms grow wild on a nearby field.
Seriously, hallucinogenic mushrooms? A sitting State Senator is doing business this with this guy?
LOL!!!
To avoid paying his child support!!?? Or "to care for an aging parent"?
THIS IS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!!!
This is WHACKED, people!!
CUCCINELLI NEEDS TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS!!!
Lucy, I'm home!!
also in his great Resume as stated below
1) deadbeat dad
2) Illegal drug user
3) Briber
4) Collusion with elected officials
etc, etc, etc.
It does not surprise me when politicians who are loudest about "family values" turn out not to be so ethical in their personal lives.
We all don't like the McClurkin lies and the Obama campaign's embarassing handling of the situation, but it pales in comparison to the underhanded shady dealings going on with Kenny-boy and his Vengeful Daddies.
Lowell and all- thanks for this incredible research effort.
From FREE-L, the mailing list for Fathers' Rights and Equality Exchange. Miller was in court for nonpayment of child support.Subject: Stu in Jail?
From: Stuart Miller
Date: 1995/06/03
Message-Id: Pine.3.07.9506031259.A19711-a100000@cap1.capaccess.org
Sender: "Fathers' Rights and Equality Exchange""Although my ex asked that I be incarcerated for 30 days, the free lawyer that the state provided my well-incomed ex, said that because of "who I am" [father's rights leader], that I should be incarecerated for the maximum 1 year. The judge agreed with her..."
So, this Stuart Miller with whom Cuccinelli engaged in the land deal is a CONVICTED Deadbeat Dad?
(sorry do not know how to do block quotes on this site - Dailykos makes it to easy).
so the 73% are shit?
Just use the < BLOCKQUOTE > tag....
Just more of the "holier than thou" republican hypocrisy.
I actually thought most people might have had trouble believeing our little real-estate transaction for passing money to a candidate.... this is so much bigger....
Goodbye Ken!