Hillary and 'Individual H'

The Chicago news media has begun to notice that Hillary Clinton has no standards when it comes to raising campaign money. She'll take it from those accused of serial sexual harassment and defrauding small business owners across the nation and individuals implicated in the indictment of Tony Rezko.

Chris Fusco from the Chicago Sun-Times points out she not only takes money from Democratic lawyer/fundraiser Myron "Mike" Cherry, "Individual H" in the Rezko indictment, she put him on the host committee of a big fundraiser tonight here. And she takes it from a suburban Chicago company Cherry represents that is being sued by the federal government in a massive sexual harassment case, is under fraud investigation by the Illinois Attorney General's office, and whose founder is a convicted criminal.

I've written extensively about the International Profit Associates (IPA) saga. Those posts can be found here.

Here is how the federal government describes the sexual harassment allegations against IPA founder John Burgess, a convicted criminal, and top company officials.

IPA's management, led by John Burgess, created a culture at IPA where sexual harassment flourished. IPA's senior managers harassed women with impunity, sending a signal to lower-level managers and employees that they could do the same. Given the tone set by IPA's senior management, it is not surprising that sexual harassment at IPA was rampant in all departments and at all levels of the company. Women at IPA routinely had to endure a gauntlet of abuse, ranging from sexual solicitations and physical harassment, to sexual comments and offensive sexual materials.

Cherry has acknowledged in other published accounts that he helped raise IPA money for politicians, but was cagey when questioned by the Sun-Times.

When asked whether he solicited donations from IPA founder John Burgess and his employees, Cherry replied, "I am aware generally, including from press stories, that employees of IPA have contributed to candidates in Illinois and elsewhere, but I don't keep specific records on such matters."

Barack Obama has returned $500 in contributions from Cherry and more from others implicated in the Rezko indictment. He previously returned $2,000 in IPA money. Will the news media draw the contrast between Clinton and Obama on this matter?

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