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The questions pile up

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Without fanfare, the wife of Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) formed a not-for-profit corporation this summer dedicated to helping children in her native Guatemala. Her board of directors includes Weller’s mother, his brother and a New York man who has partnered with Weller to buy land in Nicaragua.

Analysts say the Zury Rios Fund, named after Weller’s wife, raises questions about whether Weller’s financial dealings overlap with his wife’s — and whether he can legally exclude her assets from his congressional financial disclosure form. […]

House rules require its members to disclose their spouses’ finances. Weller is one of two congressmen to claim a rare exemption from that requirement, because he says he has no knowledge of his wife’s finances, has not contributed to them and does not expect to benefit from them.

Disclosure experts say the existence of the non-profit and the composition of its board make the exemption “problematic” for Weller to defend.

“Problematic” is a good word.

* More from the AP…

“The fact that his family members are involved would suggest that he has a pretty good idea of what’s going on,’’ said Bill Allison, a senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, a government-transparency watchdog group. “Does he just discuss the weather with his family?’’

* Meanwhile Kristen McQueary tells us where Weller was when he wasn’t returning phone calls from Tribune reporters…

Here we have a powerful, veteran congressman allegedly shopping for attractive land deals while on congressional business trips, failing to reveal them on disclosure forms, and no one says a word - not even Weller, who has refused to answer questions or dispute the Tribune’s findings. He has been busy in Guatemala tending to his family and assisting on his wife’s re-election campaign. She is a Guatemalan senator, and they have a toddler.

* McQueary’s column was written before the Tribune disclosed the most recent intrigue, so she closes with this…

Whatever Weller’s faults, the fact remains that he’s smart. He’s a hustler. He will do the rounds in his district shortly before the election, remind voters of his accomplishments and explain the alleged discrepancies on his asset disclosure forms to a degree that satisfies voters and most editorial boards.

At worst, he failed to meet House requirements for disclosure. At best, the issue will be far from the Tribune’s front page come November 2008. That photo of the surf and sand will sit in the newspaper’s archives as a dusty reminder of another Weller political snafu diverted. Case closed.

That analysis assumes there are no further revelations. But she’s right that this race is low on the Democratic totem pole, and we don’t know yet whether Weller’s Democratic foe can put together any sort of real campaign.

Still, the longer Weller refuses to answer questions about his wife’s finances, the more coverage he’ll get when he is finally cornered. It won’t be pretty.

Weller most certainly is a fantastic campaigner. But he has more than enough baggage to make this a race if the Dems have the cash and his opponent (who was once a Republican) is at all credible.

* More congressional stuff, compiled by Paul…

* Republican finds his Democratic side in attempt to defeat Weller

* Schoenburg: Fresh face Giger wants to replace LaHood

* On the heels of House success, sugar farmers look to Senate

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 9:37 am

Comments

He needs to disclose….after all if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…..

Comment by Ghost Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 10:33 am
Would these admittedly questionable dealings get as much attention from the MSM if Congreeman Weller were a Democrat?

Comment by Elephant's Memory Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:02 am
That’s kind of a goofy question, don’t you think? Are you saying that the media ignores Dem scandals? Were you alive during Clinton’s presidency?

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:04 am
Also, have you missed all the stories about Gov. Blagojevich, Todd Stroger, etc.?

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:04 am
“That photo of the surf and sand will sit in the newspaper’s archives as a dusty reminder of another Weller political snafu diverted.”

McQueary is probably right, if the Dems can’t recruit a capable challenger. But in this congressman’s case, “snafu” is the right term to describe his dealings. In its original WW2 sense that is.

Comment by ZC Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:29 am
You are absolutely correct–I should have been was more specific; I was thinking along the lines/antics of his fellow Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s husband’s situation, which got very little play in the Chicago media.

I read way more about that here than I did in Chicago newspapers. And I do not recall much about it on television at all.

Comment by Elephant's Memory Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:34 am
Rich, what do you think the Dems need to do in order to win this seat? Is it even a feasible pickup this year what with the attention being paid to Seals and two open seats?

Comment by Former 11th Dist. Resident Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:49 am
They need a credible, hard-working candidate who isn’t afraid to get as mean as Weller often does.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 11:54 am
If Cong. Weller is to be believed that he has no knowledge of his wife’s finances after this disclosure, then he would have to be dumber than George Bush and Todd Stroger put togehter!

Comment by fedup dem Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 12:15 pm
Weller is writing his own negative story, and whoever will run against him should be able to hop onto these ugly facts and paint Weller however they would need to paint him to defeat him.

What the Democrats need is creativity. How easy does this have to be?

“Who does Weller represent? - Guatemala or Illinois?”

“What happened to Jerry Weller?”

“Where’s Jerry? - (show District problems, then fade to a beach).

I’d do a take-off on the Corona commercials, and skewer Weller and put him on the BBQ pit.

Weller did this to himself. This District doesn’t need a part-time Congressman when it has full-time problems. Weller needs to explain why he should be re-elected.

If the Democrats can’t take him out on these really weird revelations, they aren’t trying.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 12:23 pm
The real Democratic challenger, Jerry Weber, will be announcing this week.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 12:43 pm
Given the lack of money in the district, can it be done without help from the national party? Unless the candidate is a self-funder, I mean. And I like the ideas, VanillaMan.

Comment by Former 11th Dist. Resident Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 12:43 pm
Weller’s attractive wife campaigns with him in the 11th District.

The big shock was his marrying a foreign legislator.

Now, it’s not a big deal to the posters but not his constituents.

Weller has been representing his part of the state at the state and national level for 20 years.

Most of the posters are envious and wish they were invested in resort property south of the border.

Weller seems to have done well in investing in a new development. He could just as easily have lost his shirt.

For every successful Cancun, there are 10 failed developments that no one will ever hear of.

Summary:
1. Guttierez failed to report his overseas travels from the time he got to congress. Not a peep.
2. Schakowsky’s husband did jail time and had joint accounts with her. Not a peep.
3. Rahm E. makes $10-15 million at rate-payer expense over he couldn’t remember whether it was 4 or 5 telephone cals. Not a peep.
5. Weller makes some investments south of the border and all hell breaks loose.

Comment by True Observer Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 1:30 pm
TO, there have been dozens of stories about those people you list above.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 1:34 pm
I don’t care about Weller’s investments. I care about a Congressman who seems to be waffling between being a Congressman or something else.

We don’t need a part-time Congressman.

Weller’s job is in Joliet, not Guatemala.

These points should be easily made by any Weller opponent.

Jealous? Who cares. As long as it paints Weller as out of touch, and out of the country while his constituents flail for leadership. We have an AWOL governor, who needs an AWOL Congressman to boot?

So, how can this guy claim to represent his District from his beach cabana business? How can this guy claim to represent Will County and environs south to central Illinois when he is busy snorkeling with his dictator in-laws?

Just what happened to Jerry Weller? Did he drop-out and just become another Jimmy Buffet? Just how did this stiff-collared conservative become a tanned Poobah?

Its nice to see Jerry mellow - but we voted for Jerry Weller not Jerry Garcia.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 2:20 pm
While the 11th District is drawn as a GOP district (which includes an nice gerrymandered piece that runs down to Bloomington), the GOP could be in danger of losing the district if this becomes more of an issue.

It was used with success against Phil Crane, portrayed a do-nothing Congressman with a penchant for taking junkets. It was also used with success against Carol Moseley-Braun who was shown to spend an extraordinary amount of time in Nigeria.

The NRCC better talk to Weller and make sure he spends more time in Morris and less time in Guatamala City. Either that, or the GOP needs to find a candidate to take Weller on in the primary.

Comment by Super Mega Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 2:25 pm
It must be nice to have great connections like this.

Jerry Weller is a Prime A, #1 example of why the public doesn’t trust politicians. He marries a dictator’s daughter and now has questionable investments/earnings. Isn’t being a Congressman from a safe district enough?

I also really don’t like Jerry. Plain and simple: he is NOT a nice person.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 2:36 pm
I just begin to wonder. Does it really matter that much anymore to the general public?

Look at all the garbage that was floating around before Blago’s second election. Didn’t seem to deter people from voting for him, people who were democrats, or people who liked what he did or was perceived as having done, what have you done for me lately. No convivtions, no problem, re-election.

Now I look at this Weller stuff in a similar light, unless they have a picture of him as a guerrilla fighter taking over some poor farmers land to turn it into a resort, or there is some kind of conviction for something before the next election, it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to matter that much.

It makes me sad to feel that way.

Comment by Concerned Voter Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 3:57 pm
Paul, it would be nice when writing these stories if you would check to see if there is also a Green Party candidate, rather than only mentioning Democratic challengers. In this particular case, there is a Green Party candidate–Jason Wallace–a decorated Iraq war veteran.

Comment by Squideshi Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 4:15 pm
Team Sleep - You’re right, Weller is not a nice man.

Squideshi - It’s not worth mentioning the Green Party, as they haven’t won an office, nor will they, anytime soon.

Comment by Super Mega Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 7:57 pm
===If the Democrats can’t take him out on these really weird revelations, they aren’t trying.

Unless someone else gets in, the current crop of candidates aren’t very serious. It’s a hard district to run in and Weller is well funded and a good campaigner.

Comment by archpundit Monday, Sep 17, 07 @ 9:55 pm
“Squideshi - It’s not worth mentioning the Green Party, as they haven’t won an office, nor will they, anytime soon.”

Super Mega, that’s incorrect. Not only has at least one Green Party candidate been elected to partisan office in the State of Illinois; but the party has several elected officials throughout the United States and MANY more internationally. You make the mistake of failing to look at the trend–what is important is the fact that the party’s number of members, it’s vote totals, and its number of elected officials keeps going up every year. The Green Party has been though this process in other countries before–there were a good deal of people that expressed sentiments similar to yours before we started electing candidates into leadership of national governments and the European Union. The process repeats here.

Comment by Squideshi Tuesday, Sep 18, 07 @ 10:28 am