NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors believe that a paid staffer on the successful 1996 campaign of Sen. Robert Torricelli helped arrange a fund-raising dinner and art auction with two French nationals, triggering a series of campaign finance violations.
Investigation documents unsealed Thursday at the request of two newspapers reveal that one of the men, Philippe V. Hababou, pleaded guilty to a campaign finance misdemeanor in September and implicated Torricelli campaign staffer Adam C. Crain.
"I didn't realize how easy it was to buy or get close to an American politician," Hababou told the New York Times in Friday's edition. "When money is involved, they don't check anything."
The papers also reveal that during a closed hearing before a federal judge in September, an FBI agent said prosecutors were preparing indictments of unidentified Torricelli campaign officials, the Washington Post reported in Friday's edition.
So far, no indictments have been issued in the probe.
Hababou, who has since been extradited to France to face financial fraud charges, admitted that a business associate agreed to donate $100,000 to the campaign and also offered to contribute $500,000 of radio advertising time to the campaign.