Babin for Congress 1996 paid a $20,000 Civil Penalty
By Tom O’Halloran
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Nominating the wrong candidate in the GOP Primary for Texas Congressional District 36 could end up handing the seat to the Democrats … and in my opinion, Brian Babin (right) is the wrong 
person. Since when did it ever make sense to select a law BREAKER to be a law MAKER?
Let’s be honest — Steve Stockman has always had issues involving fundraising and campaign finance matters swirling around him. Such issues go back some two decades to his very first campaign, and continue right up to the present. Some speculate that it is why he is making the run for Senate — raise big bucks for the Senate race and use some leftover cash to pay off old campaign debts when it is all over after the primary.
Put simply, Stockman (left) is a campaign finance scandal waiting to happen.
That said, why would we Republicans in CD-36 want to risk selecting a nominee for the seat who has his own colorful history of campaign finance issues? One would hope that we had the sense not to do so. And that is why I’m concerned about the candidacy of Woodville Mayor Brian Babin.
Now you are probably wondering what I’m talking about; After all, what possible scandal could there be with a guy who is mayor of a town with fewer than 3000 residents?
I’d agree with you — were it not for the fact that Brian Babin is also a former congressional candidate who became embroiled in a campaign finance scandal that included illegal donations by a contributor, the churning of funds through various putatively independent groups, and former House majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Let’s go back to the 1996 election
Brian Babin won the GOP primary for what was then CD-2 in east Texas, then a reliably Democrat district. And, he needed money.
What happened next became the subject of investigations by the FBI, the FEC, and (briefly) a committee of the House of Representatives. At issue were donations made by Orange businessman Peter Cloeren. And lest one think there is nothing to the matter, consider this from a 2008 FEC press release:
Brian Babin and Brian Babin for Congress (TX-02) paid a $20,000 civil penalty and paid $5,000 in excessive contributions to the U.S. Treasury for accepting an excessive contribution and a contribution in the name of another and failing to disclose financial activity properly.
That isn’t a small sum of money — and there is reason to believe that there is a great deal more.
Tom O’Halloran is the owner & Twitter Marketing Manager at O’Halloran Media in Longview, Texas.
