New questions raised about top McCain fundraiser
Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 2:08 PM ET
By Aram Roston, NBC News Producer
Harry Sargeant III is a top fundraiser for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. As
NBC News first reported, Sargeant was sued by a business partner over the lucrative profits from Pentagon contracts to ship oil to Iraq. It was a dispute that involved high profile characters, because the business partner happened to be the brother-in-law of the King of Jordan. The legal documents in the case were obtained by NBC News: the
initial complaint from the brother-in-law, and the
answer from Sargeant and his company.
The Pentagon contracts involved shipping oil through Jordan, and because of the way the bids were structured, Sargeant's company was one of the only ones that could bid, because it obtained a special letter from the government of Jordan.
Now the
Washington Post has raised questions about how Sargeant raised more than $100,000 in political funds for different candidates from "a collection of ordinary people, several of whom professed little interest in the outcome of the election."
The Post said that Sargeant's explanation was that "I have a lot of Arab business partners. I do a lot of business in the Middle East. I've got a lot of friends."
NBC News left a message at Sargeant's office requesting a comment.
