As we noted below, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has garnered some home-state attention.

In our report, Beyond DeLay, CREW named McConnell one of the most corrupt members of Congress.  Here's why:  

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is a fourth-term member of the senate. He is the Minority Leader in the 110th Congress and sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator McConnell’s ethics issues stem from earmarks he has inserted into legislation for clients of his former chief of staff, lobbyist Gordon Hunter Bates, in exchange for campaign contributions as well as the misuse of his nonprofit The McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville.

Gordon Hunter Bates and the Bates Capitol Group LLC

Gordon Hunter Bates served as Sen. McConnell’s chief legal counsel and then chief of staff from 1997 to 2002. After a 2003 lawsuit ended his bid for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, he opened a lobbying firm, Bates Capitol Group LLC (Bates Capitol). Bates Capitol clients include: E-Cavern, Voice for Humanity, Appriss Inc. and Boardpoint LLC, all of which have received earmarks thanks to Sen. McConnell. In addition, the senator rewrote legislation to help another Bates Group client, UPS Inc. All of these companies have made substantial contributions to Sen. McConnell’s campaigns.

The McConnell Center for Political Leadership

The McConnell Center for Political Leadership was founded by Sen. McConnell in 1991 as a non-profit organization for which the senator raises funds. The University of Louisville Foundation was sued by the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky because the center insisted on maintaining the anonymity of its donors. In November 2004, a Kentucky court ordered the foundation to release the names of corporate donors, including donations made to the McConnell Center. Two of the largest donors to the McConnell Center are Ashland Inc. and UPS, which have donated $500,000 and $400,000 respectively. Some donations to the McConnell Center have been delivered to Sen. McConnell’s Capitol Hill office.

If, Sen. McConnell accepted donations to his campaign and political action committees in direct exchange for earmarking federal funds to clients of Bates Capitol, he may have violated the bribery statute. Similarly, if he provided legislative assistance in return for contributions to the McConnell Center he may have violated the bribery statute.

By using his position as a member of Congress to financially benefit clients of a lobbying firm owned by his former staff member, Sen. McConnell may be depriving his constituents, the United States Senate and the United States of his honest services.