4/28/2010 - Friends of Robin Kelly Press Release

Democratic nominee for Illinois State Treasurer Robin Kelly called on Republican opponent Dan Rutherford to give back political campaign contributions he pocketed from a Goldman Sachs executive in wake of the fraud scandal that has rocked the Wall Street firm.

Rutherford has accepted $75,000 in campaign donations from Muneer Satter, a managing director of the firm’s private equity investments. Goldman is accused of defrauding investors of more than $1 billion.

“The greedy ways of this elite Wall Street behemoth led to our financial crisis and double-digit unemployment while executives lined their pockets with outrageous bonuses, thanks to taxpayer-funded bailout money,” Kelly said. “I’m calling on my opponent to donate this dirty money to charity and vow not to accept it in the future.”

Kelly is asking that Rutherford follow the lead of Congressman Mark Kirk, U.S. Senate candidate and standard-bearer of the Illinois Republican Party, who just last week announced that he would return the money he received from Goldman employees.

Specifically, Kirk said he would give back his Senate campaign contributions, stating: "I want to set an example of ethics for others to follow."

Will Rutherford, who sits on the Illinois Senate’s Financial Institutions Committee, follow Kirk’s lead and avoid a conflict of interest? Will Rutherford do what is ethically right by donating the dirty money or will he side with a Wall Street titan accused of corrupt activity and against Illinois families?

“After all the pay-to-play abuses by Illinois politicians in recent years, we cannot risk electing a Treasurer who will be beholden to firms that accepted federal bailouts and fought against financial reform and hardworking Americans,” Kelly said.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Goldman Sachs defrauded investors of billions of dollars in a shady scheme involving a hedge fund operator who profited from their demise by betting the housing market would tank. The SEC is now suing Goldman Sachs, claiming it misled investors by selling them a mortgage-backed security without telling them that the instrument was designed to fail.

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