Quote :

"(AP) Former White House Adviser Arrested By STEPHEN MANNING , Associated Press Writer, Mar 11 2006 COLLEGE PARK, Md. A former domestic policy adviser to President Bush has been charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores. Claude Alexander Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by Montgomery County police for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities. Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated Allen to the court again a year later, but he never received a Senate vote. During his confirmation hearing, Allen was questioned about his use of the word "queer" when he was a press aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in 1984. Allen said he didn't intend it as a slur against gay people. In early 2005, Bush hired Allen as a domestic policy adviser. He resigned abruptly on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Calls to Allen's home in Gaithersburg, a Washington suburb, were not returned. The White House also did not return calls seeking comment. Allen has been under investigation since at least January for the alleged thefts on 25 occasions at Target and Hecht's stores, a police spokesman, Lt. Eric Burnett, said. Police reviewed his credit card records to track his purchase. Police believe Allen would buy items, take them to his car, then return to the store with his receipt. He would select the same items, then take them to the store return desk and show the receipt from the first purchase. Using that method, he would receive credit for the second items on his credit cards, Burnett said. Allen was allegedly seen Jan. 2 at a Target in Gaithersburg taking items off the shelf that he then took the return desk. He had a receipt for the merchandise, was given a refund and left. The items he allegedly received fraudulent refunds for included clothing, a Bose theater system and stereo equipment. Some purchases were for as little as $2.50. Allen was released on his own recognizance by a Montgomery District Court judge. Before joining the Bush administration, Allen was Virginia Health and Human Resources secretary."

Of course this incident is not proof that Bush has poor judgement in hiring, but he seems to suffer from his predilection for cronyism. What I find scary is that this petty criminal was so close to getting on a federal court of appeals.

3/10/2006 9:29:15 PM

Hahahahah that's awesome.

3/10/2006 9:57:22 PM

The sad thing is that the American people don't care about this. Corruption, scandal and cronyism don't seem to fall within the Republican definition of immoral behavior. Therefore the sheep following the president only care about morality when it comes to teh gheys and baby killers.

3/10/2006 10:32:22 PM

I tried to give a guy a job once at the bar i worked at....then he got arrested for possession of crack cocain....

3/10/2006 10:40:42 PM

Quote :

"Of course this incident is not proof that Bush has poor judgement in hiring"

Putting someone that judges Arabian horses in charge of FEMA is though.

3/11/2006 12:31:33 AM

Do you fellas realize just how many "Bush Advisor & Court Nominee" 's (taken separately) there are? My goodness, I would be shocked if some of them were not under-arrest at some time. It's the court of appeals, for goodness sake. It isn't like it was a SCOTUS nominee/appointment.

That, plus the crime committed is just silly. White collar crime at it's whitest. It isn't like he mollested an intern or anything.

All this asside, George Bush is a bad man, regardless of who he hangs out with.

3/11/2006 12:47:07 AM

Claude Allen

I wonder if he got a refund on that tie he's wearing...

3/11/2006 1:14:53 AM

Quote :

"White collar crime at it's whitest."

I'm pretty sure jacking stereos from Target isn't "white collar crime".

3/11/2006 1:31:52 AM

Some more info from various sources....

Quote :

"Allen graduated from Raleigh's Sanderson High School, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University's law school. He was an assistant to Jesse Helms. In 1984, Allen spoke disparagingly of Helms' opponent, then-North Carolina Gov. James Hunt, and noted that he had links to "radical feminists" and "the queers." When Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., asked Allen during the confirmation hearing whether "federal judges should use the word queer" as a pejorative term for a homosexual, Allen's response did little to appease his critics. He explained that when he made the comment, the dictionary defined queer as "odd or unusual," and that is what he meant. During his court nomination, former Virginia Attorney General Richard Cullen was an Allen booster. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a statement that Allen has the "combination of mastery of the law, leadership and commitment to public service, and unwavering support for the Constitutional principles that make the United States the envy of the entire world." Toward the end of Allen's hearing, Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked him, "What would your grandfather say to you [about the pending judgeship]?" Allen was visibly moved by the question and choked back tears. "My grandfather had a significant impact on my life," he said. "He would say, 'Continue serving our nation and giving back to those you have received from.'" In January 2005, Bush had this comment on his newly appointed advisor: "Claude Allen has been a valuable member of my Administration since 2001, helping to improve the health and welfare of all Americans. He is a dedicated public servant and a tireless advocate for those in need. I look forward to his continued service in this new role as my domestic policy advisor." At the time, Allen was the highest ranking black staffer in the Bush administration. According to Wikipedia, Allen had been apprehended by a Target store employee on January 2, 2006 but was not formally charged until March. He resigned on Feb 9, 2006. In a statement, President Bush said Allen "has helped develop policies that will strengthen our nation's families, schools and communities. Claude is a good and compassionate man, and he has my deep respect and my gratitude." "

Do you think Bush was informed of the real reason Allen resigned?

[Edited on March 11, 2006 at 1:56 AM. Reason : .]

3/11/2006 1:55:08 AM

damn niggers committin crimes and shit!

3/11/2006 2:06:25 AM

But I'm fascinated with why this man, with a first class education, a budding high-powered career would risk it all carrying out such a petty crime. Why? Did he need some off-the-record income to pay off a blackmailer? Was he living way beyond his means? Was it some type of psychological problem?

3/11/2006 11:02:48 AM

hey Allen, ima rat you out unless you get my that bose stereo....and a pack of gum.

3/11/2006 11:27:24 AM

A former coworker of mine, after getting fired, came back into the building and stole, among other things, a bunch of dvds, several bottles of wine, and the clothing out of our lost and found. She made almost $70k working there.

What I'm saying is that some people are just fucked up.

3/11/2006 2:05:24 PM

Quote :

"Corruption, scandal and cronyism "

Admitted, this was a total douche move and he needs to be smacked like a bitch. But lifting 5K from Target is hardly cronyism. The bastard that got indicted for all the bribes like two weeks ago fits that bill. This is a guy with a pension for t'ieving, much like very wealthy actresses...

3/11/2006 4:49:30 PM

Quote :

"Bush Shocked by Arrest of Former Adviser By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Saturday said he was shocked and saddened to learn that former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen was charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores. "When I heard the story last night, I was shocked, and my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment - if it's true - that we were not fully informed," Bush said. "Shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family." Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by police in Montgomery County, Md., for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities. He had been under investigation since at least January for alleged thefts on 25 occasions at Target and Hecht's stores. "If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my chief of staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing" the president said at the White House following an event on Iraq. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad." The night of Jan. 2, after an alleged incident at the Target in Gaithersburg, Md., presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said Allen called White House chief of staff Andy Card to tell him what had happened. The next morning, Allen spoke in person with Card and White House counsel Harriet Miers. McClellan said Allen told Card and Miers that it was all a misunderstanding and cited confusion with his credit card because he had moved several times. "He assured them that he had done nothing wrong and the matter would be cleared up," McClellan said. The president first learned of Allen's planned departure and the January incident in early February. But since Allen had passed the usual background checks and had no other prior issues that White House officials were aware of, "he was given the benefit of the doubt," McClellan said. Mallon Snyder, a Gaithersburg lawyer representing Allen, said his client was not improperly trying to take the items. Snyder said asked Target to produce videotape they said they have of Allen but that store representatives refused. He said he wants to meet with Target investigators to clear things up. "It's a misunderstanding on their part," Snyder said, adding that the investigation had nothing to do with Allen's departure from the White House."

Hmmm...Bush didn't know anything.

"was not improperly trying to take the items." .... No he wasn't trying to take the items. He paid for those. What he was accused of doing was trying to steal money by getting false refunds for other items. Pretty slick defense there.

3/11/2006 11:15:07 PM

Waitaminute.

A CROOK?

IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION?

Pushaw.

3/12/2006 5:18:04 PM

Either he was falsely accused, or he has a mental problem. He had no reason to do this.

Yeah, what Bush said:

Quote :

"If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad."

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 12:54 PM. Reason : sss]

3/13/2006 12:53:08 PM

Quote :

"Welcome to my world, Claude Allen Mar 15, 2006, by Ann Coulter I guess the only way we'll ever find out how many blacks have worked in the Bush administration is to wait for them to get in trouble someday so we can read the breathless, triumphant stories on the front page of the New York Times about a black Republican scofflaw. It's amazing that anyone has ever heard of Condoleezza Rice -- she's never even been arrested for jaywalking. Claude Allen, whom I first heard of this week, was a top adviser to President Bush for more than 4 1/2 years. Soon after Bush was elected in 2000, he made Allen the No. 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services. Allen later became Bush's domestic policy adviser, meeting with the president several times a week. In 2003, Bush nominated Allen to a federal judgeship on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- which nomination was then blocked by the party that wouldn't exist without black votes. Deploying their usual strategy against black Republicans, Democrats raised questions about Allen's "legal credentials": Democrat-ese for "He's black, so he's probably not very smart." Allen went to Duke Law School, where he was remembered fondly by law professor Walter Dellinger, later Clinton's solicitor general. During the entire time this talented, intelligent, magnificently conservative black man held high positions in the Bush administration, he was mentioned in only 11 articles in The New York Times. (A small part of Times Executive Editor Bill Keller dies every time the paper is forced to mention any black top officials in the Bush administration. It might remind people that the most highly placed black in the Clinton administration was his secretary, Betty Currie.) But since Allen was accused of stealing from department stores a few weeks ago, the Times has mentioned him in seven articles -- including a major front page article on Monday, coverage more appropriate to the first moon landing. This makes Allen the first black alleged thief whose photo has ever appeared in the New York Times. Allen isn't even working for the Bush administration anymore. Yet the Times is wallowing in his agony. I've never seen people enjoy another person's private pain so much -- at least not since a prosecutor started investigating Rush Limbaugh for taking too many back pain pills. Let me be the first to say: Congratulations, Mr. Allen! The New York Times really hates you. Welcome to my world. We're so happy to have you in our club. I'm not shocked by the information that Claude Allen is not without original sin. But it has to be said: He was pretty close. Allen emerged from a tough neighborhood in Washington, D.C., to go to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then Duke Law School. He joined a "mostly white and liberal" fraternity, according to the Times, where he was adored -- despite the fact that he didn't drink, a major demerit at a fraternity -- for his ability to get along with anyone. One fraternity brother told the Times that Allen was "always thoughtful and respectful of different opinions" -- a trait that would come in handy for a black teetotaler living in a UNC frat house. He became a born-again Christian at college and -- the obvious next step -- a Republican after college. These acts are known in the liberal rulebook as "strike two" and "strike three," respectively. He explained leaving the party of his birth to become a Republican with eloquence: "I realized after the fact that I agree more with the Republican Party platform, that it talked about independence, that it talked about individual responsibility, individual rights, it talked about the ability to guarantee opportunities, not outcomes," adding, "that was very much what my family stood for." He is married with four children, all of whom he home-schools. (Is there such a thing as strike four?) So he was already the moral equivalent to a Ku Klux Klanner in liberal eyes. Wait, no, if he were a former Klanner, he'd be the Democratic senator from West Virginia. Let me rephrase that: He was already a meat-eating, God-fearing, patriotic American in liberal eyes. Allen also worked for the sainted Jesse Helms, former senator from North Carolina. By now, the average liberal would need yoga and a Barbra Streisand album to calm down. After Helms' 1984 Democratic opponent, James B. Hunt Jr., ran a TV commercial saying Helms was backed by "right-wing nuts," Allen reacted by saying that if the Helms campaign was run by similar guttersnipes, they could say Hunt was backed by "queers." This week at the New York Times, it was revenge of the queers. I'm sorry it took a tough period in Allen's life for the New York Times to feature him under a banner headline on its front page, but all in all, I'm glad to finally know about Claude Allen. I'm proud to have this great fellow sinner in our party. "

Wow, what a wild take on the story from our gal Ann. She all but ignores his criminal acts. She seems more concerned that the NY Times is seemingly celebrating the story to embarass Bush. I found the Allen story originally on a conservative website.

3/16/2006 11:43:17 AM

honestly, did you expect a reasonable response from Coulter no matter what position she took?

3/16/2006 2:15:37 PM

Seriously, the bitch could write an article about how water is wet and it wouldn't make sense.

3/16/2006 2:25:33 PM

This is totally the Democrats' fault.

3/16/2006 8:46:20 PM

I wish Ann Coulter would just stop.

She's not helping anyone.

3/16/2006 9:23:52 PM

Quote :

"He became a born-again Christian at college and -- the obvious next step -- a Republican after college."

She sure knows how to get peoples' goats.

3/16/2006 9:53:04 PM

It seems pretty clear that this is a psychological problem. But please don't let that stop you from bashing republicans across the board for his actions.

3/16/2006 11:28:19 PM