Kean Family Unethical Fundraising Scheme Gains Attention

by: Juan Melli

Fri Aug 18, 2006 at 09:44:55 AM EDT

"It's coming to light that Kean Jr. is using family connections to shake down corporate executives accused of wrongdoing."

Republican leaders like Lance and DeCroce are demanding an apology, but the Menendez campaign says "We're not going to apologize for stating the facts."

We'll let you decide for yourself. This is what the Wall Street Journal reported last week (emphasis mine):

The board of UnitedHealth Group Inc. met on May 1 to deal with questions about unusually well-timed stock-option grants to top executives such as Chief Executive William McGuire. The gathering heard a briefing from a lawyer who was running UnitedHealth's internal probe of how the options were dated.

One director whose recollections would be important to the investigation was Thomas H. Kean, a former New Jersey governor who had served on the compensation committee that approved options grants.

The same day as the board meeting, some UnitedHealth directors and executives were supporting a campaign by Mr. Kean 's son for a U.S. Senate seat from New Jersey. Some of them attended a fund-raiser for Tom Kean Jr. that day, in UnitedHealth's home state of Minnesota. It isn't clear whether Dr. McGuire and his wife attended, but each donated $2,000 to the cause. So did Richard T. Burke, who sits on a special board committee that is overseeing the options investigation. All told, UnitedHealth-affiliated donors have contributed $25,000 to the campaign…..

When the donations to the Kean Senate campaign were described to former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, he said they struck him as "ill-advised and strange" and something that could be seen as an attempt to influence a witness because of the senior Mr. Kean 's role on the compensation committee.”

Jill Hazelbacker, Kean Jr.'s spokeswoman, said it was a "total coincidence" the events took place on the same day, May 5.

"Running into your college roommate in an airport halfway across the country is a coincidence.  Raising money from corporate executives in the same town on the same day your father is sitting in judgment of those executives is a shakedown."