4-22-08, 10:25 am

John McCain helped win lucrative land deals worth tens of millions of dollars for a donor who has raised more than $250,000 for McCain's presidential bid, according to a report in the New York Times, Apr. 22. In addition to his close relationship to a number of Washington lobbyists, McCain's personal interventions on behalf of this donor raise serious ethical questions for the Arizona Senator for the third straight month.

According to the Times, John McCain helped real estate developer Donald R. Diamond purchase federal land in California in the 1990s by intervening on his behalf with the Pentagon after the closing of a nearby military installation. A McCain aide met with a high-ranking Pentagon official to ease the deal for Diamond.

The revelations came after Diamond and others gave testimony in a sworn deposition during a related lawsuit. According to the story, Diamond also won an endorsement from McCain during his appeal to the nearby city to allow him to develop other property purchased after the base closing.

According to the news report, Diamond, a 26-year friend of McCain's, earned a quick and hefty $20 million profit from the re-sale of the land McCain helped him buy.

But as the Times reported, McCain didn't just help Diamond on a single occasion. In 2005, McCain's letter of recommendation aided Diamond in securing rights to a lucrative development deal for a resort hotel and luxury housing. According to the Times, Diamond boasted that McCain helped overcome sticky details that could have killed the deal.

McCain also used his office to help Diamond cut through environmental regulations in the 1990s in order to invest in real estate development projects. In 1991 and 1994, reported the Times, 'McCain sponsored two laws sought by Mr. Diamond that resulted in providing him millions of dollars and thousands of acres in exchange for adding some of his properties to national parks.' These laws netted Diamond tens of millions of dollars, far more than the land was worth, some critics noted.

A similar bill that likely would directly benefit Diamond is still pending in the Senate.

For his part, Diamond sees special assistance from a US Senator for his own personal gain as only natural and well within his rights. Said Diamond, 'When you have a big, significant businessman like myself, why wouldn’t you want to help move things along? What else would they do? They waste so much time with legislation.”

Diamond also told the Times that he expects his political relationships to pay off. 'I want my money back, for Christ’s sake. Do you know how many cocktail parties I have to go to?' he stated bluntly.

Diamond has reportedly also promised similar special favors for donors whom he has brought into the McCain campaign.

Diamond met and helped fund McCain in his first run for Congress back in 1982, and over the years has visited McCain in his home many times, the New York Times story stated. Additionally, Diamond has hosted McCain at his private resort in the Bahamas, took him to World Series games, and has financed McCain's Senate campaigns.

In 2000, Diamond worked closely with McCain's presidential campaign, while 'in the thick of the negotiations for his California deals,' reported the Times. Diamond currently serves as McCain's national campaign co-chair.

After revelations in February of an alleged intimate relationship with a corporate lobbyist that involved influence peddling nearly scuttled his bid for the Republican nomination, March proved equally troublesome for McCain's claims to high ethical standards.

Media reports showed the Arizona senator's relationships to lobbyists may have influenced his use of his office to block Boeing from winning a significant Pentagon contract that instead went to French-owned Airbus. At least two high-ranking members of the McCain campaign had lobbied on behalf of Airbus, and one did so while working as a campaign adviser to McCain.

In addition, McCain critics continue to challenge his abuse of the public campaign finance system. Last fall, McCain used federal documents certifying that he planned to use public funds to finance his campaign to secure private loans to boost his sagging campaign coffers. Violating federal rules, McCain then backed out of the public financing system – which he helped enact as a US Senator – and a ruling on the legality of his actions is still pending.

Jack Abramoff may have been the master of sleaze politics, but John McCain has so far been the master of getting away with it.

--Reach Joel Wendland at