Wednesday 19 May 2010

Sarah Palin's secret speaking fee revealed: "Only" $ 35,000 charged for Republican fundraiser in Eugene, Oregon - UPDATE!

Sarah Palin attended a fundraiser for the Lane County Republican Party in Eugene, Oregon on April 23, 2010. Protesters were also present!

Palingates was happy to receive an exclusive story about these protests against Sarah Palin in Eugene from our wonderful reader Tyroanee, which we posted on April 24, 2010. Here are some impressions again from these protests:

Eugene pic 1

Eugene pic 2

Eugene pic 7

The excitement was great amongst Republicans in Oregon when this fundraiser with Sarah Palin was announced. "The Register-Guard" wrote on January 20, 2010:
"Palin to appear in Eugene
The popular former vice-presidential candidate will address Lane County Republicans in April


BY JEFF WRIGHT
The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, page B1

Sarah Palin will visit Eugene in April to speak to the faithful in the Lane County Republican Party.

Bill Young, the party’s Lane County chairman, confirmed Tuesday that the former vice-presidential candidate/former Alaska governor/current best-selling author will be the keynote speaker at the party’s annual Lincoln Day fundraiser at the Hilton Eugene on April 23.

The fundraiser is typically held in February near Lincoln’s birthday, “but we made a special dispensation for her schedule,” Young said. “For some reason, we figured her schedule was more important than that date.”

Young said local Republican Party leaders have been working with Palin’s handlers for nearly a year in an effort to bring her here. He would not say how much Palin’s visit will cost — in fact, the contract with her speakers’ bureau prohibits disclosing the amount."
The contract with Sarah's speaker's bureau prohibits disclosing the amount?

That might be true!

However, it's also a fact that Oregon has strict campaign finance rules.

That means: The information will be available somewhere - because it's required by law!
Oregon has a wonderful online system to look up campaign finance filings, called "ORESTAR". It's a bit slow, but it works! ;-)

What you have to do is to search for "Lane County Republican Committee". If you specifically check the search for "Fundraising Event Expenses", this system will give you a nicely prepared list of all the expenses the Lane County Republicans had for this event:

Complete expenditure - part 2
Complete expenditure - part 1

There you will see that the Lane County Republicans paid $ 17,500 to the Washington Speakers Bureau on January 12, 2010. This undoubtedly was the deposit for Sarah's appearance, because just a few days afterwards it was officially announced that Sarah would appear in Eugene, as shown above.

Sarah Palin's fee Lane County - deposit - large

The second payment to the Washington Speakers Bureau of $ 17,500 followed on March 25, 2010. The aggregate is mentioned with $ 35,000. No more payments to the Washington Speakers Bureau take place afterwards.

Sarah Palin's fee Lane County - large

Therefore, it's a proven fact that Sarah Palin's speaking fee for her appearance in Eugene, Oregon was "only" $ 35,000! It's possible that this sum includes her travel expenses as well, as the list reveals no additional payments for her travel. Her hotel expenses were likely "lumped into" one of the payments to the Eugene Hilton, where the fundraiser took place.

Only $ 35,000? How generous of her!

How will this go down with all the other organizations which have paid much more for Sarah's appearance?

So, how much did Sarah Palin then charge Rainbow Omega, the charity for disabled people when she spoke there at the fundraiser in Birmingham, Alabama on May 11, 2010? It was reported that she charged a fee, but the amount was not disclosed.

Surely Sarah Palin won't charge the students at CSU Stanislaus for their fundraiser more than she charged the Republican Party in Lane County, Oregon - will she?

+++

UPDATE:

Following the publication of the 151 pages of internal emails from CSU Stanislaus regarding Sarah Palin's planned speech, members of the faculty of CSU Stanislaus have discovered another "gold nugget" which is hidden in those emails. An internal email by CSU spokesperson Eve Hightower to CSU President Shirvani reveals that the money from the fundraiser with Sarah Palin will NOT be used for scholarships!

Eve Hightower writes:
"President Shirvani,

Here is the Sac Bee article this reporter has been working on for two days. Unfortunately, it states that money raised will likely go towards scholarships. While that is not what I said, I suggest we let it go. Asking for a correction will only perpetuate the story."
Screenshot:

CSU Stanislaus - Email Eve Hightower - Scholarships
.

No comments: