When MaryAnn Nellis tried to pay for groceries on April 14, her credit card was declined. She later found out why: Her credit card company, Capital One, had flagged an earlier purchase as potentially fraudulent. The problem? A $5 donation to Friends of Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor’s campaign committee, which she claimed not to have made.
A fundraiser for New York City Comptroller John C. Liu was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of misrepresenting the origins of campaign donations. The arrest bodes poorly for Liu—the city’s chief officer in charge of revenue and audits, pictured above—who is considered a possible successor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign or temporarily step down from his post in the midst of investigations into allegedly illegal donations to Olmert’s campaign. Barak threatened to pull the Labor Party out of the coalition government that supports Olmert unless he removes himself from the “day-to-day management of the government.”