CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 ofthe 110th Congress as Amended OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORT Review No. 11-7565 The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics, by a vote of no less than four members, on January 27,2012, adopted the following report and ordered it to be transmitted to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives. SUBJECT: Representative Vern Buchanan NATURE OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATION: Representative Vern Buchanan's forn1er business partner claims that Representative Buchanan made a $2.9 million lawsuit settlement agreement contingent on the business partner signing a false affidavit to be filed with the Federal Election Conullission ("FEC"). The affidavit was related to allegations that individuals who contributed to Vern Buchanan for Congress received reimbursements from automobile dealerships owned by Representative Buchanan. If Representative Buchanan attempted to influence the testimony of a witness in a proceeding before the FEC in the ma1111er alleged, he may have violated 18 U.S.c. ?? 201, 1505, and 1512, and House Rule 23, clause 1. RECOMMENDATION: The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics recommends that the C01111nittee on Ethics fwiher review the above allegations because there is substantial reason to believe that Representative Buchanan attempted to influence the testimony of a witness in a proceeding before the FEC in violation of 18 U.S.C. ?? 201,1505, and 1512, and House Rule 23, clause 1. VOTES IN THE AFFIRMATIVE: 6 VOTES IN THE NEGATIVE: 0 ABSTENTIONS: 0 MEMBER OF THE BOARD OR STAFF DESIGNATED TO PRESENT THIS REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE ON ETHICS: Omar S. Ashmawy, Staff Director & Chief Counsel. 1 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 of the II0th Congress as Amended FINDINGS OF FACT AND CITATIONS TO LAW Review No. 11-7565 I. A. B. C. D. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 3 Summary of Allegations .................................................................................................. 3 Jurisdictional Statement ................................................................................................... 4 Procedural History ........................................................................................................... 4 SUlmnary of Investigative Activity .................................................................................. 5 II. REPRESENTATIVE BUCHANAN'S FORMER BUSINESS PARTNER WAS ASKED TO SIGN A FALSE AFFIDAVIT TO BE FILED WITH THE FEC DURING SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS WITH REPRESENTATIVE BUCHANAN ....................................................................................................................... 6 A. B. Law, Regulations, Rules, and Standards of Conduct.. ..................................................... 6 Representative Buchanan Asked His Fonner Business Pmtner to Sign an Affidavit to be Submitted lo the Federal Election Connnission ............................................................... 7 The Affidavit to be Filed with the Federal Election Conllinssion Contained False Statements ...................................................................................................................... 10 There is Substantial Reason to Believe that Representative Buchanan Knew the Affidavit Was False ....................................................................................................... 14 C. D. III. THE AFFIDAVIT INCLUDED ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS THAT MAY BE FALSE ............................................................................................................................... 17 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 20 INFORMATION THE OCE WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS ......................... 21 IV. V. 2 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 of the 110th Congress as Amended OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FINDINGS OF FACT AND CITATIONS TO LAW Review No. 11-7565 On January 27, 2012, the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics (the "Boru'd") adopted the following findings offact and accompanying citations to law, regulations, rules, and standards of conduct (in italics). The Board notes that these fmdings do not constitute a detennination that a violation actually occurred. I. INTRODUCTION 1. On October 2,2008, Representative Buchanan's attomey sent to Representative Buchanan's FOlmer Business Partner a seven-page Confidential Settlement Communication. The settlement was related to various legal disputes between Representative Buchanan and Former Business Partner conceming their automobile dealerships. 2. The settlement agreement was signed by Representative Buchanan and included an affidavit for Fomler Business Partner's signature. The affidavit concemed reimbursements given to individuals who contributed to Representative Buchanan's campaign committee, Vem Buchanan for Congress. 3. The affidavit required Fonner Business Partner to state that, prior to September 2008, he had no know ledge of any reimbursements given to individuals who contributed to Vem Buchanan for Congress. The affidavit also required him to consent to Representative Buchanan filing the swom statement with the Federal Election Commission ("FEC"), 4. Fomler Business Pruiner refused to sign the affidavit because he said it was not true. Former Business Partner claims that Representative Buchanan continued to pressure hinl to sign the affidavit and he continued to refuse to sign. A. Summary of Allegations 5. Representative Buchanan's former business pminer claims that Representative Buchanan made a $2.9 million settlement agreement contingent on Former Business Pruiner signing a false affidavit. The affidavit was to be filed with the FEe. If Representative Buchanan 3 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 of the 11 Oth Congress as Amended attempted to influence the testimony of an individual in proceedings before the FEC, he may have violated federal law and House IUles. 6. The Board finds that there is substantial reason to believe that Representative Buchanan violated 18 U.S.C. ?? 201,1505, and 1512, and House Rule 23, clause 1, by attempting to influence his Former Business Pattner's swom statement to be filed with the FEC. B. Jurisdictional Statement 7. The allegations that at'e the subject of this review concem Representative Vem Buchanan, a Member of the United States House of Representatives for the 13 th District of Florida. The Resolution the United States House of Representatives adopted creating the Office of Congressional Ethics ("OCE") directs that, "[n]o review shall be undertaken ... by the board of any alleged violation that occurred before the date of adoption of this resolution."! The House adopted this Resolution on March 11,2008. Because the conduct under review OCCUlTed after Mat'ch II, 2008, the OCE has jurisdiction in this matter. C. Procedural History 8. The OCE received a written request for a preliminary review in this matter signed by at least two members of the Board on September 28, 2011. The preliminaty review conU11enced on September 29, 2011? The preliminmy review was scheduled to end on October 28, 2011. 9. At least three members of the Board voted to initiate a second-phase review in this matter on October 28, 20 II. The second-phase review conUllenced on October 29, 2011. 3 The second-phase review was scheduled to end on December 12, 2011. 10. The Board voted to extend second-phase review for an additional period offoUiteen days on December 2, 20 II. The second-phase review ended on December 26, 20 II. 11. The Board voted to refer the matter to the Conunittee on Ethics and adopted these findings on Januaty 27,2012. 12. This repOlt and fmdings were transmitted to the COlmnittee on Ethics on FeblUat?y 9, 2012. Res. 895, 110th Congo ?l(e), as amended (the "Resolution"). A preliminary review is "requested" in writing by members of the Board of the OCE. The request for a prelimillaIY review is "received" by the aCE on a date certain. According to the Resolution, the timeframe for conducting a preliminary review is thirty days from the date of receipt ofthe Board's request. 3 According to the Resolution, the Board must vote 011 whether to conduct a second-phase review in a matter before the expiration of the thirty-day preli111inmy review. If the Board votes for a second-phase, the second-phase begins when the preliminalY review ends. The secondwphase review does not begin on the date of the Board vote. 2 1 H. 4 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to tbe Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 of the II0th Congress as Amended D. Summary of Investigative Activity 13. The OCE requested and received testimonial and, in some cases, documentary infonnation from tbe following sources: (1) Buchanan Automotive Group Chief Financial Officer; (2) Fonner Business PatineI'; (3) Hyundai ofNortb Jacksonville Chief Financial Officer; (4) Hyundai of North Jacksonville Comptroller; (5) Sat'asota Ford Finance Director; (6) Venice Nissan Dodge Finance Manager I; (7) Venice Nissan Dodge Finance Manager 2; and (8) Venice Nissan Dodge Finance Director. 14. The following individuals consented to an interview with tbe OCE, but declined to produce documents in response to Requests for Information and were detemlined to be non-cooperating witnesses: (I) Shelby Curtsinger, Co-Owner, Venice Nissan Dodge; and (2) Dennis Slater, Chief Operating Officer, Buchanan Automotive Group. 15. The following individuals declined to produce documentaty and testimonial infomlation in response to Requests for Information and were determined to be non-cooperating witnesses: (I) Representative Vem Buchanan; (2) Don Caldwell, Sales Manager, Venice Nissan Dodge; (3) Kennetb Lybarger, Comptroller, Suncoast Ford; (4) Gaty Scarbrough, Co-Owner, Suncoast Ford; atld (5) John Tosch, President, 1099 Management Co., LLC. 5 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions of H. Res. 895 ofthe 11 Oth Congress as Amended II. REPRESENTATIVE BUCHANAN'S FORMER BUSINESS PARTNER WAS ASKED TO SIGN A FALSE AFFIDAVIT TO BE FILED WITH THE FEC DURING SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS WITH REPRESENTATIVE BUCHANAN A. Law, Regulations, Rules, and Standards of Conduct 18 Us.c. ? 1505 16. Pursuant to 18 US. C. ? 1505, "[w] hoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration ~f the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquily or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee ~f the Congress . . .[s]hall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years . .. or both. " 18 Us.c. ? 1512 17. Pursuant to 18 Us.c. ? 1512, [w]hoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to- influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding . .. shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both . . .[w}hoever corruptly . .. obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. " 18 US.c. POI 18. Pursuant to 18 US.c. ? 201(b)(3), "[w]hoever . .. directly or indirectly, corrupt(v gives, offers, or promises anything of value to any person, or offers or promises such person to give anything of value to any other person or entity, with intent to influence the testimony under oath or affirmation ofsuch first-mentioned person as a witness upon a trial, hearing, or other proceeding, before any court, any committee of either House or both Houses of Congress, or any agency, commission, or officer authorized by the laws of the United States to hear evidence or take testimony, or with intent to influence such person to absent himself therefi'om ... shall be fined under this title or not more than three times the monetmy equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater, or imprisoned for not more than fifteen years, or both, and may be disqualifiedFom holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. " 6 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions of H. Res. 895 of the 11 Oth Congress as Amended House Rule 23. clause 1 19. Under House Rule 23 clause 1, Members "shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House. " B. Representative Buchanan Asked His Former Business Partner to Sign an Affidavit to be Submitted to the Federal Election Commission 20. On October 2,2008, Representative Buchanan's attomey, Roger Gannam, emailed a "Revised Binding Settlement Term Sheet" to Fonner Business Partner's attomey, James H. Post. 4 The stated purpose of the letter was to "resolve existing claims among [the paJiies1with respect to all past and current business relationships. ,,5 Lindell &Fa1'S1>1l, P.A. iI(l~ euuf Cmmul.mt /II S"",K""" (d,,~li l'~S~fS 1:n7~ LIM BIll JIM Jl~Wl"n4 SiI.II~ J.UI Pm(9Q4)U(I..oIQU O~Ii?l>?,2.200$ ",*" r....tJllio<- Jlif\;mn'Wb,BL 1IZ~(1 reltpllruw.(!lM)3~ R-n,,,,,,tdWaI,,,. ~,""II'O>hl"'" /{lIIi;,J=~_ l;AI;r~MRf\N lowdchmJly lmd"n bolmlfof~~[cf"",'IInY~~, I'rtmia AtI.n:l"" rfWlkr 1'l'I>pIlrtl~,. -Gil1!11ll:tl, U.{!, 11.20Dl.l"C~~d"lltjfuu\iulh~!lI~.>IJl,1 ~!rtil;\!tt<1Wl1"'Il<:)' Vilt t-UUlU to:~mllhll\lI! "mWlX them willi ~ 10 all past n!HI ""mml bll!lltffi roIlItl(lllfbljl$. Th~ 1;tIf; kl1llB 118f=ed 'lIjll>n '"" Ill; fo!row~: hO\ml toflhl> emnpjel~ execuliru! oftllllllllrwlmlnl, IO~9 MM~B"ruoot C~~ ttc, ~ f.IMhlll Umiftd tl"biJity tOmp.lny {"I O~9'~ will FI~<<, into =row wiib 1M lAW flim ...t1irtdWl &-F-mM, P,;\.lh \<)tol $ym ... f;l:2,$l mil!i~1l (Ih. ~~w AJlWlInr} I<.> ~ uppli~ liS !. WiU.~14! fIN"!dwm.~w, tm: I!n?I$ (:If f"NlUIeJ: Alil(Jm(>!iv<' ~n AUanth LLC ePremltt AU~ntloj'). Protnlet A\ltl!tI'U)t!~~ ~ th~ ;I._ Oflhl$ &JJI9Ullf, 1:1.tmJlIi(\j1 Will t;r j)$ld by IltP9 }rt.clpstng (or Iht.p1Ir~.t{ ~ru! AvMVU, LLC (,"rNmier A",JWef') Pwmio: I'rQPml~ (i'l At!w!l~, Ltc (''J'remior f>roJl&1iea") including. hHl DOl Ilml!od!!D. all right! ofthM~ oomJ>>nles!d Mtldoot bu!ml}n ~u KladMknhip ~t 1Im~~~ Ilr9401 All.antic Blv,!.lida 1I!lIf ~j>>O;mq"lr lpl>judin# ttll rW es\II.te, plllt1 kwMiw'y, Ii'!:oo ftm~ Md ~U jl~, previously uruIe!iI'~ed, 2008 Kia ItIltomtlbil!l1 (witil 1m 111m 5,000 milC$ tMre-Nl). ftell .uII;! d~ 5et f(lrth beto\\.'. (''nu~mHlall''I' qjrw\Jy Q[ fIldi{"'t~ lhf~uJ;h lO.9.9 }>lrul6t~fIl{jllt Co. LL.C., n FIOJldll Hrflited li~bnhy <ttlk- OWMrohip In dell !k~lo!1lhip. oUhoullh BmMmw'l:l W(it\!)mle IUtlI1lgemenli!, and COh!ln\lj~r ofownel1ihip, in e.G.llh dea!euhlp ~hlllllW" ovn th?c ~r5 (>flfiY iJwolWIl1!1Jlt. S~m Kazron STATEO!?' 2. Vctmm O.ll'Kh~!HIIl COUNTY OF 'Ill'll l'oTejlll\lli iniilillmeni WM atkhowl~dged ,. ,. S. b(:fu,e rut: thl$ _ dll,)' or O;:;I~ber, 20(lB, Oij?. In P?;iI\O ihe ~I!j)mle .:lKUIIISt4lleet 111M existed in the ~\l.Ml1.obiJt ItIdw!try, u~h of 1he;'C de"l~tihlps I,lXpetlMlled ~ fiMMW downturn, IiIId tllrlaln W!10\lUU thai 1. oftb~ It~pe\ldve dtlllusiJlp, owed Buchanan or cnlliks wnwUed by btm W?t{: dcllnllu{lnt I~ pIlJ'IIltnl, ond lhe ~llItlOl:lmlp belWllen f300h6TIBD rurd me deterlornled beca~~ OhM!! delinqwJWie5, oolTunfn~ing prlmarHy In carly ZOO!, ITGg\.lll:.tiom between my lawyus lind me. and 1'>mllvmml, I alrend~d VIIri()n.~ meetinSS Qf (111m general IIlBfillgen or ''pa\'trnlfS'' of B\lQhullllll will) were involved III Miler d?Il!~t$h1ps In ",'!tiM 13u?hlirtlm, {It ?Olt\j)II~iC1i tOll.lrolltd b)'Mm, had 1\ dlr~~t (II' Il1dil'l!u IJWMI'llitlp- int!!r~1. At 11(1 lime WIll tlWfl,!BlIY st!lIwl~DII}f MY form (If ell~(Il1!'lISeM~llt ,I) n1RK~ II, ~runpallll\ !l9nlri~\)t!'N1 wed Ilpon ~ tl1ff~t _of job }li~~mllUi~iOll!_ .~n~W rqmSlll, (If Q/lJer dclrimMt rOt f4I1UN to make a wntrlb\lll(llj dlstWSed, ills$~llTmdtd or sugg~ed hy nl.lchllnufI, a Buchllrnln ttpresentative- or IInynnc undl1f his ur U!~ir dir<n. PUl1h1lfllI(H'(I, there l1~v(!r WllS a dJ8cu&~ion. tMemenl or other attlQn which \I.'lIuld lmve Implied tlim iii peroon wllo m~oe. a {:olluiblllion to the Voman G. Bull/ilIUm for CmI&fCU <Od m~ ilia! BudltlU\l1 or allY <<:ptC!'.Ciltl)tive of hl~ kntW (If lIllY inl~nlion. pll\1! cr a1t~n8ernenl by !1Myt;lM I!I m!lkc II. relmb\m~mcllt, dlu.ctly W' ind.l~O!.1y, \0 II. Pllrson In exchange fur-llIeJdng- ~ \il.l!Itribulion III th~ BUIlillU'lAII lbf-Congto:1j$Clim]!Mgn. 1 ~uring by Sam KauUl. He is ~r$on~lJy known In me. or hIlS prodWllld as jd~ndticalioo. (StAt) [he COUNn of 1Cl1~O und B(lmllwh~l hootne N"lIITy !1ubllc-statc or Cl.?OHHIAtIIm ImlfMNllirtUibi PAY "N7N! THOUSAIIIl TWO HUIiIlRlW Dil!.'~RS MO 00/100" AMOUNT ""- 35420 I G~YlJi 1---.---.. -----__. . __....__ . ORoaR , OF LEPIIART ~ lO11iE 43. HNJ Comptroller cOlToborated Former Business Partner's testimony that he was involved in the reimbursements to HNJ employees who contributed to Vern Buchanan for Congress in 2005, 2006, and 2007 34 32 Collection of Checks Payable to Vern Buchanan for Congress and Checks Payable to HNJ Employees ("HNJ Campaign Contributions") (Exhibit 4 at 11-7565_0113-0114). 33 [d. The checks include a payment of $4,600 from Stephanie Champ to Joe Cutaia. Based on the testimony of HNJ Comptroller, this payment was made because Ms. Champ wrote a $9,200 check to Vern Buchanan for Congress and received a reimbursement of $9,200 from HNJ. However, Vern Buchanan for Congress returned the check because Ms. Champ could only contribute $4,600 pUl~uant to contribution limits. Ms. Champ then contributed $4,600 to Vern for Congress. Mr. Cutaia also contributed $4,600 to Vern for Congress and Ms. Champ gave him the $4,600 that she had been overpaid by HNJ. Memorandum of Interview of HNJ Comptroller, December 9, 2011 ("HNJ Comptroller MOl") (Exhibit 5 at 11-7565_0118). 34 HNJ Comptroller MOl (Exhibit 5 at 11-7565_0118-0119). 12 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 of the 110th Congress as Amended 44. HNJ Comptroller was responsible for all of the company's banking, including payroll payments. 35 She told the OCE that she wrote the HNJ checks to reimburse the employees who contributed to Vem Buchanan for Congress. 36 45. HNJ Comptroller stated that the first occasion FOlmer Business Pminer told her to reimburse the campaign contributions to Vem Buchanan for Congress was in 2005. 37 46. She explained to the OCE that Fonner Business Pminer told her to write a personal check to Vern Buchanan for Congress. 38 She did tins and then wrote a check to herself from HNJ, making sure to "gross up" the amount of the payment from the company.39 This meant that the gross aIllount HNJ paid acconnted for income taxes and the net amonnt was the amount of the campaign contribution. 40 47. HNJ Comptroller explained that Former Business Patiner told her winch HNJ employees to reimburse for their contributions to Vem Buchanan for Congress and she handled each accordingly.41 48. HNJ CFO also corroborated FOlmer Business Partner's testimony that he was involved in the reimbursements to HNJ employees who contributed to Vem Buchanan for Congress.42 49. HNJ CFO told the OCE that he made multiple conh'ibutions to Vern Buchanan for Congress at'ound 2006 and that he received reinlbursements from HNJ. 43 He told the OCE that FOlmer Business Patiner told him that he was to receive the reimbursements. 44 50. The Bom'd notes that the FEC investigated FOlmer Business Patiner's involvement in the reimbursements and "found that there is probable cause to believe" that he and HNJ reimbursed individuals for their contributions to Vem Buchanan for Congress. 45 !d. ld. 37 ld. 38 !d. 39 !d. 40ld. 41 !d. 42 Memorandum of Interview ofHNJ Chief Financial Officer, December 5, 2011 ("HNJ CFO MOl") (Exhibit 6 at 11?7565_0122?0123). 43 !d. 44 !d. 45 Letter from Mark Allen, FEe Assistant General Counsel, to Former Business Partner, dated September 28, 2010 (Exhibit 7 at 11?7565_0125). 35 36 13 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 of the Ii0th Congress as Amended D. There is Substantial Reason to Believe that Representative Buchanan Knew the Affidavit Was False 51. The affidavit stated that neither Fonner Business Pminer nor Representative Buchmlan or their representatives beCaJ11e aware that reimbursements had occurred at HNJ until September 2008. 46 52. Contrary to paragraph 5 of the affidavit, Former Business Pminer was aware of the reimbursements prior to 2008 and Representative Buchanan aJ1d his representatives first Imew Fonner Business Partner's involvement no later than September 8, 2008. FOlmer Business Pminer's September 8, 2008 Email 53. On September 8, 2008, FOlmer Business Partner sent Mr. Tosch, aJ1 email titled "documents for ... review.,,47 Mr. Tosch is the President of Representative Buchanall's company, 1099 Management Co., LLC and one oftlle pmiies to the settlement agreement. 48 Binding Settlement Tenn Sheet (Exhibit 1 at 11-7565_0007). Email from Fonner Business Pal,ner to Jolm Tosch, dated September 8, 2008 ("September 8, 2008 Email") lExhibit 8 at 11-7565 0127-0129). 8 Binding SettlementTerm Sheet (Exhibit 1 at 11-7565_0006). 46 47 14 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisc1osw-e Provisions of H. Res. 895 of the 11 Oth Congress as Amended 54. The email included attaclunents of "check copies" that Fonner Business Partner appears to have received from his former assistant at HNJ, Stephanie Champ.49 From! kilzran52 YJanl.COID::O To: John ~chanai'l$Viogroup,oom> S:ubj8Ct: dnwma-tationa.for.. ,.to review o.to~ Mon, Sop 61 200a 6,a8 pm _ .... , "MOOOI[IL(21?JPO (S65K). "",nOOO211L(2).)pg (&85K' ""mI28[1j.p~f(17.KI ""n0003[1L(2),lpg (S9IK), _n~OM[iL(2).)Pli (l'67KI ,h_ copl ... ' - eh;:i.? this i$ the l-t LQan. on. BY1!!'lfll1.i t:ha,t wu fiti'lltlJ7 dbcLQoed A,u?, 1I1en1;.ltlned in ...qliI!lt\l'1Lel'l_t ::LpwrpO'$ly det:idving lend&-r by 10)t<lou1d like our help in raising money fo!' them. I He had asked me to give him a, check/ It believe the amount is $4,600. might have been 8 9 10 11 two of them, one from me and one from my wife, I can't quite remember, and wh:lch r did. I wrote him a peraonal check and that was the end of it. I ... you know, he had asked me and I gave 12 13 him the check. And throughout time !as a partner at the Chevy stor.e in Tampa. Jeff King was a partner at the 11 12 13 14 15 Toyota store in Jacksonville, Florida. Dennis Slater He used was chief operating orOcer of t.he comp'my. to travel to all the dealerships to help out with the business' pro formas, et cetera. Q. A. You said Mr. Slater was a C ... COO, chief opel'ating officer. What company are you referring to? Mr. Buchanan's. 16 17 Q. A. 1099 18 19 20 21 22 23 'rhe company 1 s name is r~anagement Company. Q. And you said it was Mr.. Buchanan's Do you know what percentage of t.he company company. he owns? A. I believe he owns 100 percent of 1099 r'm not sure exactly how the 24 25 Ma.nagement Company. structure is. . _ - - - - - - - - - - - - -.. I do know that Mr. Buchanan is 100 __ .... FEC00211 Toll Free: 600,322_ Facsimile: 904.355.6152 1509 RfverplacE! Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jacksonville! FL 32207 www.esquJresolut!olts.com Sam Kazran Nove~~er G, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL 20 1 2 3 percent decision-maker of that, but normally after the deals are done, then he puts up 1099 Management Company. That waS the management company that all 4 5 6 the dealerships were reporti.ng to and were paying their fees to. Q. that? A. You say paying fees. What do you mean by 7 Mr. Buchanan had various fees on each 9 dealership. For every car thet was sold, the 10 11 corporate office collected money. The offshore accounts that collected money for extended warranties, et cetera, they had set up accounts, guess Eor tax purposes. 12 13 14 15 16 I They called it a Vern's PAC. it was for hif:t jet, for The partners joked around. hiB office staff r et cetera. Anything that Mr. Buchanan did, he pushed i t down to the dealerships and raised the cost on it. 17 16 Q. Okay. The Federal Election CommiEls:i.on 19 20 records partners? I'm sorry, were you done with the list of 21 A. correct, yes. There may be a couple 22 23 24 more, but I'm jotting them down as I go forward, for the most part I gave you all that r remember right now. but 25 Q. The Federal Election Commission re:c:ordm (J ESQ~n.R~ Toll Free: 800.322_ Far.:strnlie: 904,355.6157. 1609 Rlverptace Towoer BOi RlIJerplacEUR Boulevard lacksl,)f'lvllle, FL 32207 www.e!>C'juiresotutiorls.oom FEC00212 Sam Kazran CONF'IDENTIAL November 6, 2009 ----------~---------.-- 21 1 2 3 4 show tllat on or about November 2005 some of the employees at the North Jacksonville Hyundai made contributions to IVIr. Buchanan I Congress. B campaJ.gn for f rl'he rec~ords ShO'IJ1 that Gail I;ephart Ernest 5 6 'I r.,"pkw.rt:, Gary 8mi th and Diana 8mi th contribut:ed a total of $16,800 to Mr. Buchanan's campaign for Congress. B 9 10 Did you ask any of these individuals to make a. contribution to Mr. Buchanan's campaign? A. Q. A. Yes, r did. 11 Why did do you that? I instructed them to write a check and because Mr. Buchanan had And he specifically told me 12 13 14 reimburse themselv6,g for asked me to get money. 1.5 16 17 1B get; someone you tr'ust and run it through the corporation. Q. tr\.1F.lte~d? Okay. And did you get someone that you 19 A. Yes, Ms. Gail Lephart and D. Smith, he's 20 21 22 23 24 25 no longer with US I they were t.he office managerB~ Ms. Gail Lephart was O\lr compcrol1er chat I had known and had a. good relationship with. to cut the check. check. And ~he was going She's the per SOil that cuts the ------------.--._------- And the firBt time that - - and I think. Toll Fr..: 800.322_ facsImile: 904,355,6152 1609 Rlverpla.ca Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard JacKsonvlfle, Ft 32207 www.esqulresolutlfJns.com FEC00213 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL 22 1 2 3 she's contributed on multi.ple times, but the first time that I did, I told her that we'd be getti.ng this I said, money back from tl/lr. Buchanan" r don't know 4 5 when, he just asked me to do it, But. on the second time, in fact, she was at the office when I was talking to Mr, Euchanan, 6 'I And at. I:he time in 2007, r t.hink, or 200B was the second one r the company was not doing very good, so 8 9 10 11 - - and she was not very happy about large amount of checks. D, Smith another' UB wri tin9 those p!~rson that 12 contributed was Josh Farid. lid asked my brother, 13 14 Eric Kaz:ran, to do so. He wanted _. - Mr. Buchanan wanted to get l I think it1s nine thousand two or nine 15 16 thousand f.our hundred dollars, and he waB always wanting to make sure the personal checking account 17 18 19 20 hal, husband and the wife on it to do both. Who else was it? general manager of the store. Oh, Joe Cutaia was He also wr.ol:.e a And a personal check and was reimbu:r.sled aftr:!z"wards. 21 22 23 24 couple of times just several days before -- he always used to call at the end of reporting time, He had called and asked me how much money I have gotten for him. And I told him 11m not sure if it was 25- or 25 30,000. And what he said, he said, I need more. 1 Toll Free: 800,322_ Facsimile: 904,35$,615;2. 1609 Rlverplace TOWEr 1301 Rlverplace Bo.l.devard Jack.sonvtilel FL 3n.il7 www.esqulrest~\.Itkms.com FEC00214 Sam Kazran CONF'IDEWl'IAL 23 November 6$ 2009 ------_._----_._-_. 1 want you to charge $10,000 on the "redi t card that 2 3 you have and call it Vernis PAC. that meant, but that's what I did. I'm not sure what I charged $10,000 4 5 on the company credit card, anel I classified it as Vern I FJ PAC. 6 And do you recall what year that was? A. 7 8 You know f I think it It \I.~as I! m not silre if it was '05 Dr '06. might have been '07, I had 9 10 11 12 numerous discusElicm.s with MY.', Buchanan with respect to campaign contributions, so forgive me. give you blocks. X have to Q. I'll help you with in:Eormation from the 13 14. FEe database for campaign contributions. The FEe records indicate that you contributed $4,600 to what 15 16 you've called Vern PAC on or about September 2, 2Q07. Is t:his the contributiDn that you Were just telling us about'! 17 18 19 20 A. Yes. I remember with the credit card It's possible that we he'd asked me to do $10,000. used another credit card. I don't lmow where Vern 21 22 PAC goes, I had thought that money was going to hi" Ve~nl i management company t because it I S called s PAC. 23 24 It's possible that the $4,600 might have Changed. They have sent checks back In the past 25 because it was fox' the wrong amount t and they said Toll free: 60Q,322_ Facslmlie: 904.3SS.6152 1609 Rlverpicu;e Tower 1301 RlVerpr;ace Boulevard Jackson. . .ille, FL 32207 www.esqulresolutlDfls.com ESQ1UB;~ fJ FEC00215 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAT, 24 November 6, 2009 1 2 3 this check needs to be redone and send it for a different amount. Q. when you say II they sent. it back I If who are 4 5 6 you referring to? A. Buchanan. The folks that work with Mr. Vern I remember one incident was a check sent They sent it back and there's only one person on 7 8 out for 9,000 and change, said, That's not correct) 9 10 11 12 that. Q. You need to change it to 4,000 and whatever. When you say the people that work f'or Mr. Buchanan, are you speaking of the people that Ilmlle: 904.355.6152: ESQUIRE ....... 1.Uk.'" G.II~C<"'l>"l\r 1609 Rlverptilt.EUR Tower 1301 Riverplllce t\oulevlJrd Je:c:kson ... mf!~ FL 32.20., www.esQulresolutloM.rom FEC00218 Sam Kazran CONFID~.NTIAL November 6, 2009 1 ----------------------------27 1 11. Vincent Sam is a former partner of mine 2 that I worked with, and he might be another one of the folk" that I dealt wit.h when I was asked to help \<1ith the campaign. Vincent Sam wa.s - - I met Vincent We worked together, and WE! 3 4 5 6 Sam several years a.go. purchased a dealership together in Waycross I Georg:i.a. Q- 7 Okay. According to FEe records, Vincent 8 9 Sam8 contributed $4 I 200 to Vern Buchana.n 1 s campaign on Jamlary 2r 2006. 10 11 A. Q. Was he a person that. ~fas also xeimbursed 12 13 14 for his contribution? A. Q. Correct l yes~ Was he reimbursed thr:ougb funds from -- 15 16 A. Q. The compa.ny, yes. -- from your company? From Hyundai of 17 North .]'acksonvi lle? 1B 19 20 21 22 A. Correct. None of the people that contributed to Mr. Buchanan, with the exception of me, which he asked me for the first time, he said W:rite t.he check, they were all reimbursed the same day_ Actually, they got "..- the money was deposited 23 24 into their personal account so that the checks could cash l because none of these folks -- these are 25 ordinary folks that make 2-, $3,000 a mond>. 'I'hey ESQ1!.IBJ~~ - Toll Free: 800,3Z2'Facsimile: 904.355,6152 1609 R.lverplell::e Tower 1301 Rlverpface Boulevard JacksOnville, FL 32207 'I'o.'Ww.esqulresolutlons,(:QM ????????-?--????'FECO021"9??? . Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL ~------------------ .. ---~--------, 28 1 2 would not be in a position to write that. Q. with regard to Vincent same, did you ask 3 him to do that? 4 5 6 A.. Q. Cor:rect. And dId you tel] him that he would be reimbursed? 7 B 9 A.. Correct. Yes l Vincent Bam, because he was a partner, awar.e. I spoke freely with him and he was 10 11 Q. Do you know who P~tricia Sarna is? A.. Q. Patricia Barns is Vincent Sams' wife. Do you know if she also made 12 13 14 contributions? A. You know 1 I think the check that Vincent 15 16 17 18 1~ wrote had both of them. That was one of the things that I was told you got to make sure there's two people on the check to get the most amount. Q. So did you discuss with him that his wife should contribute as well and be reimbursed? A. 2U No, what I told him iS I I said, Do you 21 have a checking account: that has both your names on it? He said, Yes. 22 23 24 I said, Okay, 80 this 'tlill work. Then write the check for that. Q. You mentioned when you were talk.ing about 25 the partners of Ver'n Buchanan'!:! earlier, you Toll troBe: aOQ,;.u:2.._ Facsimile: 904.355.6152 1609 R!verplaoo Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard JClc:~onvlliel FL 322-07 www.esql.llresolutlons.com FEC00220 Sam Kazran CONFIDEN'L'IAL November 6, 2009" 29 1 2 mentioned a person named Dt::ivid Long. A. YeB~ 3 Q. And you also mentiDned that you might 4 have had a conversation with him about reimbursing 5 6 7 employees at his dealership? A. Yes. David T"ong and I had --"" as I said before, in partners meeting during break and afterwards I 8 9 10 11 12 before I as t.i.me went a.long , the partner's were not too happy about this money we were giving, And David wag not very happy about that, you know. Him and [ discussed, I said, you know I asked him, How much I said, How much are you writing this time? 13 14 is this costing you? And he goes, Man, I'm getting tired bf 15 16 this every day, I'm getting phone calls, and I just don't have that kind of money. Wi th r.espect to D8.vid !Jong I I know he had 17 18 19 20 21 employees that '.'r there was a finance manager, I think, and a couple of other people. r know there'S a lot more, but in a couple of incidents I was ma.de aware of it because I understand that they had a problem with Ol1e and that employee came out and -- I dan' t kno<, if they hadn't paid him the amount of 22 23 24 25 money or he had a problem with his paycheck. And 011ce that came Ollt, then Mr. Buchanan was kind af put Toll Free: 600.322_ .acslmlle: 904.355.6152 1609 RlverplacE Tower 13()1 Rlverpla~e Boulevard Jacksonville, FL 32207 www.esqulresolutlons.com FEC00221 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAL November 6, 2009 r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -....-.....-.-....-.-..........- ..- .................--, 30 1 2 3 -- distanced himself. He 8till talked with us, his inner circle, if you will, but with respect to David Long, I did not talk to him. I was in the finance 4 5 6 "I department. and he had a couple of people in lohere, and one of them were 9aying, I'm not going to give him any money until they pay me up front. Q. Do you remember who that person vias? H.e was the finance director. ago~ ~rhis a 9 10 A. was several years Q. Of the dealership that Pavid Long was 11 12 13 14 managing? A. Q. Correct. Okay. We'll get back to that. Is i,t poaaible that: the person! S name was Joe Keezer",' A. manager. Does that ring a bell? Yes, 15 16 it is Joe. He was the finance 17 18 Now, I think he had a couple pos:l.t:iorlEl. Joe was kind of a five-seven r five-eight gentleman. 1.9 20 Yes,.I think it's Joe. Q. Did you ever have any conversations with 21 22 23 24 David Long specifically regarding reimbursing any of his employees? Did he ever mention that he was asked to do it or if he hadn't done it? A. We all -- this is ~- the discussion I We 25 L..._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ._.._.......___ ._. remember having with Dave, he was just tired. Toli f:ree: 800.322'Fac<;lmlle: 904,355.6152 1609 ~!verplac~ Tower 1301 Rlverp!ac:e Uoul~vi)rd lBcksonv!l!e, fl 3n07 www.esqutresolutlons.com FEC00222 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL r-----------------------------------, 31 1 2 jU8c don'l: have this kind DE money. ~le're getting pounded all the time about get momey, get money, get money. Our cash flow is bad. He was frustrated. 3 4 My store was one of the more profitable S ones I so cash flow was not. (~s big a deal, Obvious 1 y 6 7 I -- buc I thought from the beginning that we're all going to get reimbursed for this money. a :9 Q. Do you know what I,ong's relationship with Vern Buchanan is now? A. 10 11 12 13 r donlt know, I haven't spoken to him in some time. 'rhe lasc I talked with him was maybe a year ago, two years ago. Q. Are there any other of the partners that 14 you have a clear recollection of: them acknowledging 15 16 that they reimbursed any of their employees for contributions they made to Buchanan'S campaign? 17 A. Yes, Mr. I was in. a pa:rtners meeting, I can't remember 141.', 18 19 20 2l. I was talking to Mr. Pennis Slater. what il: was l pro formas, et cetera, and Bu.chanan approached and aa,1.d, Dennis, I Iva not gotten your check yet. And he saicl, BoaG, I'm hoping to take a 22 23 pase on it. He looked at him and smiled, Pon't He 24 25 worry, you know you're going to get it back. tapped him on the shoulder and left. ESQUIRE on - Toll fl~.; 800.322._ Facsimile: 9~.3S5,6152. 1609 Rlverplac~ Tower 1301 Rlverplnce Boulevard JackSionvllle, Fl 3220'1 www.esqulresolutlons.com "I ooooo" o.n.c.Ol"~Y FEC00223 Sam Kazran CONFIDEN'rIAL 32 November 6, 2009 1 Mr. !Josh Farid is my partner. we were 2 IIe were negol::i.ating to buy him out out of the Gwinnett Place Dodge, that's when he asked me, he said, I will agree to take payments instead of one lump sum, but you got to raise that money for me. And .. hen I told hJ.m that I don't have it. he says, Well, get somebody you trust and run it through the corporation. 19 20 21 22 23 BY MR. SOVONICK: Q. Can I ask you a question. You sa.id that 24 25 he instructed you to get people you could trust. A. Uh-huh. Ttlil Free~ 600.322_ ESQUIRE ... /du."Ii., C,a'.t. D>",,,,,,} - FacsImile: 904.355.6152 1609 Rlverpl2lce Towp.r 1301 Rlverplace fioulevard Jffc!o:sonvUle, FL 32207 www.esqulresolutlcm?.com FEC00228 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009' CONFIDENTIAI, "'-~"""-"-"'-'-""""----'-------------, 37 1 Q. What did you understand that to mean? When I t:old him that - - he said he wants I think he had assumed that I already And I sai.d, You already told He says! Don't you have 2 3 A. more money, 4 5 know what to do. me I canlt give any money. 6 "/ 8 somebody, l:1.ke ycnl.l" b:rothe.r or someone you t.rust t.hat you can get them to write a check for me'? Bure, That And 1 said and the date that we were walking out Run it through the 9 of the hall is when he said, 10 J.l corporation. So my understanding was: can trust l Get ,someone you 12 have them write a personal check and 13 14 reimburse them. Q. issue. Well, what TIm getting t:o is the t:t:us\: 15 16 Was it ever was he ~ '.- di.d Buchanan ever instruct you or did he ever imply to you that what 17 18 this -- what was going on, what he was asking you to do ,~as something that. you Bhould keep quiet or not 19 20 21- discuss? A.o )\.ft.er that day, I got i t , I knew that that that's welre not supposed to be d.iF.lC1l8Sing this, 22 23 24 -- there 1 s you have to know I It m ignorant about: this stuff up to that point. to any campaign, live never contributed r don't know what the laws and 25 procedures are. (I ESQQ!.BJ~ Toll Free: 600.322_ FaCSimile: 904.355.6152 1fj.O\l R!verplace Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jac!{$l)nvltlc t FL 32207 www.E!squlresolutlon5.com FEC00229 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAL 38 1 I November 6, 2009 became very aware once we had a problem But Vern and X had a very, very And I think when he told me 2 3 at the Ford store. close relationship. 4 5 a.bout trust, I think he just assumed I know what I'm supposed to do. G 7 B 9 BY MR. GOULD, Q. You said something abou.1: a problem at the CEl.ll you elaborate" Ford storJ::!, A. Yes. Well, the -- a couple of people in 10 the Ford store started to talk about this publicly. And they, you know -- and they were upset at somet~hing. 11 12 13 And then later it escalated where then And ever since the pa.rtners were talk:i.ng about it. 14 that then r you know 1 things became very different. 15 . J.6 Mr. Buchanan, to my knowledge, never would go and talk to ent:r.y-level salespeople or all 17 18 19 20 that. If it was a manager that had bean with the company for a long time, he would go and talk w:i.th them. He would ask them for contribution, but he He'd always have A weekend He 1 s would promise things, you know, 21 22 23 some sort of carrot out there, you know. on my boat or a promotion, thtngs like that. always selling. I know that when he was at our 24 25 dealerships with our senior management, he'd always Toll Free: 800.322_ Facsimile: 904.355.6152 1609 Rlverplace Tower 1301 Rlvetplace Boulevard Jack$:01'Ivllle l Ft.. ~2207 www.esqufreSDilitlof)s.ClJI.I1 FEC00230 Sam Kaz:r.an November 6, 2009 , . . - - - - _ ...... __..__. _ - - - - - - - 39 1 tell them, you know, You guys stay with us. going 00 do very good. You know, You're 2 Sam, why don't you 3 4 maybe want to get the jet: and bring them out and weill take them out. and show them. afterwards, you know, Then right 5 You need to go get money from 6 7 8 9 these people, you kno'toL Q. We need to raise m(:;.ney. 1[ou sa:Ld Hraise money.n Has it your understanding it was for the campaign', A. Q. Campaign, absolutely. Going back to the B'ord dealership, you Do you recall 10 11 12 13 14 15 said that there was a problem with it. the names of any of the individuals who were going public with the -A. r know I.Joe was one$ hut the day that r was talking .... the Ford store, thoBe two folks were talking~ 16 17 it was the finance director, Joel and They were another person, Ju .. t pissed. They said, I 18 19 20 11m not going to give him any more maney. get that money up front. And i:or the most part, need to I would say the 21 vast majority of people, they didn1t care, you know. 'I'heir boss is tell.:lng them to write the check and they'll do it as long as they get reimbursed. But I 22 23 24 25 would be wi lling to bet that as far as - .. I kllml for L -_ _ _ _ _ . __ ......._...._...... _.. _ _ _ .. _ _ ..._ .._ .. _ _ _ __ certain that with respeot to my dealershipOt no one (I ESQ11I8~~ Toll Froo : 800.322_ FLlCEilmlle: 904.3S5.6152 WUg Rlverplace Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard JaCkSOnville, PI.. 32207 VlWW ,esqulresQiutfons, corn FEC00231 Sam Kazran CONFIDEN'rIAL 40 November 6, 2009 1 2 would have ext~'a 500 or is thousand dollars or two These in my caSe is ward $9, 000 _.,- to contribute. 3 4 5 6 7 folks were just. -- t.hey'r?e not in that -- they can't do that. Q. YOU said that Joe was talking to someone Was that person a man or a woma.n? else. A. He was ~- no, the t.wo people in the 8 9 10 11 office, theytre both men, yes. Q. Do you recall the name of that other person? A. N0 1 I do not. I apologize. You know, 12 13 14 that was the only incident that I heard myself, but there was -- after a while there was rumors 1:1verywher~~. In fact, I know that it got so bad that 15 16 17 Mr. John Tosch had an emergency meeti.ng and says, you know, in, the event of posBible litigations that are welre changing coming and challenges that we have, IS 19 20 21 22 23 company policies. HE! wanted all the partners to get there and discuss this to -- you know, he said he wants to change some rules of the company. And I know that we discussed the lawsuit in the partners meeting. ean I t remember w'hen it was. I'm trying to remember if it \,com FEC00236 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAL November 6, 2009 r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -......-.... --..-...-..- - - -... 45 1 happened, VE>1'" - - r know he spoke wi th me, J'ohn Tosch was also speaking, 2 3 4 it kind of stopped. ~Ie cannot be doing it in this open manner. I think Vern applied too much pressure on 5 6 7 the part:ners, and it just. M~ yrJU know, when your boss tells you you need to get this money for me, you :Iust go get it, you kno,;. lind at. any given time every 8 partner or general manager or general sales manager 9 is either hoping to get a promotion or a new partnership and that was always leverage, so, .. Q. 10 11 At any of the partners meet:inga that ym' 12 13 attended, was there a discussion about these problems about people talking about the reimbursements? A. Yes. We - .. you kno," , we kind of had off 14 15 16 record and on record talk. Mark Ornstein normally Off would be the person who explains the rules. 17 reoord, you know, with Shelby, I remember one time him, me and a "ouple -- I want t.o say it was Steve Silverio and Dennis. And Shelby was expressing 18 19 20 because cash flow '..UHt re.ally, reall.y bad, we're not 21 22 23 going to be doing this, plus all. the headaches and problems with the store. much done with it. He sxpn,esed he was pretty 24 Steve Silverio ,.as another guy that had a talk with me, and h(~ 25 sa:i.d - - I think he was one of Tolf Free; 800,322_ racstmlle: 904,355.6152'. 1609 Riv(!!J'ptace Towel' :1.301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jacksonville. FL 322:0'1 www.esqulresolut!ol'tS.coln FECO0237 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL .. 46 ..-.. _.-_.........._-_.__.._._--_ _ - - - - - - - - - - - , I 1 .2 the guys that gave Vern Borne money. don't know how much, but he told me, he says, I am not -- he says, Vern has go~ 3 4 5 plenty of money himself. If he wants to give me the money upfront, then I ' l l do it, but I'm not advancing the money upfront anymore. BY MR. SOVONICK: 6 7 Q. Yes, you said that during this B 9 conversation that you remember with Curtsinger he said that he's not g'oing to be doJ.]1g this anymore r was he referring to reimbursing his employee,,? 10 11 A. Yes. We used to joke a lot about this I 12 13 before the meetings, havin.g coffee, you know. remember the partner in Bowling Green from Me:r:'cedes 14 15 16 Eenz being -- I can1t remember what his name was. Q. A. Is that ill Kentucky? Correct. Scott -- I don't know what his 17 18 19 20 name is, because it's been quite some time. That dealership had several partners, but he said, So how much are you guys getting hit for? You know, I got Numbers hit for five grand last week or ten grand. 21 like this. And we would just joke around about it. But as I said, I think this was kind of a 22 23 24 25 ~ favor for Mr. Buchanan at first, but then nobody got t.b,eir money! and then pressure applied and} you know, ....-.-.o......-...---------------~--------' Toll f'roo : 800.322_ Pacslm1!e: 9l)4,:.l5S,61S2 1509 Rlverplac:e Tower' 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard after a while everybody wag just kind of fed up with www.(;sQlIlresollitlons.com JacKsonvlfle r FL 32,207 FEC00238 Sam Kazran CONl'ID!!NTIAL November 6, 2009 ????----?--..---..--?. -.. . . . .?1 47 1 it. BY MR. GOULD, 3 Q. Let me go back to 130mething that we've I 4 5 discussed" little bit, and that's the use of the company c:r.edit card to make~ crJntributions. I believe 6 'I you told us that you made a contr:Lbut:Lon to a comm:lttee call"'d Vern PAC with the company credit card. Do you recall contribution. to other pOlitical 8 9 10 11 12 13 committees where you used th", cr",dit card? A. No. tl'he only person I I ve ever donated money to "iell -- is what Mr.. Buchanan told me. for his. ones. Just r kn.ow he 1 s been involved in several other I I don't know much of the detail. know that. 14 he was actively? involved with Senai:or Mel I'-1art:i.nf.!z. I 15 16 know he had several discussions about him helping Senator Mel Martinez and that, you know, he said he1s going to be senator, I'm going to be governor, but I 18 don't r.eally know the details in that. Q. Mr. Buchanan And just so 11m clear on this, tr~ll 19 2D did you to use the credit card? :n 22 23 24 A. Himself, yes. Mr. Buchanan had direct He would have discussions with me every single time. someone to call. I don't know what discussions they had, but they would say, Mr. Buchanan told me that you would be sendi.ng a check. 25 _ .. _-_._._.._-_._._----_._----------:~ I wan.!: t,o make Sure sa Toll Free: BOO.322_ FacsImile: 904,355.6JS2 1609 RIver-place Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jacksonville, FL 32201 www.asqu!nmolutlot"ls.com FEC00239 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAL 48 November 6, 2009 1 2 you have the address. Have you sent it? But he would call me d:l:rectly and talk with me. What he said t.o me. with respect to the 3 4 5 cr.edit card l he says, I want you to get the card whomever it was, the lady, I gave them my card 6 7 numh"r, but Vern said ten grand. There was another time that I give credit card. ~- a 9 10 She called me and said the credit card wasn't the limi!: on it wan maxed ou.t at the time, but. we I don't would just give this lady the credH: card. know how, where they cha:r-ged it for I me, he saj.d 1 11 but what he told 12 13 14 Classify it as Vern's PAC. Can you give me -- to the best of' your Q. .recollectioIl 1 how much of the Hyundai of North 15 16 17 18 Jacksonville Company money was used for contr:i.but:lons to Mr. Buchanan's 2006 campaign? A. Well, i t ~'aBn' t j uat !!yundai of North Ja.cksonville. It was other -_. specifically Gwinnett 19 20 21 Place Dodge as! well. What happens is we had a t:he centralized accounting with almo!>t everything, payroll, the insurance, et cetera j would go through 22 23 Hyundai. So Hyundai would pay, then the other store would do an intercompany transfer. 24 25 $100,000. Over all, I believe we were over ------.---_._-_._--_._--_... I know thaI: at: eme point: when I was ESQV.IB1~ o _._ .._._-----.._ ...... __ ..... _... _. ToU Free: 800.322_ Far.slmHe: 904.355,6152 1?09 Rlverplac:e Tawer 1301 R!verplace Boulevard Jacksonv1Ue r FL ~n2.0'l www.esqulresolutlon!3,CDm FEC00240 Sam Kazran .__...._------_.. __.._...__.__ _ - - .. November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL, 49 1 2 3 4 talking with Mr. Toach, I sent him an e-mail, had some $BO-aomething thousand did not include the crc-?d:i.t card and it did not. :i.nclude the money t.hat I wrote, which I never expected to get back. very close to $100,000 is what ... Q. But very, 5 Were there any employees at Gwinnett who '7 made the contl"ibutiona and then were r" i mbursed? A. Well, Vincent Sams and Josh were helping B 9 and Gail L,ephart, dealerships. office there" they worked for both the 10 11 12 They had - - Gail was overseeing the Josh also would help me with that, and Juld r as you know, we don't ha.ve so did Vincent Sams. 13 14 access to our records now witll the receivership I but I'm pretty confident that it's close to Loa,ooo. I 15 16 17 don't know how much the ones we gave you, so there is possibly two or three more names there. If you folkB g:tve me -- I don't know if 18 19 20 21 you guys keep track of the people that donate money to -- if you have the names, I can read them and I can share with you if I recognize any of them. Q. Were there any of thoBe partners that 22 23 24 you had said before if you thought -- if you could remember any other names that YDU would tell us. A. Yes. Well, here's a couple. I shared 25 with you the conversation Vern had with Dennis Toll Free: 800.322_ Fac&lmlle: S04.355.6152 1609 R-lverpIBI;i!: Tower 1301 Rlverp!aca Boulevard JaCkSOnville, FL 32207 www.~qulresoluttons,c:om FEC00241 Sam Kazran CONFIDEN'l'IAL November 6, 2009 ,-------------------_._-_........._.. _.......... 50 __ . 1 2 3 Slater.:r. know the partner in North Carolina, Gruisko, I believe thatJa Jim~ and I know that Jim had spoken to someone, to another partner who shared 4 5 6 with me. Be said, You know, Jim went out and paid Vern, but he turned around and bought furniture for himself. Q. Can you explain. He bought furniture for 7 8 9 himself with ... why don't you explain that, A. Yes. So after this, you know, the level 10 11 of interwity that went up, .snd when this .. - these things happened wi th Sarasota I"ord and the managers complaining, apparently, the contributions were ... Jim Gruislw from my understanding, that he 12 13 14 contributed to the campaign and then went out an.d 15 16 bought furniture for himself for. the company. See, what happens is Vern's a percentage 17 partner and the other partners are percentage. Vlell, his IS 19 20 if you take $10,000 or $5,000 out of the company, shares: are not: going t("J be there too. But: it! s my nnderstandj.ng that. the money that. was contributEid to 21 the campaign, he paid for himself with his cbeck and then he went out and got the money out of the company and bought furni ture with it. J. don't: know what kind of furniture, 22 23 24 all 25 that, I just overheard that's what Jim had done. - - - _..-..........................._....................................Toll Free: 800.322._ FacsimIle: 904.355.6152 1.609 Rlvr:rplace Tower DOt Rlverpiece Boulev(lrd JacKsor!vlUe, fL 32207 WWW.Qsqulresollitions.com FEC00242 Sam Kazran CON'FIDENTIAL November 6, 20091 51 1 2 BY MR. SOVONICK, Q. Mt'. KazraIl, I! m going to take you back to 3 4 O'osh B'arid, how do you spell his last name? A. It's F-a-'r-,i-d. DCl s 6 Q. A. Q. contributed? you know his wi.:i:e! it's B name? Yes/ A?t??e-,f??e~h, 7 8 Do you know appr.oximately when Josh 9 A. Well, I know when we wenl: back from the 10 11 12 13 14 15 partners meeting in '06, but it's very possible that he contributed later too. As I mentioned, M.r. Buchanan frequently talked to me about this so, you know ... Q. Do you know if his wife contributed as well? A. Well, the check that they wrote, Josh was 16 17 18 19 very well aware because he knew Mr. Buchanan and several discussions I had on the phone, Josh had been wl.th mel Sll he knew that he was ~- it was supposed to 20 21 be two checks. J'oah was very :Erustrated; and he sent out 22 23 24 25 an e-mail to Mr. John 'rosch expressing he ,qas very mad at me when r1r. Buchanan .. -, when he took this money out of the bank -- not the campaign but several hundred thousand dollars, we - - our c(Jmpany was Toll free; 800.322.,_ Facsimile; S04.35S.61S2. 1609 Rlverplao:;e Tower 1301 Rlverpiace Boulevard Jacksonville. R 32207 www.esqufresolutlorls.com FEC00243 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 ._._------1 -------_.-_.. 5" CONFIDENTIAL __ ..._---.. _-- " having cash problems, And Josh several times told 2 3 4 5 me, yOU need t.o go to vern t::!nd ask to pay this money back. We need it. And then John Tosch really made Josh upset, he never was paid any of his, .. Q. ,Just one other questir]n about Josh, then Do you happen to know whex:e he 6 7 8 I'm done, J?ack. lives? A. What his home address is? He lives in Jacksonville, I don't know, 9 He lives on Southside. I don1t know his exact 10 11 12 addressl but it's right -- Southside, Deer Creek area, MR. SOVONICK, BY MR. GOULD, Q. Okay, great. 13 14 I:t: at a late:r t.ime you recall his will you please contact us? 15 16 address l A. Yes/ of course. r just have to call him. 17 18 He does not actively work. wi tIl me anymore, but we.,. Q. Okay. Getting back to contributions made t:he FEe records show that you 19 20 21 by your employees, contributed $4 1 600 to Vern Buchana!l for Congress on or about September 2, 2007. Was this contribution 22 23 24 25 made in connection with any of your business dealir.lg's with Mr, Buchanan? A. Correct. All of -, '" every cont::r.:tbution ~ ~ made to M:r.'. Vern Buchanan tola8 n.ot because we wanted l..-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .__....____._._..... __.. .......... .. _......... 1"011 free: 800.322._ Facsimile: 9Q4.355.6152 1&09 R!varplaa: Tower 1301 nrverplace Boule . . ard jacksonville; FL 3220'7 www,9s;qukmmilltlons.c:om FEC00244 Sam Kazran CONF'IDEN'rIAL November 6, 2009 53 1 2 to - .. I mean, the first check that I wr.ote assumed that be wanted me -- you know, partner wants me to write a check, I I had my senior 3 4 5 6 '7 so I'm not going to question it. But afterwa.rds, every money that we gave him, we had to -- we reimbursed out of the company. Q. on with ~1r. What business dealings did you have going Bucha.nan in that time period; whicb again B 9 is the end of 2007? A. Well, Mr. Buchanan had a Eirat right of 10 11 12 13 14 refusal with me when the Gwinnett Place Dodge was a dealersh:lp that was awarded to me by Chrysler Corporation for free. But when J went: to purchase its Mx:. Buchanan said that I have a f'irst right. of lS 16 refusal and I can't have it, hi HI 51 percent. 80 I was forced to give But then later when I wanted to buy 1'1 18 19 20 it, he says, You can pay me a mill ion dollars, but in lieu of doing payments, he wanted me to commit to money to the campaign. And that was running, dealership. and the second time that he 21 22 23 24 we were in the process of buying the Kia But, you know, I was a pretty good 80 partner, if you will, wi.th Mr. Buchanan, he always YrJu 1 :n? -- he always sa.:l.d, r'm counting on you now. 25 the only one that "an raise this kind of money. Make ESQQIBJ~~ - ToU Free~ 800.32.2_ Facsimile: 904.355,6152 16D9 RlverplBce Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jack!Oonvll1e, FL 32201 www.esqulresolutlons.com FEC00245 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 ------------_ 1 2 CONFIDENTIAL ..__ ..._._.... ..__.... 54 __ _'-----'---, sure you get it" Make sure you get it. There would be times that Nr. Buchanan would call me in a week's time several times. I 3 4 5 mean, very aggressively too. I mean l Ii I :r,"emember having two, three phone calls in period, two, three-day 6 7 Now, i f you guys go and check the close of reporting l that quarterly reporting, you'll see 8 9 10 11 that, you know, at the beginning you get a small amount, but then towa rde the end of it: he "ould always expect us to do more. 12 13 (FEC Exhibit 2 was marked for identification.) Q. Mr, Kazran, 1 1 m going to hand you a 14 15 16 17 document that has been marked for identificaticm Exhibit 20 It is a five-page document and the first page has a heading that. says Confidential Settlement Communication. A. Q. A. Yes, 18 Please take a look at: that document, I recognize this. 19 20 Please tell us what this document is. Tbis ao<.-;ument is all agreemenr~ 21 22 between me a.nd Mr. Vern Buchanan afte:r.:' I d:if3covered that he had 23 24 embezzled money from the company. And the ,,-mail to and prior to Josh had said he came in the picture! 25 that he hadn't spoken to me, To!1 Free; 800.322_ Facstmlle: 904,355,6152 16D9 Rlver'place. Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard lar::ksQl1vIUIa, PI. 32:107 www.esquiresolutlons,cvm FEC00246 Sam Kazran - - - - - - _ . _..._......_ . ........ 55 Novel1lber 6, 2009, CONl!'IDENTIAL j 1 2 3 And just to make a long story short, he agreed to pay me back the one and a half million dollars that was a result of the damage that was 4 5 caused to the comp"ny from 8? or $900,000 of money he had taken out plus the payments that I had made to him. Plus at the time I did not want: to have any 6 7 B 9 more partnership with him. And I wanted hlm to buy So he agreed out the partnership from the Kia store. to pay me $2.9 mi 11 ion. 'fhis was shortly ..... this was 10 11 right before the election. But J decided not to go through this. 12 2.9 millioT.1 J and I'm glad you brought this up because 13 14 I want to put on record at no time I ever acted to financially benefit from this. In fact, quite the 15 16 contrary, I've been doing my best to avoi.d this. But r~X'. Buchanan told me that he will pay 17 the money that he owes, and he will buyout his IB 19 po:rtion of the company and we were going to split the company. He signed the contract, and this is I.hat he 20 wanted me to do. Q. Mr. Kazran, will you turn to the last 22 23 24 page of Exhibit No.2, the signature lines, A. Q. Yea. Do you recognize the signaturf=! t'lI ..... tell 25 me which signat,ures you recognize. Toll Free: BOO.32~_ Facsimile: 904.3SS.6152 1(109 Rlverplace Tower 1301 Rlverplace eauloavard Jacksonvllle, Fl 32207 www.esqulresolutlofls.c:om FEC00247 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAL 56 1 November 6, 2009 , - - - - - - - - - - - - - _...._......_ . _ - - - - , A. It I S Mr, Vern Buchanan 18 eignat.u:c:e and 2 3 Mr. John Tosch. Q. signature~? And how is it that you recogn:i.ze these 4 5 A. I have seen these signatures several Mr. Buchanan and I have had several contracts 6 7 times. together. I'm conf:Ldent that's his. I Plus this an.d I have an 8 9 document carne from their attorneys e-mail that says Mr. Buchanan signed the documents. We need Mr. Kazran to sign so that we can proceed with funding. Q. 10 11 12 Mr. Kazran, Exhibit 2, does this appear 13 to be a true and correct copy of the Confidential 14 15 16 17 18 Settlement Communication that was 9':Lven to you by Mr. Buchananls attorney? A. Cox-rec t.. Q. A. Do you know who prepared this document? Yes{ Mr. Vern Buchanan's attorneYI:!, their 19 20 21 22 name is Lindell & Farson and Mr. Mike Lindell. Q. Was Mr. Buchanan present during the settlement negotiations? A. I had spokeD. to him several times on the 23 24 25 phone. We did discuss on a conference call I:.his agreement and the doll.ar amounts of it. Most of our L......._._... _ _ _ ..___...._. _____ .. _ _ _ .... _ _ _ _ ...... _ _ . communications were on the phone. A", Vi:P ToU Fre.e: BOO,322_ Facslmi!!!: 904,355.6152. 1609 Riverplace Tower 1301 RIV!~rplace: Bf)~ljfjl,lard Jacl witch the ot.her one. Up too the point 21 22 Q. A. The Ilather oneIl being? The affidavit. 23 24 25 I 11ave never asked or brought thi8 up with Mr. Buchanan. He's the one who started it. He's the one who filed the lawsuit, otherwise I would Toll Fr.. , 600.32Z_ facsimIle: 904,355.6152 1609 Rlverplace Tower 1301 River-place Boulevard .Jacksonville, FL 32207 www.esqulresolutlons.com FEC00255 Sam Kaz:t:an November. 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL 64 ,-----------------_._._................._...o._. 1 :2 have lleV~!r filed a lawsuit a.gainst him. Herm the one that brought this up, otherwise I wouldn't: ... you know I've been trying to avoid you folks for some time. The agreement that I made wi.th hi.m OTI 3 4 5 6 '1 this is exactly ehe dollar amouncs, not a penny more than what he cost the company. And I have receipts. B 9 That's sales tax, health coverage a.nd the money that he cook Ottt of the bank account, 1 have -- I know 10 11 that I've had so ma.ny people have attempted to get their hands on this. complete immunity I 1 '? 1~ live been offered to have I 12 13 go public, i f I give him this, ve had offers to go public and they 14 1.5 would not. ment ion my name. knrJw \'1hat he did was wrong'. And I know that this - .. r He thought that because And I know 1& 17 I'm sO desperate I'm going to sign this, that the consequences was so bedl but he'B just not a 18 19 20 good person, I could not see -- I mean, j~ign I was tempted, I was tempted to a.nd get: him off; 1 would have 21 22 done anythi.ng t.O save my company, but I dion' I:. after they backed UB out, And I wanted to destroy him by 23 24 going public and showing this. me f:r.om doIng it. And my wife prevented 25 And you. :ee the only other person that L ..._ _ ... .......................__.........._ ..........._._..._ ..........___..__.......____......_ _ _ _ _ __ j Toll Froo: BOO.322_ Fcl(:s:!mHe: 904.355',61.52 1.609 Riverpll:'lce Tewe. 1301 Rlverplar.e Boulevard .lad:sonvlllf'" FL 32201 www.esqulreoolutlons.com FEC00256 Sam Kazran ..... __-_.. .. j __ Novembel' 6, 2009 ...... __........... _----65 CONFIDENTIAL 1 r ve shared this 'Ili th. said he is. Q. Al thClllgh it s very tempt trig j 2 to expose him because he's not the person that he 3 So I Mr. Kazran I then \>J'hy have you given 5 6 us the information? Why have you cooperatoed with the FEe by answeri.ng subpoEURn.as and appearing here at the 7 8 deposition? A. 'fWD re aeons. It1s not about money. The 9 10 money piHrt of it was gone a long time ago. I wanted to make sure my employees are nat harmed, and I wanted to make Bure that Vern Buchanan bas several times discussed - - he doesn I t come out and say, I I 11 12 ITt 13 14 going to gel:: you, but he makes comments, Look., I'm going to be the governor some day. You want me to be 15 15 on your side. I'm the only person that can help you. And he's also said, And you don't want to 1'1 18 19 20 21 22 be in litigation wit.h me. an enemy. 1. knew that. I would create And just shortly after this, he started to And that's .. - and al: he sued my wife for this. that time I decided that., I,ook r I don't care. about; the money. him. I'm nat doing this to get money out of Ilve had several opportunities and I have not. Toll Froo : 800.321.._ FacsImile: 904.3SS.'fi"i'S2 ESQQ!.B~ 1609 Rll,'erplar.e Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jtlcksonville c FL 32207 www.esQulresoilltlol)s.com FECOO267 Sam Kazl:'an CONFIDflN'I'lAL Novernher 6: 2009 -------------------------------66 1 2 Q. Mr. Kazran, referring you baok to Exhibit which is titled the Ai:fidavit of sam Kazran', No.3, 3 drawing your attention to paragraph No. 4 which states: 4 During the course of tense and somewhat 5 hostile negotiations between my lawyers and me and representatives for Mr.. Buchanan; G 7 I advised a representative of Mr. Buchanan that one or more of e 9 the dealerEthips of which r was in operational control had reimbursed certain indiv:i.duaJ.s who had 10 11 contributed to the Buchanan for Congress campaign. Mr. Kazran, when did the tense and 12 13 somewhat. hostile negotiations take place? A. Thatls an inaccurate statement. I never had a hostile .. ,I have been 15 16 17 lIve been frustrated, And this but I've never he en hostile to them. paragraph is far from the truth~ Josh Far.id sent out an e .. mail t.o John 'roach because he wanted me and Ver.n Rl..lcb.anan - - he wanted me to tEUR~ll 18 19 20 Vern Buchanctn to put this money back in the company_ $100,000. This was almost 21 And I sent O'l.l.t an e-mail to J'ohn Tosch 22 23 when he made a comment that, you know, your company is going to the cookie is going to crumble and 24 we I re gcd.ng to take it over if you don't work with L-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ . 25 us. And I sent him an a-mail and I said, you know, To!! FrsQ~ 800.322.Fac$!m'lle: 904,355.6:1.52 ESQ1JIRg 1609 Rlverplatc: TQwer 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard J~cksonvUIr.r fl. 3::';':2.07 www.e-squiresolut!ons.c()n1 FEC00258 Sam Kazran ._._._.-.._ _._._ ..o..o.o. ... November 6, 2009 _----_._---67 CONFIDENTIAL, 1 Y~u're a dirt bag. lIve done so much for you gUySj 2 :3 and I I m not: even aek:i.ng for: anything other. than give me back the money which you've taken business which is going to go tor payroll. That has been the only 4 5 6 discussion.:r d('ln't. f:i,n.d t:.hat to be hostile. l'1-nd he tried to make it sound 1 ike he had nothing to do with this. Q. This is Ear from the truth. 7 8 9 When you say he said he wanted i t to sound like he had nothing to do with it -A. That's what I'm talking about. Who are you referring Co? Mr. vern Buchanan. Nfr. Vern B1..l.chanan. 10 11 Q. A. 12 13 He has been involved all along. Nothing goes on in 14 15 16 that company without his kno>lledge. Q. In paragraph 4 :t t says: I advised a representative of Buchanan that one or more of the dealerships of which I was in operational control, 17 18 19 20 had reimbursed certain individuals "'ho had contributed to the Buchanan .f.or. Congress campaign, WhCi is the represent,ative that you were referring to? A. 21 22 I don1t. know what he!s taJk:Lng about. Elent: 23 24 25 The only th:l.ng - - I out an e-mail to John Tosch I told him that if this money could go towards payroll, but this .. - this is why I wanted you folks to grab Toll Fr.., OOO.32Z_ !=at:Slmlle: 904-.355.6152 1609 Rlverpl!'lce Tower 1301 Alv.:arpiace Soulevard Jaek!SOlwllle, Fl, 31207 www.esquiresolutlofls.com FEC00259 Sam Kazran CONFIDENTIAl, 68 1 November 6, 2009 that e-?mail because it will clearly show -- this thing was not something that he knew right then and there. This is something that has been ongoing for 2 3 4 5 several years. Q. Okay. Well, I didn't mean to imply t:bat You've already told us 6 7 8 you wrote this affidavit. that someone else wrote it, A. Carre c t: I yes. Q. 10 11 But this aEfidayJ.t says that one or more At the time that this was of the dealerships. occurring when they were asking you to sign this dealershIps to sign this affidavit., which 12 13 14 15 dealerships were you operational -- did you have operational control of? A. I had -- the one" that Mr. Buchanan and I 16 v/ere involved were Premier Dodge, Kia of The Ayenues, 17 18 19 20 21 22 Kia on Atlantic. And I had already purchased in 2008, I had already finished making the payments for Hyundai of North Jacksonville. MH. SOVONICK: in Georgia? THE WITNESS: Gwinnett Place is Prender What about the dealership 23 24 Dodge, Gwinnatt, LLC. MR. SOVONICK, That's the one you had 25 -_..--------_.._ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T?li Free; aOO,:322~ Fw::s!mUe! 904.355.6152 operational control of? ESQQIB~ 1609 RI ...erpla~ Tower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jacksonvl"e, fL 32207 www.esqu!resolutlol'l$,t(lm FEC00260 Sam Kazran Novenmer 6, 2009 11"--THE WITNESS: 69 COl:recl;. , 2 3 BY MR. GOULD: Q. Mr. Kazran, going ba"k to the affidavi.t, 4 5 6 7 at that time period did you have a list of the individuals who had cont.r:l.buted and were reimbur!:led for contributions? A. The e-ma:l.l that I said~ sent~ John TaBellA I sent 8 him the check -- I This is the dollar amounts 9 10 l.l that you guy" took that 1'11\ supposed to get back. FJcksonv\lles Fl. 32207 www.eS(lufresol!)tlons.cOln FEC00265 Sam Kazran November G, 20'09 - - - - - - _ ............................... '14 CONFIDENTIAL J. comments as it' he's unaware of all this. and 1 don't know, I may get roysel f saying this. AS I said, 2 in trouble for 3 4 5 I >laS so desperate I would have signed it had it not been because of my wife. I wanted to save my companYI and he saw an opportunity, someone >Iho' would do anything. 8 6 very desperate who 7 8 9 And when this did not go through, he became Ilery defensive. I know be! sat:. t.empt.ed t.o sue me. He I s 10 11 12 told me that he's very powerful, and I don't want to be agai.nst hi.m. He has partnered up "lith Bank of America to take the company away several s several 13 14 times. And all along he wants, he want:s me to g:i.ve L him a release ,;;lnd not. meut1.on anyt.h:l.ng 15 Now, I have never used thi9 against him. 16 17 18 Not only this is the proof, as much as I'd 1 i.ke to, as much as he deserves it f l 1 ve never gone public with this information. And I wouldn't be sit.ting 1 19 talking to you folks - - as you know It \re done roy 20 21 22 best t.o run away from everybody I bu.t Ilm here because itls time for Mr. Buchanan to stop threatenj.ng people. I I 23 24 m not doing this i:03:' money. I 1 m not going to go after him for this money or wb.at live 25 already written that. off, ........... ........ _ _-_ ...._ - - - _................................. And I want to put: on _----_.............................._.. Tot! Free: 001).322_ Facsimile: 904,355.6152 1609 Rlverplace, Tower 1301 Rlverplaci! 8Quh.ward Jackrwl1vtlle, FL 32:207 www.esqulresQltJt~om~.com FEC00266 Sam Kazran CONFrDEN'l'IA1 November 6, 2009 -"'~"~"'-----------------------, 75 ]. 2 record this is not for money. out and tell the tru"th. This is just to come 3 And I know t ..hat thi.9 m.:i.ght create 4 5 problems for me. this is not a -~ YOU tolks have bo.m very clear that this is not legal. I chose myself 6 not to have an attorney. I chose to provide you-all 7 8 9 10 11 this in:f:ormat.:l.on because it'" just time for everybody to know who 1?1r. Buchanan is. And I guarantee you :\'1: you go out and search the others, you'll see so much of this going on. I don't knew if it's of this magnitude I but 12 13 you'll fJnd t.hat every-body I a story is mo:ce like me and not his. 14 Q. 14r. Ka2:r.an l you Ela.id t.hat you had 15 conversations with Mr. Buchanan regarding these 16 17 reimbursed contributions and the affidavit that he ",anted you to sign but you didn't sign. Tell me, 18 19 were all these conversat.ions in person? A. I J ve had converlE!ations in perBon and I! ve 20 21 had conversations through the phone. In fact, I provided you a couple voice mails that he had left me. The Hrst voice mail that he had left was the 22 23 first time that he had learned about Josh's e-mail 24 25 that expressed 110W disappointed be was of this. And he popped out of the blue afcar three mDnth. or so of 0. ESQlJIRE "!.I'u,o.,Cl.!\.C.;o~ oo ~ 'roll Free: aOO.3:t2_ FacslmUe: 904.355.6152 160!1 Rlverplace 'I'ower 1301 Rlverp!ace 60ulevard Jl!cksonvllle, FL, 3n,07 www.esq!lfrE..sotutions.com FECO0267 Sam Ka2ran CONFIDENTIAL November 6 1 2009 76 1 not speak:i.ng to me and several discussions. NOw, you 2 got one or two of those voice maile, but he wanted to 3 4 make very clear that I I m going to have serious problems if I proceed. I think in that:. voice lIlaiJ. .1.t says technically you I:r.-e t:he one who! s got prable-rns or 5 6 7 B liabilities or something of that nature. But simultaneouslYI hels a politician; he uses his words 9 1D very carefully. will. He wanted to make me go away, if you And he was '\'IilJ.ing to pay foX' it t.oo as long 11 as I signed tbe affidavit. And after I didn't, he's 12 13 making good on his threat.s. '.chat voice mail ooias--t.hef.i.rE!t one waJ:; 14 15 16 17 before this contract was signed} and then the next ons. 1 1m not: l';\'l.re it: it. wam durlng or arter?wards, -~ But he the content of the message \Vas: I'm not worried about the election. anyway. I!m going to win it 18 19 '[au probably don't know i.t, but: you got. t.he one whole got problems, but lid really like to wo.rk it out. at night.. 20 That message was left in roy voice ma:t:l, late 21 22 If you know Mr. Buchanan t you ("Jan have 23 24 25 him listen to that. t.ha t: Hels VO:l. Anyone that knows him will know S I ce :L s not: 1 ike H:t::. Buchanan! very nerVOU8. normally very confident. and he carries himself Toll Fw.e: goo.~n_ Facsimlle: 904.355,&152 :1.609 Rlverplace Tower 1:'101 fUverplace SouleviJ.rd Jacksonville, Fl32207 w\Nw,e:;q!J!rmmMlanS.com FECDD268 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL , - - - - - - - - - - _ . _ - - _.... __.. _._-----left 1 2 very well, so ... Q 011 < You said that the voice ffie8!:Jage WaF.l 3 4 your.' phone? II.. Correct. I1hat phone is that? 1 had 5 6 7 Q. A. palm pilot. " -- r had an Apple phone and a mr~8f:lage J hnd after he left the I had a 9 tranSfEH:Ted it to my Apple phone and th<:!o aft:er that: I downloaded all that i.n my computer and voice 10 11 recorder. Q. Take me through the steps that you did. 12 You had a voice message on your phone? A. 14 CorreGt. And how did you get that message to the Q. 15 16 17 voice recorder'? A. words, Okay. I had the phone play. In other I had the two phones right next: to each other, 18 19 20 and I turned one on and the spElakerphone on one and just put it on the other one and let it record. MR. SOVONICK, You used a recording 21 22 function on t.he other. phone? THE WITNESS: Correct, correct. I'm not 23 24 very savvy with those electronics. Q. Okay. And then what did you do with t.be 2,5 :ceeo:cd:tXlg On the second phone? Ttlll f:rs'l: 000.322_ Fa13im!!e: 904.355,6152 1609 Rfverpli3ce rower 1301 Rlverplace Boulevard Jacksonville, FL 321.07 www.esquire.solutlons.com FEC00269 Sam Kazran November 6, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL. 78 1 A. Okay. I put that -- I mean, I asked my '" as"ist:ant: too download - - she periodically downl.oads 3 all my infoI"mation from my phone onto my computer. 4 5 And with Apple phone, all you have to do is synch it and .1.t dumps everything in there. ~.nd t.hat was 6 7 the voice mail; that's another reason you folks want ;uy computer, tranEfer:c(~d that was on t:he old phone. It was B 9 from the old phone, You have some static and all that. I think \oJ'hi le r was recording it 10 11 somebody called me and it: had all that. Q. I-1r. Kazran, pursuant to the subpoena for 12 records that the Commission issued to you on or about 13 14 August 18, 2009, you provided to the FEe a digital v?aice recorder.. We have that with us I sure~ and I wa!'lt to 15 16 17 18 19 ask you just to make is tllis the original -- is this tl1e digital voice recorder t:hat you provided to Mr. sovonlck and myself'? A. Q. correct. Okay. It a1eo has BOUIS 20 A. of my personal 21. 22 .recordings on there as well, Q. We don't want to know anyt:hing about the 23 personal recordings. 24 A. Q. I understand. 25 Mr. Kazran, since this ia your digital Toll Free: 600.32.2_ racslmlle; 904.355,6152 1609 Rlverplate Tower 1301 Rlverplace BouleVBf'd JacKsof'lvHle-1 FL 3?2ff) y.,.'Ww,e5il1lJir~sollltlons.coln FEC00270 Sarn Kazran CONFIDENTIAL 79 November 6, 2009 ,---_. ----_..._ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 voice recorder, can you play for us the voice messages that Mr. Buchanan left on your phone. A. 2 3 Cor?reet. Sure. 4 5 Q. Mr. Kazran, can you please operate this voice digital device so that we can hear the voice message t.hat A. Q. [~r. 6 Buchanan left on your phone. 7 8 9 Sure. Mr. Kazr'an, you fJaid you had two recordings of tbat conversation? Correct. Q. One that. had a lot of static on it? 10 11 12 13 14 A. Q. A. Correct. Would you play for us the one -Yes, When:r WI:.LS recording it t somebody 15 called me and it had that. stat:lc. Q. A. 16 Then what. did you do? I 17 just rerecorded it, and there was no 18 19 one calling me so it's a bit more clear. (Playing recording, uSam r Vern. Sorry I 20 21 22 23 24 didn't get your message, but, Sa.m, Mike J,indell told me the ot.her day that you're going to sue us or t.hreatening to sue UB. All that we're trying to do is in the event you go through chapter 11 or unfortunately, hopefully not, but if something happens, we sell the store, they're Toll Froo , 800.3ZZ_ Facsimile' 904.355.6152 25 1609 Rtverplllcc Tower 1301 RI'Ierplace Boulevard Jacksonville, FL 32207 www.esqulfl;)solutlons.com FEC00271 Sam Kazran CONI?'IDEIITIAL Noven~er 6, 2009 ;--------------------------------------------------------------, 80 1 2 recommending to protect our interests_ want to resolve it, work it out. And I 3 4 5 6 "I can't put -- I put two and a half million in cash -- no.body has done that for you ever -- this year in the business. I trust that you -- that everything is going to be great. "And the bottom line, I understand people have problems, have challenges but, you know, this should be something we should be able to work out. We're willing to save what we got: and But I think the threatening of 7 8 9 10 11 work with you. 12 13 the political stuff and all that, you got more liability than you know If: you start telling people that you reimbursed people, because 15 16 17 18 technically you have that liability. "All I told you, and I've always made it clear is that you can't reimburse people_ They've got to giva it under their free will. You know that. At 12, 18 points, we're going to 19 20 win the election anyway. "But the bot tom line is I think r' ve been 22 23 24 your begt friend, best asset. I heard the other day too that the banks were not sbipping cars to Kia, and so that rumor is out there. And again, 25 we're just trying to protect our interest and do --_..__._--------' Toll Free: 800.322_ F"csiml!e: 904.355.6152 1609 Rlv~rplac:e Tower 1301 Riverplil<::e Boulevard JacKsonville/ Fl32207 www,esqu!resolutlons,c:om FEC00272 Sam Kazran ,--. __ _._o..oo.o._.._._------------.o.._-_......._-CONFIDENTIAL 81 ... November 6, ZOOS 1 2 3 4 what's right for us and ideally for you. "And I think that it would be a good idea if we tried to figure out how to work together. Get. a good lawyer and get what you want, but get a good la\~yer 5 in Tampa. ~1i.ke Mike is a very ,"lndelL lI.nd let. us sit 6 '7 honorable person, down and lUV/1 ~I vI .t::.VVO .t::.: '?0: OJ::. t-'t~l L./VUt TO:Stephanie COMPANY: mount; Acoount: Ban k Nt.:rnber: Sequenoe N:Jrnb'it'; Capture Date I Check Numberf 4192858163 01(02(2008 3542C !- ~""~~UN~DM~O~F~NO~mrn~J~~~~~NM~LU~am~~~mm~. . . . . .., S.!3.!N,MII'ISTHOor ,JACXSON\IIlL!, ~lOllIOA 3l!l!OO ~ ..... _ ........ _ RAY ??NINE THOUSANP TWO 1O'T1f! HUNPM~ DOLLARS AND 00/100" IiO 6'10\ 35420 I 1L..-....:1H=o::;U::.IVT,---, r-' ORDlifl Il'JE 121a81Dr 'GAYLE LEPIIART ..,~.oo : OF .._ ... ~ _------------------t , l i , :i 1 g~~ I' ~ Ii . I I BJ'I' . UI' ~~ ~ , .: iileot!'onic Endor.srments Date 01(02/2008 SeqLlfjnoe 004192858163 - Bank # 20m N Sank Name BANK OF AMERICA, NA SK_0009 11-7565_0113 Page 1 of! VIEW CHECK IMAGE tl2463 Zoom OIJt ........ -, -. . "':" Gat~: 01(03 =,~- COf\I.,p\t D,,,-Ct-,', ~ .. Jt . r,':' iYl$'''';' /flw.:::::tf/2J:~: r?.r, ' !"-,~ ..':'., , , Zoom In ,- Plll'lt screen Senti Us a Message Amount: $9,2()O.OO ' 1d,!{(q2 ~24S3 . ~, !f,: ~~~' "~ , ' '~'' o "", . ff('-7' W"Iil, 'S=- ''''ctJ U- r.~ : ",= , . -, \1l(t{:{cti Of oftt ," . ... .,.". ,'- ~ -:', "'~'"'''' " ,l" ~ " ~," , -, - -- ..... -.- -"'--.'''~-- ...-. ---- https:l/online,compassweb.com/,cpclservletlcompassonlinelcheckllnage-front.jsp?tranID=08,.. 915/20Q8 SK_0010 11-7565_0114 Page 1 ofl VIEW CHEGKI.MAGE 1 1 I I " ; https:!lonline.compassweb.comlc]J~lservlet/compassonline/checkim;tge-back.jsp 9/5/2008 SK_0011 11-7565_0115 EXHIBIT 5 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res, 895 as Amended OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW INRE: REVIEW NO,: DATE: LOCATION: TIME: PARTICIP ANTS: Hyundai of North Jacksonville Comptroller 11-7565 December 9,2011 225 East Coastline Drive Jacksonville, FL 32202 10:00 a,m, to 10:45 a,m, (approximate) Kedric L. Payne Omar S, Ashmawy SUMMARY: The witness is a former employee of several of Representative Vern Buchanan's auto dealerships, The OCE requested an interview with the witness and she consented, The witness made the following statements in response to our questioning: 1. The witness was given an 18 U.S,C, ? 1001 warning and consented to an interview, The witness signed a written acknowledgement of the warning prior to the interview, which will be placed in the case file in this review, 2, The witness is currently employed as a payroll practitioner at Jacksonville Electric Authority, She has been employed there since January 2, 2011. 3, The first automobile dealership that she worked for that was affiliated with Representative Buchanan was M & L Motors, She worked as an accountant for the dealership from approximately 1995 to 2002, 4, From 2002 to 2004, she worked as the office manager for Buchanan Jenkins Hyundai, 5, In 2004, Sam Kazran became an owner of Buchanan Jenkins Hyundai and it became Hyundai North Jacksonville ("HNJ") , The witness worked there was comptroller until HNJ closed, 6, Her duties as comptroller included responsibility over the company's bank records, weekly payroll, and insurance, She also prepared the company's financial statements which included records of all income and expenses, 7, After she prepared the monthly financial statements, Dennis Slater and Sam Kazran reviewed the records, 8, The witness reported directly to Mr. Kazran, She managed employees who reported to her, including Jill Oaks, Stephanie Champs, and Jan Martin, 9, The witness told the OCE that the financial statements for HNJ were ultimately given to Representative Buchanan, It is her understanding the Representative Buchanan reviewed MOl-Page 1 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 as Amended the financial statements with Mr. Kazran. Her understanding is based on Mr. Kazran's conversations with her at the time. 10. The witness never met Representative Buchanan. 11. The witness told the OCE that she contributed to Representative Buchanan's campaign around 2005 and 2008. 12. Mr. Kazran told her to make the contributions. 13. She described the first contribution. She told the OCE that Mr. Kazran was at HNJ on the phone with Representative Buchanan. 14. Mr. Kazran said, "Vern, I'll handle it right now." 15. Mr. Kazran then told her to write a personal check to Representative Buchanan's campaign. Then she was to write a check to herself from the company and "gross it up". This meant that she was to make the check from the company large enough to cover taxes such that after taxes it was enough. 16. The witness said that at the time she did not know that the transaction was illegal. 17. She described the second time that she made a contribution to the campaign. 18. When Mr. Kazran asked her to make the second contribution she said she screamed at him and said that the company could not afford to make the contribution at the time. 19. She said that she contributed because she had the feeling that her employment could be terminated if she did not. She felt as though Representative Buchanan had the ability to tell Mr. Kazran to terminate an employee because he was the majority owner of the company. 20. The witness told the OCE that other HNJ employees made contributions to Representative Buchanan's campaign. 21. Mr. Kazran told her who contributed and the witness wrote checks from HNJ to reimburse the employees. 22. The witness recalls that Stephanie Champ contributed to the campaign, but Diana from Representative Buchanan's campaign committee returned the check to Ms. Champ. The witness did not know Diana's last name, but she recalled that Diana assisted Representative Buchanan's campaign. 23. The witness told the OCE that the check was returned because Ms. Champ was not married. 24. However, Ms. Champ had already received the reimbursement from HNJ. As a result, another HNJ employee, Joe Cutaia, made the contribution to the campaign. In return, Ms. Champ wrote a check to Mr. Cutaia to reimburse him for the contribution for which she had already received a reimbursement. MOl-Page 2 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 as Amended 25. The witness told the OCE that the payments were listed in HNJ's financial statements as salary. 26. She does not recall any specific designation for the payments other than salary. 27. She told the OCE that Representative Buchanan had to be aware of the reimbursements because the salary entries for individuals were higher during certain months than others. 28. She also stated that Dennis Slater would have known about the reimbursements. 29. The witness said that during the summer of2010 the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") contacted her and asked about what happened with the contributions to Representative Buchanan's campaign from HNJ employees. 3 O. The FEC then asked her to write a statement, which she sent to FEC. 31. She has not been deposed by anyone concerning this matter. 32. When asked how Mr. Kazran received reimbursement for campaign contributions, the witness stated that she does not believe that he was reimbursed through salary. 33. She believes that he may have been reimbursed through partnership distribution. She explained that as partners, Buchanan had to receive 51 % of any distribution. Any such distribution to Mr. Kazran had to be approved by Dennis Slater. This memorandum was prepared on January 3, 2012, based on the notes that the OCE staff prepared during the interview with the witness on December 9, 2011. I certify that this memorandum contains all pertinent matter discussed with the witness on December 9, 2011. Kedric L. Payne Deputy Chief Counsel MOl - Page 3 of 3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETIDCS EXHIBIT 6 1 1 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 as Amended OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW INRE: REVIEW NO.: DATE: LOCATION: TIME: PARTICIPANTS: Hyundai of North Jacksonville CFO 11-7565 December 5, 2011 225 East Coastline Drive Jacksonville, FL 32202 7:10 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (approximate) Omar S. Ashmawy Kedric L. Payne SUMMARY: The witness is the former Chief Financial Officer of an automobile dealership affiliated with Representative Buchanan. The OCE requested an interview with the witness and he consented to an interview. The witness made the following statements in response to our questioning: 1. The witness was given an 18 U.S.C. ? 1001 warning and consented to an interview. The witness signed a written acknowledgement of the warning, which will be placed in the case file in this review. 2. The witness is currently the managing director of U.S. Outfitters, LLC. He has held that position since 2007. Prior to this position, the witness was the Chief Financial Officer for Honda of North Jacksonville ("HNJ"). This was the only Representative Buchanan affiliated entity with which he was involved. 3. He initially joined HNJ because of his background in construction. There were plans to buildout HNJ and some other projects. Sam Kazran asked the witness to come work with him to help out with the building. Sam Kazran has been the witness's brother in law since 1998. The witness was involved in the construction, planning the interiors, and purchasing furniture. The title of Chief Financial Officer was a "title that was bestowed" on the witness. 4. The witness mainly reported to Mr. Kazran. Regarding his duties, the witness said that the more involved in the construction side of his work, the less he was involved in the financial side. The dealership's fmances were not his day to day work. Each dealership had its own comptroller who did the day-to-day fmancial management. The witness was involved in the banking side because the dealership had to put together "packages" for the construction projects. 5. The witness left HNJ in 2008 because Bank of America audited the dealership and determined they had defaulted on the loan. The bank shutdown the business. 6. At the end of each month, the witness reviewed HNJ's financial statements with Mr. Kazran and Ms. Gayle Lephart, the comptroller for HNJ. The statements contained sales figures, expenses, and other data on the incomes and expenses ofthe dealership. MOl - Page 1 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 as Amended 7. Dealership expenses included salaries and bonuses for employees, rent, other compensation, etc. Ms. Lephart and the witness would review the statements to see if they were "in or out of line." 8. The witness knew Representative Buchanan. He first met Representative Buchanan in 2004 when Mr. Kazran bought into a dealership with Representative Buchanan. The witness also met Representative Buchanan a couple of times at a partners' meeting and at a fundraiser in Sarasota, FL that was attended by Vice President Dick Cheney. The witness thought the fundraising event was in 2006. 9. The partners' meetings were held on a regular basis. All of the partners of the automobile dealerships Representative Buchanan owned would meet. They would review all the sales figures and report on each dealership, including the numbers of vehicles sold, whether they were new or used, and other categories of sales. 10. The witness only attended two of the partners' meetings. On each occasion it was because Mr. Kazran asked him to attend. Mr. Kazran was the person who attended all the meetings. 11. At the first partners' meeting that the witness attended, the witness was walking to Representative Buchanan's office with Mr. Kazran, John Tosh, and Representative Buchanan. Representative Buchanan said that he needed help with getting money for his campaign. 12. Prior to this occasion, the witness was with Mr. Kazran at the HNJ location. They were in the sales tower and were walking from the sales tower towards their office. Mr. Kazran was on the phone with Representative Buchanan. He knew this because Mr. Kazran put the phone to the witness' ear while Representative Buchanan was speaking so that the witness could hear what was being said. The witness heard Representative Buchanan say that "they could get the managers to contribute to the campaign and the dealership would reimburse them." 13. This happened on two occasions. The witness did not recall the second occasion as clearly, however he remembered that he was at the HNJ location with Mr. Kazran and that they were also walking from one place to another. He recalled that Representative Buchanan told Mr. Kazran to "reimburse" people who gave contributions to his campaign. 14. The witness made contributions to Representative Buchanan's campaign and was reimbursed for them. Mr. Kazran told the witness he would be reimbursed. The witness' understanding of Representative Buchanan's role in the reimbursement process was that Representative Buchanan directed it. When asked why he had that understanding, the witness said that it was because Representative Buchanan told Mr. Kazran to do it and because of Representative Buchanan mentioned that he needed help at the partners' meeting. 15. The witness did not recall how the reimbursements were categorized in the financial statements that he reviewed with Ms. Lephmt at the end of each month. They may have been categorized as "bonus." The witness also stated that at the point in time when reimbursements were being made he was not involved in the financial side of the business - he got involved a little later, in the latter part of 2006. Before he got involved, the financial side was managed by Mr. Kazran and Ms. Lephard. However, the witness knew the reimbursements were taking place because he was privy to the conversations. MOI- Page 2 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETIDCS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 as Amended 16. When asked about the affidavit that Representative Buchanan asked Mr. Kazran to sign, the witness said that he learned about it the day it was presented to Mr. Kazran. Mr. Kazran called the witness when he received it and emailed it to the witness. The content of the affidavit is nothing but a cover-up by Representative Buchanan. Representative Buchanan offered Mr. Kazran the affidavit while a deal that Mr. Kazran needed was pending. 17. The witness also referred to an email he sent to John Tosh. The email was written "well before" the affidavit was presented to Mr. Kazran. 18. The witness told the OCE that the email concerned the money taken out of the operating fund of the company for the campaign contributions that were reimbursed. 19. The witness was then shown an August 5, 2011 newspaper article from the Florida Independent, titled "More Former Buchanan Employees Speak Out about Pressure to Donate, Reimbursement Scheme." He was asked if the quotes attributed to him in the article were accurate and true. The witness said yes. 20. The witness never worked on Representative Buchanan's campaign or communicated directly with Representative Buchanan. This memorandum was prepared on January 5, 2012 after the interview was conducted on December 5, 2011. I certify that this memorandum contains all pertinent matter discussed with the witness on December 5, 2011. Omar S. Ashmawy Staff Director and Chief Counsel MOI- Page 3 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS EXHIBIT 7 I 1 1 -7565__0124 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION Wasbiugton, DC 20463 September 28, 2010 Via Pemolllll Service JacklonvillD, FL 32225 Re: MUR60S4 SamKazran 11?2001 LLC dIbIa Hyundai afNorth Jacksonville Dear Mr. Kazr:an: On Seplember21, 2010. the Federal Election Commission found that there is probable C&\IIIe to believe that)'Ou and 11?2001 u.c d/b/a Hyundai of North Iacksonville (''llNJj, violated 2 U.S.C. ? 441(, and that HNJ violated 2 U.S.C. ? 441a(a), provisions of tho Federal Eldon Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, in connection with coJilribuliOll5 to Vern BuChaDan for CongteR that were reimbursed usin& HNJ fUnds. The Qrll!lllim-.5Jils aduty to1llitelllpt to correct 81mh vialMlDml b apm(m oflt least 30 da)'l8lld. DO more tIum 96 dfiys by intlmIIml methods 06 collfarmce, l:01IIIiIiaIion, and persuasion, and by enteriDg into a conciliation agreement with a respondeat. Ifwe In unable to reac!Y1l agrr&!IMDt Bftec 30 days, llie ('.ammjuion. may iusiiIUfD a civil suit in tIuited Statc:a Distril:t Court .ndseek payment of a civil penalty. Bnclosed is o conciliation 8I!!!!e!Ilent that tho Ct>mmi-inn bas !!I!!!!o\'ed io sett1emmt of this mBIIer. I~ QilLL MarkAllcm As.si1llBn! Oenmal Counsel Enclosure FEC_MUR_6054_0432 11?7565_0125 EXHIBIT 8 1 1 -7565_0126 2/3112 From: kazran52 @aoLcom> documetations for ... Jo r~vlew To: john . . . .@buchananautQgroup.com:> SubJect: documetatlonsfor....to review Date: Mon, Sep 6, 2008 6:38 pm AUuGhmanta: .... n0001(1L(2).jpg (B6SK), scan0002[1L(2).jpQ (585K), scan0003[1L(2).jP9 (S99K), scan0004(1L(2).Jpg (l67K), checU"ple .. vBm12B[1j.pdf (17BK) this this is the 1st set of checks, there are more to follow, It givea me great regret to ha'le done th:l.s 1!or over 20k .o Maybe ne can consider taking part of thb 80k+ as one month of payment so my w:Lfe dOesn't t:ry out of fear of looaing our home. I tbank Vern fo~ giving me permi~5ion to set aside my moral character". Vern when he doesn't even hesitatea for a second to sue me and my wife 1. 1.3million of loan on Hyundai that was never disclosed nor mentioned in agreement 2.purposly deceiving ~end8r by injectin~ cash and taking it right ba~k to qUalify for a 10l1n, "fraud!! 3.borrowing money as capital contribution when that's a di~ect lender violation 4. 1, ~ million .in gwillstte in outstanding pills plllS I, 6milli,on in lease payments 5, a total of 2.2million of capital required by Ve~n as per our agreement and manufacture reqUiremen~ 6. a total of 15million in damages caused by lack of capital in companies that Vern contributed 7. major reason for the loss of 423 employees and their families because I made a bad decisions and believed Vern at his word ...... ,., B. I am sure the other 5 partners can add on to this list ...o lett) dissolv~ our. partnership and remain friends .. , o.o if Vern wants to take Ria stores it will be 1.5million .. what's not optional is gwinette .... based on my agre~ment the b~6t way to resolve thi~ is to go back to what we agreed. ,he is owed 10k per month as a partner, all other rnone~ needs to be paid back to me,.once that i~ done we both can work together and dissolve the company as 1?3rtnel:s ooooo other option is wait until tOIl\OL'rOW tQ find out if Sent: Mon, a Sep 2008 4:18 pm ~ Subject: oheck copies These are the copies that I have. Let know if you need anything else. Thank you! Stephanie Looking for spoilers and reviews on the new TV season? Get AOL's ultimate guide to tall TV. [_4Mtaoh~~I~m~.~9:.'~____________________________________________________________________________________~ mail.aol.comJ35412& 111/aol-6len-uslmal!JPrintMessage.aspx 113 SK_0028 11-7565_0127 2/3/12 documetatioM for.".to review i.-~-:.:'.:~~ .. ---,"",,-.-''',''_ ...... t,_~.~.,;. ,.:;,lJl~;j~j&l;i[;li~i~::,:,.,.""",..~:;. . '_~.'"M~"~_' .., ! I I I i ! ! ~ ............. -----~,.,.,. ..._-....,. , 1 ..................................--'......... "'.......... _ ............. ..1 mail.aoI.OOIl1f35412.111/aol-6/en-uslmaillPrintMessage.aspx 213 SK_0029 11-7565_0128 - . 111 zm;5 11 -7565_0129 EXHIBIT 9 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION Washington, DC 20463 December 20. 20 II VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL AND FIRST CLASS MAIL William 1. McGinley, Esq. Patton Boggs LLP 2550 M Stteet, N. W. Washington, DC 20037 ~PattonBoggs.com RE: MUR6054 Vern Buchanan for Congress and Joseph Gruters, in his official capacity as Treasurer Dear Mr. McGinley: On February 7, 2011, you were notified that the Fedeml Election Commission detennined on February 1,2011, to take no further action and close the file as to your clients, Vern Buchanan for Congress and Joseph Gruters, in his official capacity as Treasurer. This letter is to advise you that the file in this matter has been closed and this matter is now public. Documents related to this matter will be placed on the public record within 30 days. See Statement of Policy Regarding Disclosure of Closed Enforcement and Related Files, 68 Fed. Reg. 70,426 (Dec. 18, 2003) and Statement ofPoUcy Regarding Placing First Genernl Counsel's Reports on the Public Record, 74 Fed. Reg. 66132 (Dec. 14,2009). Enclosed is a copy of MUR.6054 Gllneral CoUllSel's. Rilport #9 in which the Office of the General Cauosel recolllUlmded that the Commission tlke no furthw: action as to Vern Buchanan for Congress and Joseph Gruters, in his official capacity as Treasurer, the recommendation approved by the Commission on February I, 2011. If you have any questions, please contact Michael Columbo at (202) 694-_. W~ Michael A. Columbo Attorney Enclosure Sincerely, FEC_MUR_6054_0769 11-7565_0131 1 2 In the Matter of F'EDERAL ELECT/ON' COMMISSION BEFOlUl: THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION ) ) ) ) RECEIVED 2UII JAN 25 PH 2: 0I MUR60S4 3 4 Vernon O. Buchanan Vern Buchanan for Congress and Joseph R. Oruters, in bis offICial capacity 88 treasw"er eEL A 5 6 7 8 ) ) 9 o:;:r 11\ (.() GENERAL COUNSEL'S REPORT #9 I. RECOMMENDATION Take no further action as to Representative Vernon O. Buchanan, Vem Buchanan for COngIeSl and JOHph ClruW'$, 10 II ..... ..... I'll o:;:r o:;:r N 12 13 14 IS 16 in his official capacity liS 1rellS1Im', and clllle tI:u: tile 88 to thase Il q' .... .... qo Q I,n !.I'I 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1] Q. Okay. And did you get someone that you trusted? A. Yes, Ms. 0Bi1 Lepbart and 0; Smith, he's no long~with us, thcywere the office mamgers. Ms. Ollillnl!hut WIll our ctunptroller that Iliad knIlwn aad had I gClOd rc:latill1IIhip with. And she was &ping III !rut the cbeclt. She's tlIa JlClDDll that ellis the check. And the ,first time that - anell thiak: she,'s contributed on multiple times, but the tirst time that I did, I told her that we'd be getting !hi, money back fiom Mr. Buchanan. I said,l don't know when, he jlllli asbd me to do it. Kazran Depo at 2(1.22. Kaznm makes another reference to Lephart later in the deposition when we '!lIISlkllllll him abouI a pamlPllph in ait affidavit ht Buchallan and John TOIIdI, the CEO of his eompmias, JlIIIICII!ed 10 him 10 sign in collMClion 1IIilh I seull11l6iJt of a busille.ss dispute blllWcen Bllchanan and Ka'Zl'lll. SAe Section V.E., below. This paragraph states that before September 2008, neither he ~r Buchanan knew ofreimburscments at HNJ. Kaznm slall:d: A. That is an absolute lie. Mr. Vern Buchanan?? well, let's put it this way. rm IIlIqIIiwcd that li:cyra pailiug that ill_C, bUDaUIB net IJIIIy be's IIod peruona\ talb with me,l've had ??losh Fariel has heard him, Oail Lephart on the phone has heard hiIh.... 14 15 .... N 16 17 18 HI 20 21 Kazran Depo lit 70. BuGbaDan d.eIIiccI thai he'ever SJ,ageated to ICazran lilat he reimb\ll'Sf: these eontributions. Buchanan Depo at 98?99. To help resolve this factwd dispute, we 1lIo1c.:d lit sworn lIIIitIlmcnts Il'Om wilUl:SSG3 who claill1Dd !bay wn pruat CUDI 2005 c:o.,~tions regarding relmbllllling contributions at flNJ. First, Gayle Lephart AVltlred tMtjUD! before she lUIIlIIlher C0111.timruon to VBFC on 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 November 29, 2005, she heard Kazaan talking on 8 cellphoe to 8 person she assumed was Buchanan. See Lephart Affidavit. She hl:8l:d KaznI11 say somcthfng like "Vern, I'll handle it now," and immediately after that, Kazran told her to write a personal check to VBPC in a specific amount and reimburse herselfwith fIN! funds. and then find other potential contributors at flN1 and reiJnbUtSe them through HNl's payroll account, whIch she did. Id. She also swore 31 that Kazran directed her to send the conlributions to Diane Mitchell at VBFC. Id Diane FEC_MUR_6054_0775 11?7565_0137 MU1l60S4 General CounRl', Rl;xlrl1I9 (llepruenllllve Vemon G. Bucbllllll.' til.) P.... 7 1 2 Mitc:hell is 811 assistant 10 John Tosch who, according to Buchanan, may have done some vobmteerwork for VBFC. Buc:hanan Depo at 101-102. 3 4 S N However, LephBrt does not swear that she hean:! Bw:b8lllll1 dlleCt Kazran 10 reimburse contrl'butions, iDdeed, she did not hear anything Buchanan said during the phone call in question. Further, Lephart did not corroborate Kazran's testimony that he told her that Bltchanan would repay HNI fOl'the lUimbunements. Lepbmt Aff. at I. Second, Joshua Parid, Kaanu\'s buslae.s partner and brother-in-law, swon: to II't II't .-t .-t til q Cl:) N .-.j 6 1 '" 8 9 overbearing a 200S phone converaation during wbich Bucbanl\ll told Kazran tbal be needed to . rDiaI: $50,000 for VBFC. See Farid Affidavit at ,4. He a1110 swore that Iae heard Ka=n tell Buchanan that he: had already contributed the maximum to Buchanan's campaiJ!ll, to which Buchanan replied that Kazran should have IiNJ employees contribute to the campaign and then reimburse them with HNJ funds. Id Kazran did not mention this conversation in his deposition. B. The 2006 lastru!!tioas to ReImburse Contribution. 10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 Kazran also testified 10 112006 convCISatlon during which Buchanan suggested to him that he could reimbune colltributions at liN! to raise $25,090 or $SO,DOO for VBFC, and this suggestion was put'ofltlC ncgotilllions regarding KaZl'llll'S Jl'llChase ofBuchlllllll's iRterest in a dealership in Georgia called OwilUlett Place Dodge. Koaan Depo at 13-14,32,34-36. BIIilhaIwI denies lila, he ever IIIpIIIted IUnbuttiJI8 cnnlrihutiQIII at liNl, Dw.chenan Depa Rl9S, 98-99, ancl spetitically denied that he 4ist:ussed with Keen the amount that KaZfIBI. would have to pay him for his share of Gwinnett Place Dodge, and denied askJng Kazran to mise funds in 17 18 19 20 21 connection with that tzansaction. Id at 104-106. ICamn testified that Buchanan, Fariel, and he were walking in a hallway when ICamn offered to buy Buchanan's interest in that dealership. Kazr8ll Depo at 32, 34-35. Buchanan had 22 23 FEC_MUR_6054_0776 11-7565_0138 MUR 6OS4 GOIWlII Counsel'. Report 119 (Representative Vernon G. Bw:hanan u 01.) Pap 8 1 2 3 asked Kazran for $300.000 or S4OO,000 for his interest, but Kazran did not have that much money, Id. at 35, Kazran wanted to pay 8 smaller amount, and he wanted to pay Buchanan over time. ld. He further testified lhal Buchanan agn:ed to payments over time ifKazran would agree to raise ''25? or S50,000" for VBFC. Id. at 35?36. When Kazran said he did not have that much 4 5 til I.t'I I.t'I money. Buchanan told him to "get someone )'OU tnlSl; and MI it through the col]lOl'lltion," Id. at 36. lie also claim that Prrid was PRlle'4I during the conver9lltlon. Id. at 32,72. Farid,lmwever, doeJ nlll swear that JIe heard Blrshanan lull K8ZI'IIII to reimburse VBFC contrlbuliollll willi HNJ tbnds ibJring 1bia OIIIlvmatillll. HI! swears thrI1. (1) he bsur.I B1IChanan tell Kamn thai he "would have to get marc fullda for Buc:hanan's campaign," and (2) it was his undenllanding Hlmm on subsequent conversations [Farid) had witllMr. K"P"i'" that Buchanan wanted Kuran 10 solicit contributions from HNJ emplcyces and then reimburse the!n with HNI 6 ... .... til 'iii" (!) 7 8 "I' 9 10 ... N 11 12 funds. Farid Aft'. at ,5. So, while Farid's affidavit provides evidence that is consistent with 13 14 some details 10 which Kazran also testified, illacks ill'St?hand testimony on !he most impoJlllllt point: whether Buchallan told Kazran to reimburse contributions at IiNJ in 2006. C. The 1007 IDltraetloD! to Reimburse CoDtrlbulioDI IS Hi 17 18 19 20 21 22 There is curroboratiDI'J. ofKmzn reimbursing cor.IftbutiOlUl at FlN1 in 2007 ,!iut not of the allegation that Bucb_ din:cm1 them. KamIlil'S testimony as III such O1IIlIIbarsemcnl8 was: BIIt on tho _.one! time, in fact, she [Lcphart] was 81 tIje oflice wlum I'WIIS ta1kinB to Mr. BIlGbanan. And at !he time in 2007. or 2008, was the aecond one, the et.IMp8!Iy was not doing very sood. 5O-oIIIId she was. not very happy about 111 writing those large amoWlls of cheeks. 23 24 25 26 K8ZI8II Dcpo at 22, He also testified: AacI that - ad the second time that 1m was Nlllling, WCI were 1ft the proeess of buying the Kia dealership. But, 1'11l know, I was a pmty good partnBr, if you will, wi1b Mr. Buchanan, so he always oo he always said, I'm counting on you DOW. Yw'le the only one that can raise this kind or money. Make sure)'Ou get it Make sure )'Ou get it 27 21 211 FEC_MUR_6054_0777 11?7565_0139 MUR 6054 0_1 Counsel's Rcpon 119 (Rcpretentative Vernon O. Bucba_ c/ al.) Pago9 1 2 3 4 S 6 There would be times that Mr. Buchanan would call me in a week's time severs! times. I mem, very aWlli&ively IcCl. 1_, I relllKfllber bavinJj two, thne phone Clldlsln II 11IiO, Jil.ree-day Jlll"lod. 7 B 9 Now, If you guys go and check the close of reporting, thaI quarterly ~rting, you'll see that, you know, at the beginning you set 8 small amount, but then towards tho end of it he would always expect liS to do more. Kazran Dapo at 53?S4. Razran tilrther testified: Q.: Mr. Kazran, going 11..,11 to the p..vi01l8 testimony that you've: made today, isn't It lIUe thaI you were initially approached by Mr. Buchanan who inslrUCted 10 q' III III ..,.j ..,.j II 12 1] youA.: Bvery time. 10 q' q' 14 IS 16 (1) N !"'f 17 18 19 20 Q.: oo to reimburse your employees with the company money and contribute to his IlIIIIlpalgn? 21 22 23 24 25 26 A.: Risht. He said get wmcbody you InllIt, run it through the colJIUration. And Josh Farid _ present there. ld. at 72. Again, Bcli:bmlllll dl!lllie:s!bet lis ever discusacd reimlBming comriimtioDS Ili liNl. Buchanan Dcpo at 93, 98?99. Lephart's aftidavil also dea::ribes reimbursements at HNJ "sometime in 2007.H She swore that Kaznm ~ptoached bos and told her that HNJ employees needed to contribute to VBFC and be relmblll"Sed with HNJ tuads. Sbll claimed she U11d Kmnm she _11? 0Jlsd: 1IIat 27 28 29 30 31 company money WIll galng to 1m usBd 111 tBimaullle aollirilRJiions, but KaztIBn mspaaded only with a shrug. Ss, Lephart Mldl'!'il. What is missing from both KIwan's testimony and Lephart's sllIlcment is specific, direct cvidenee that Buchanan told Kazran to reimburse contributiODll in 2007. Kazran testifies only that Buchanan told him to get more contributions, and he was aggressive abQut iL Ka1llIn Depo 32 33 34 at S3-54. He obliquely indicated that these _tributions were also accomplished through a tnutecI person, Lepbart. It at 22. Lephart testifies only that Kazran told her to reimburse more FEC_MUR_6054_0778 11?7565_0140 MUR 60'4 Oeneral Counsel's Report N9 (Representative VcmDII G. Bucllallan" a/.) Page 10 1 contributiOIll at HNJ, she told Kazran she was upset about it, and Kazran only sluugged. Kazran also 1estitied ambiguously about how Buchanan instrueted him to reimburse contributions "every time," but he rcems to be referring to times when Farid was present, and Farid was not present during the 2007 conversation he had with Buchanan. Kazran Dcpo at 72. As there is insufficient direct evidence thaI Buchanan directed K8zran \0 reimbUl1lc contributions at HNJ, we nCltI COIISidmd the ciraurultantial evidence. Vo I 2 3 4 S III III III I 6 ...t 7 8 9 10 , N) "" 'iii' SOME OF THE C1RCUMSTMfl'IAL EVIDENCE IS CONSISTENT WITH KAZRAN'S VERSION OF EVENTS, BUT OTHER EVIDENCE IS CONSISTENT wrm THE DENIALS OF BUCHANAN AND HIS ASSOCIKrES As described IIIDm fully in the General Counsel's Brief, there was a aeries of events fiom 'iii' C!J N 11 12 13 '"'" 200S to 2008 that relates to Kazran's allegation that Buchanan directed him and other partnm in his bUSinesses to reimburse conUibutions. lbc cm:umstalltlaJ evidence does nat suffilliently colfOborate Kazran's testimony to overcome oW' recent concems with his credibility because in many cases, the evidence is consistent with the denials of Buchanan and his asso~iates. A, Iatimo!!! IIIII Silort1t After BUEII!!D!D 6DDOUDgs! bis Can!!ldag: II! ~OOSI ODe of ~!!! 111r"'!!!tad..HIat1i1OD1o:mrCml1dha.doDl CoullLbe Reiguged Buchanan announced to his partnm at a meelin!l in late summer 200S that he wns running for COII&'oe;s. Buc:hamm. parIl'ler Sarve Sil"fcrio testified to a _venation that happened during a IlIIIch in Auglllll or September 200S that followed lI;nt m=tlug. ~ to Silwrio. 14 IS 16 17 19 20 18 21 22 23 Bucllamn's COO De.nni& Slater slI?ilISIed that CIOutributions to Buchanan's CIIIIIplIi.p could be reimbu1'8ed, and BlIChanaII's COO .Jobn Tosch "just sat there." Silverio Depo at 46-47. 24 hi response, Respondents cite Tosch's general denial of any knowledge that Buchanan or his agents suggestccl reimbursing contributions and Slater's testimony that he did not know about any contributions that had been reimbursed until he heard about them in the media Reply Brief at 14-1 Si Tosch Oepo at 35i Slater Dopa at 68. Respondents also assert that Silverio teatified 25 26 27 FEC_MUR_6054_0779 11-7565_0141 MUR 6054 00_1 Counsel'. Repo!t ~9 (R.epruenlltlvc Vernon O. Buchanan ., aI.) riC; II !hat Bucbanan never alluded to reimbursing dealership employees, and Silverio was biased 2 3 4 S (.(l against Buchanan. 8" Reply Brief at IS, note 8; Hearing Tr. at 10. In addition, before the probable uause bearing, we identified and diselosed to Ihe RespondenlS Silverio's prior statement, made during an infonnal interview before his deposition, that the Buchanan officer who authorWd the reimbursements was either Toseh or Slater and that Buchanan was present LfI LfI 6 when owe ofbis lOp oflcers gaY\: that IMttuetioo. Letter dated DetUI!IOOr 9, 2010. In contrast, durllllilllil dalillllillan, Silvaia testi6111l tluR il'llllllS i1bIIcr wbG 1IlIted: tlat partners could .-t .-t 7 ?8 ti'I q q' reimburse their ernplD)!etIS tbrollg!l payrall, and Sil1eIin didlllllt place BllclllUlDn at this diseussion. See Silverio Depa at 46-47. Fuzthet', we diselosed to R.eapondc:nts thel Silverio staled during bis inlerYiew thaI after the end of his partnership with Buc!uman, be was alone time motivalM 10 sue Bucltanan or take their dispute 10 the media, bul an attomey talked him out of il. Letter daled December 9, 20 I O. Q N 9 10 II .-t 12 13 We believe that Silverio's deposition tcstimonyremains credible. Pirst, Silverio testified in a way thaI eliminated Buch8D8/l's involvement in this incident, which is mcomistent with a bias against Buclwmn. RespoadeDts' claim that that Silverio's initial desil1: to r= Bucbanln or go to the media ahowa biea against !l!uchiman, but it is hard to lIlIderstand bow Silverio's ultimllt1l 14 15 111 17 rclillld Ie do IiIl::IIo 1IIiugs in the puI ahows !hit be mull! bIND bcaa bilaad spinal illDlulnan wilen he tlstified iii, to what RialIII' 91Jid and TIMah Nard. Flulbwr. wbetbtl il1lllltl TolBlh or Slater who aullmrized tim partners to n:lmblllllD emplo)'Ce contributiollS, Silverio comiSUlllU), claimed 18 19 20 21 22 that a top Buchanan officer ~ggested thaI partners could reimburse employee contributions. Filllllly, both Slater and Toscb. have reason to dcu)' thaI the incidenl Silverio described happened. Bven so,1bis iocident is of limited Yaluc in supporling Kman's testimony aboul 23 Buchar!aD. Silverio testified that Buchanan was not present during the conversation, and that be FEC_MUR_6054_0780 11-7565_0142 Paso 1:1 MUR 6054 GCIIEI'II Counsel'. Report #9 (Repmenlalive Vemllll O. Buchanan ., aL) never heard Buchanan suggest that partners could reimburse employee contributions. Silverio 2 3 Depo at 61. In addition, no other Buchanan partnor who we contacted stated that he heard Buchanan authorize reimbursed contributions. B. Fundrablng Prepure As described more fully at pages 9-15 of the General CoWlSe!'S Brief, there was also 4 S " Lt\ Lt\ 6 7 8 9 10 testimony and documentllI)' evidenoe thaI beginning ill2tlOS, Buchman and his associates prulll'IId lsi! nmor partaars tllllll.ise CI:II1IrlkutlDIIS, espallilllly IDwards the lind' af qDlli:ledy oot M q "" C!;) N reportiDg ~ that 9uabauu's CIIIIlpaign!l'llcmd tIwc CGIItrillutlons, and Ihat BlIslDilllUl was more involved in these aotivitias thlD he was willing to admit during his deposition. Respondents argue that all of this a.ct!vity was normal and legal, and Buehanan's lick of recall about these events is understandable, given the passage of time. Reply Brief, 16-18,22-24. We think the evidence here is ambiguous because it is consistent with both .Kazran'5 contentions of a q' .-t 11 12 13 wider rDimburscment secnario aDd Respondents' claim of nonnal campaign activity. C, Employee Reimbunemenb lit the \'eDise NIND Dylcnhlp ID 2005 aDd the 14 15 16 17 18 SlmCoast.l!pnlDylmhip In 2007 Last year, the Commission found probable cause to believe that contributions in September 200S "'IeRl reimbursed lit Veni<:e Nissan ("VNIt) , a Bucluman-eonttollcd dealership, 19 20 and the relCV8l1t rc:spoiid:nla conelliftled wilh the CClIIlIIIWsimt. Su ~I Cwmel'. ~rt #16 In this matter. There is, however, De infonaation that Buehansa was personally involved with 21 22 these reimbursements. In 2007, 8IIOther Buchanan dealership, SunCoast FOld, reimbursed $18,400 in 23 24 25 contributions to VDFC made by its operating partner. Gary Scarbrough, and three employees. Se, GC's Brieht 15-16, Reply Brief at 20-21. Respondents'.sua lponte submission in this matter did not mentioD these reimbursements. See Reply Brief, Exh. 9. Respondents do not FEC_MUR_6054_0781 11-7565_0143 MUR dOS4 General CG\D1se1's Repoll #9 (Rcpraenlilive Vernon O. Buchmln ./ a/.) Page 13 conleit that SunCoast Ford reimbursed these contributions, that they learned of the 2 3 reimbursements in 2007. or \hat they did not voluntarily disclose this feet to the Commisaion. Reply Briefat20?21. Respondents rely upon Scarbrough's testimony that he did not recall ordering the reimbursements. Jd at 7. They also maintain that VBFC's refund of the reimbursed contributions was in line with Commiasion regulations IIIId atandsrd operating procedure Ibr political C8IIIpaigns. Jd r.t 21. Regarding Scarbrough's claim be did not =811 ordering the reimbursements, we note that Scarbrongh reqJOnded lllat be either did "not recall" III' did "DOt IC.mt:mber" O\!eI 100 times durina his deposition, which lasted a little more than two hOllI3. See Swbreugh Depo, paslim. As discussed below, Scarbreugb n:membcred more during his infonnal interview, so we do not 4 S ~ 6 11'1 1(1 rI If! 'II' .... 'II' $ (\j 7 8 9 10 "" 11 12 13 consider his testimony particularly credible, In addition, after the SunCoaat Ford reimblUliemcntB were mealed, neither ScarblOllg\l nor any other SunCoasl Ford employee was diac:ipllned for using company funcIJ to contribute to VBFC, Tosch Depo at SI, nor bnve 14 Buc:hanan's businesses instituted new policies nor issued guidance to Buchanan's partners and employees about cornributing to VBFC. 'Posch Depo 4t 52. Rmpomlcnts' CUlltllntilJlllhat VBFC c:o.mplled with COIiIIIDission ~onIi whoa it relimded the reknbursad SeF CGIIIri!lutians ill essentially 11Ue. Nonetheless, in response to a IS 16 17 18 19 20 question It th~ h=rIna why ViPC oaIy disc:loHd th.e HN.T mimb?l8Cd contributWIs iD::lfII SIMI IpoIIIe and no.! the SCF reimbursed conlributions, aounsel Cor VBFC responded that CREW had filed 1\ complaint on A\IgII3t 19.2008, alloging reimbuned IlO1IIributiOJl8 at VN, and it wanted !he Commission to understand Hall of the outstanding issues." Hearing Tr. at 31?33. Counsel a111Q stated that the HNJ reimbursed con1ributions were more recent than the SCF reimbursed conlributiOllll and tbat HNJ was "a completely different fact pattern." [d. at 31?32. Counsel for 21 o 22 23 FEC_MUR_6054_0782 11?7565_0144 MUIlI5OS4 General Counsel's RcpoJl #9 (Representative Vernon O. BuchanBII u a'.) Page 14 Buchanan noted that VN never admitted wrongdoing. and he distinguished SCII from HNJ by 2 3 4 aaserting that Searbrough "believed he could engage in the activity that occurred there" and that it was a "mistake," [d. at 35-36. Ultimately, counsel's explanation appeared to be that, in contrast to the Buchanan 8ubOldinatea involved in the VN and SCF contribution reimbwscments, S 01 U\ 1.1'1 rl Kman was the only Buchanan parmer who admilted guilt. ld at 36. We believe the.sua 6 sptJnre', exc1118ion of tile SunColISt lIolt! reimbursements is in tension .nth ClOUDsel'. clailll at the hearill8 tbill ih= IU. spont, was iilnd t) belp Ihe Commislill1l undI:JltaIld "all the olllStandinll .... 7 8 9 10 Nl "if 'I:j issues!' Related to evidence of relmbursemcn1S at other Buchanan?owned dealerships is the testimony ftom Salvatore Rosa, a former financial officer far a Buchanan-owned company, that CP ...... .-f 11 Buchanan had asked him in the early 2000's to help one of Buchanan's business partners ~ive a reimbursement for a political conlribution using 1IIe funds or the company Buchanan owned with that partner. Rosa Depo at 20-21. According to Rosa, when he told Buchanan that doing so would be illegal, Buchanan told blm to Mtinesse it" and ended the conversation. Id at 21-22. Buchanan denies this ewnt happeaed, and In their Reply Brief, Respondents provide J'e8!KJIIll 12 13 14 1.5 16 why the, believe that koSI is an umellable'l'riblell5. See BUllhMan o.pe at 73?74, Reply Brief II. 17 18 19 20? 12.14. and l1cction VI.B.) beiDIN. In response.1D II question aI the belllling, liluclmnll1's colIIII.1 statad that the: phrase ''fiaease it" could be intexpretcd. in d.ift'c=tt ways BIll.!. that Bw;hwn might interpret such a s1atcment difrerently than Rosa did. Hearing Tt. at 25-26. RespondCD1s did not offer any examples ofaltemat!ve Interpretationa. 21 22 The CommissioD found probabl~ cause to believe that VN and a senior lDIII1B8er Rimbur&ed employee contn"butiOlllJ, and there is no dispute 1hat sell reimbursed employee contributions. These incidents arc consistent with Kazran's testimony of a r~mbursemcmt 23 FEC_MUR_6054_0783 11-7565_0145 MUR 60S4 General Counsel'. Report 19 (Representative Vernon G. BlII:bll\lll.' al.) Paael5 1 scenario at HNJ, another Buchanan-owned business. There is, however, no evidence directly linking Buchanan to these situations. Rosa's testimony, however,links Buchanan 10 such II scheme, although It is outside the statute of limitations. Even so, it is evidence that is consistent with Kazran's daim that Buchanan asked him to reimbunc contributions at HNJ. 2 3 4 5 C!) D. Kazna aDd 'arld',2l!I!8 Emalfs In 2008, thlll7Jqlness rvlationship betwcllJn Buchanan and Kazmn deteriorated as ttl lJ\ ..-j 6 7 8 Kazran's dalenldps began .experi.anciall ~iaI diffinlllty. All 81'QS111t, Kama snd Farid aent fill 'q"" " a lllries IIf emailaIOBEbanan.IUI(..Bf) .h>1m Tosr.;, and ont of BDchlllUlJ1's atlGlmeys in I . SUIIIDIel' and early fill !II' N CD 9 of2008 seeking to resolve the.business dispute, and in SQme cases, asking "'" 10 11 12 13 for Buchanan's help. Kazran also sent Tosch copies of tho contribution checks ofllNJ employees and the HNI checks given to those employees to reimburse them for their contribution.. See Toseh Depo Docs 000018?38. The first Kazran email, dated August 26, 2008, and sent to Buchanan, mentioned 14 15 16 17 Kazran's support of their partnership and stated "[ am the oo1y one in our group that has donated over 80k to [Buchanlm's] emnpaigD." 'rosch Dcpo DoCIII 0000511?59. It stated that Itaznn and BuclIanaa appeamd to be at the end of their ,lIrInersbip, but Kmlll hoped for an "lIIDicabl~, clean and speedy exit -1lIIY." id. at 000058. Tba ,nm',t day, Rand anI an email to Trlll:b in whiab. hi: expnr_dhlllllltioD witb 18 19 20 Buchanan bec?III'11 Buc1wum was seeking to sue Kazran after "this dealership" [HNJ] had supported his campaian "to a tunc of$BOK" at BucbaDan's request. Farid Aft'. at Exh, 1. He also expressed frustration with Kazran. It/. In his affidavit. Farid explained that he sent this 21 22 23 email, in part, because he felt that Buchanan was taking advantage ofKaznm by expectmg.bim to use dIIa1ership funds to reimburse employee contributions to VBFC. Farid Alf. at 1?2. FEC_M UR_ 6054_ 0784 11?7565_0146 MUR 60'4 Gcncnd Counsel's RqIortll9 (Represlll!alive v'emon G. Buchanln elll/.) \'age 16 On September 8, 200B, Kazran sent an email to Tosch either just before or just aftc:r 2 receiving a demand letter for $2.5 million &om Buciuman. In the emai~ Kaznm stated: this is the I" set of checks, thm: are more to fonow, It gives me grcaI rep to have dmlll!his for Vern wilen 1w. docsu" even hesitatca [lic] far BSlIIIDnd to sue me and my wife over 20k .o Maybe ke cell CDIIiidar takiOIl part of this 80k+ as one month of payment so my wife doesn't ery out of fear of looslns [llc] Out home. 1thank Vern for giving me permission to SCI aside my moral c:b:amltar ooo Tosch DePl' DO"..s 000028. Tosch tustHied that Kaman 1III'.,t Ibis CUllIn IiIld the 4hecb to him !hI day QI: tbe dDy after BIII:~ selll iIlm tim dCllllllld letter seeking $l.S Ilti111ion OR _1081( ... \.0 ... 1"'1 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 II III til ~ Buubanllllmd madn III Kaznm. TosGo't DepD at 92-96. Accoilling (0 Torch, this eDLllii IhoYIS Iha amo\llltlJ of dealership molle)' that KaznuI claimed he useclto reimbllrlUl employee contributions o o;:r (;) 12 13 14 ... N at Buchanan's direction. See Tosch Depo at 7 L H' a'fso Tosch Dapo Docs 000028,000049 o i 000056, and 000058-59. IS On October I, 20OS, Kazran sent an email to Buchanan attoImY Roger Oannam about terms on which Buchanan and Kazran might settle their business dispute. That email contained 16 17 18 19 20 21 the following: Vern had mentioned he would want to reimburse the stores a bill that he and r spoke of, the total amount is $&3500, He has copies of52k, ifhu likes I can get the rest or he can verify Ihrcugh his rcconl. This was at his request Toach Depo 0001 000049. 22 23 Finslly, on Octnber 5, 2008, l about the reImbursements for which Kazran did not want 10 take respcinsibility, Reply Brief at 19, and (b) not about reimbursements bul, as Tosch testified, about attorney's fees. Reply Brief at 9?10. Respondents do not clearly explain this difference. In support of their claim that the "52k" Kazran referred 10 in his October 1.2008, !mail WII$ a reference 10 Kazran's attom\lY's fees, Respcmdents rely on TlIlR:h's deposition testimony. Reply Brlmat 9?10; Tosch Dep> at 92?96. Kmua recendy confirmed in a 10ltllr !bat he and &chaaan were imiet:d discuasing Budumitn poEibly paying Kazran's attorney's fees of 550.000. Reply Brief, ~xh. 1. Although the emails contained discussions about attorney's fees, they also appear 10 discuss Kazran's reimbursement ofcontribulions at HNJ and his discUBsiollll with Buchanan about repaying those flmds. What is not clear is whether these emalls closely support Kazmn's elaim that Buchanan Iold him 10 reimbume these contributions with HNJ funds, or that Buchanan agreed to repay these amounts. The language in the cmai1s is vague on these points, and none of them state that Bacbanan was awan: that Kaznm was reimbursing comrlbuUons or that Buchanan ordered him to do so. E. TlI:I 4IJiiillvit thI!t il!cbplll!!!!'. A11D1II\!l!I.p!lcd ifeZ[!D to Sip 2 3 4 5 N 1(1 6 to I'll "'" "'" o::r "'" (1) "'" 7 8 9 N 10 II 12 13 14 l!I 16 17 III 19 20 21 Another Fi- of circumstaDlial eviclence in this matter is that on October 2, 2008, Buchanan and Tosch made III offer to Ka:mm to SilUIe their dispute that required him to sign an affidavit reganling the reimbursement of contributions at HNJ. This affidavit staled, among other things, that neither Buchanan nor Kazran knew anything about the reimbursed contributions. This affidavit was attached to a settlement proposal Buchanan's counsel drafted, which Buchanan and Tosch signed. Kazran Depo at 56, Bxhs. 2 and 3. Kamn testified that the 22 23 FEC_MUR_6054_0786 11-7565_0148 MUR 6OS4 Oenmal CoIuIIGI'.lloport /19 (lleprcseatatlve Vemon O. Budlanan ., Q/,) PagelS affidavit was false, and that Buchanan made its execution a condition of that October 2, 2008, 2 offer to settle their differences. K8ZI'III1 Dcpo at 63, 70-72. He stated that BuohlU\llll told him "if I did not"si gn the affidavit, to blame everything on me. then thete would be no agreement and contract to purchase out the dealership and give me back the money." lei. at 63. This affidavit is potemially signifiCant because it could demonstrate that Buchanan was attempting to oonoeal his InvoMrll.mt in the relmbU!1elllCflI CIIhmne. RcJpondautl claim that Iha I116davit i. "cmtirely true." Reply Brief at 20; Ie. a/IO Probable CaYSe Hmi..'11 TmilScript 411: 37. Ollltlmy to IWpondeiits' claims, the affidavit is not 3 4 S III ... ... '!II' C!) U) 6 1/1 7 8 III " 9 10 11 12 13 "entirely true." PamgI8ph 5 of tile affidavit states 1hIt before September 200&, Kazran bad no information that HNJ had reimbursed individuals for contributions made to VBFC. This provision contradiots one of Respondents' key claims in the casco-that Kman alone direoled the reimbursements at HNJ during the '06 and '08 cycles. See Hearing Tr. at 7-8. It also contradiots Kazran's undisputed testimony 1hIt he reimbursed contributions at HN1 in 2005, 2006, and 2007. /'II .... 14 IS 16 17 18 See Soction IV, above. Further, at the time the affidavit was drafted, KazmD had already sent the reimbunement check.!! to Tosch, who discussed Kazran's a1legatioll5 with 8uchlU\llll's a1tomeys. Tosch ));po at 71-72 (notbtg that KIIZI1III diswssell the reimbuncmcnill during a call that took place the day !If, Ill' ID1e ~ay WOIIII, Kazran SlDlt the cllllcks to Teach by Clnllll); TOlch Depa Daa 000028 (September 8, 2008, 011111il frolll Kaznm Ie Tosch IlOntailting lINJ relmbl.lDlemem chcoQ 19 20 and the contribut;iDn chedcs that were reimbursed). Finally, Buchanan IlIlCI Tosch gave different reasons why the aftidavit was necessary. Buchanan claimed that the affidavit was needed because Tosch told him that Kazran was bying to leverage more money in the iiruIIlcid dispute, but TOBCh claimed that the affidavit waS needed based on a conversation BuchlU\llll had with 21 22 FEC_MUR_6054_0787 11-7565_0149 MUR 6054 0ene!aI CoIUIIC1'I Report 119 (RepfIIBentalive Vernon O. Buchanan" al.) Page 19 t 2 Kauan on October 1,2008. See Buchanan Depo at 165-68; Tosch Depo at Ill. Tosch testified that he was UIIIW8re oftheaubject of the con_salion. Toscb Depo at 111-12. 3 Buchanan testified to having almost nothing to do with the affidavit and remembering little about it. Buchanan Depo at 164, 166-67, 173. He claimed be did not remember signing the settlement proposal to which the affidavit was attached, that it was not Ids idea to have 'KaZ!an 4 5 ... "lJ <;r to III ..... Ii'! "lJ 6 7 sign the affidltvit, that be did not kn09l who IJI'CP'Bled tIN affidavit, that be hid II\) pan in dl!dlill1l it, that 110 bad _ leeD Ie bllfo.allia del!llliliDD. and H_ be IlIDIer dtscumd it 1I'ith T_. lrl. 8 ati64, Ui6-67. HedcaiedkrlowingifIQaraaeversignecltlwllfiidmrit. Ii. at 173. Rapmdems ... I'd 0 9 10 11 assert tbat BlIBbanan WIIS?unclmitandably ulIIIble "to remember the precise details of II doc:wnent he bad aever seen[.}" Reply Brief at 20o Buchanan's lack ofrccaliliboul the affidavil, Dr the events slUl'OllllCiing il, does not seem credible. It is improbable thaI Buchanan's attorneys drafted the affidavit and presented it to Kazran without Buchanan's involvement considering that (1) the affidavit did DOt concern the 12 13 14 subject of the coDUnen:ial negotialiona, bill Ealher Buchanan', knowledge ofreimbwsed contrib1l!ions to \'liFe, mel (2) it was presented to a fonner Bachanan JIlltIner who, according to Respondents, WIllI tbreatalling to go as !lucIuIIIm'a politicallJpJlOlllll1t VI tho Commimon befon 15 16 17 18 the 2008 election with bls a1l9tion that Bul:bmulll OIldeiad him to .:lmburso.co.llldlluti:nN. TD _ extllltt., tbI affidavil? comradiClS the ~timOllY' IIfhoth Kazmnand lhrdtllllllll. 19 Respomlats claim that 2flklaYit Is true, but it is not. KazranolJJims that theaftidavit "blal11e{s] everything on me," but il does lIot. Kazno Depo at 63. ThUll, it does not provide strong 20 21 22 corroboration for either. 23 FEC_MUR_6054_0788 11-7565_0150 MUR 60S4 General CouIllCI's Report N9 (Repmentatloo Vemon G. BlIChll8l " aI.) Page 20 1 2 F. Tbe TCitimo~T ofBuchllDlin ud bls AIIotl.!" on Blclg!rouDd "'pe! On a nwnber ofback8lOund issues, the testimony of Buchanan and his associates is not plllticularly ell:llib1c. Although these inconsistencies diminish the credibility of 3 4 S \.tl Buchanan and his associates, they do not necessarily corroborate Kazran's testimony. In their bpIy Brief, Respondents claim that there is "unBSBllilable, independent f.O 6 7 proofthat CotIgRllSlllliIl BuchmBD actively imtructed against l'oCimburscnmll of contribllliOllU," Rl!ply Briof at II, CWtm thaugh tIrenl n littl,e conroborativc cnridcllllC I11III \.tl .... .... q tfI q' 11) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 more eontrPry evldCl\C&l. During his depesitian, Buchanan aueltlUl tluIt I!.c made it clear to Kazran and others Ihat they coulcl not reilDllurR MlItributiOllS, and that VBfC sent a N "" letter to pa!1ners informing !hem that they could not reimburse contributions. BIWItBDan Depo 8t34, 58-59, 93-94. Buchanan's testimony is at odds with the testimony ofKazrBn and Silverio. see Kazran Dcpo at 87-88 (testimony that he was unaware that reimbursing contributiollS was illegal), Silverio Depo at 46-47 (claiming thel BuchlllUlll'S COO Dennis Slater told him in 200S that he could reimburse contributiollS and thaI Silverio did not know the rules or the laws of campaign finance). But/ulllan's testimony is also IS 16 11 18 19 20 21 22 23 intermdly incallBistent, contradicted bya statement in an interview oCthe f _ VBFC troawrcr NIIDII)' Walkiut tbiU she _~ofIll1Y _ _18 pre]>IlIiId far Bucbanaa'.s business ~ regardiDg campaip fiIII1ICC law, and DDt ~upportDd by the documents actually produced by VBFC. Similarly, Buchanan testified that he could Dot remember "ODe way or the other" whether he ever asked Kuzran to fundraise for VBFC for the '06 election. Buchanan !)cpo at 89. There is evidence that Buchanan did ask, and it raises iegitimate questions lIS to Bucbanan's credibility that he could not admit this innocuous fact See Gruters Dcpo FEC_MUR_6054_0789 11-7565_0151 MlJR 60:54 Gcnaal Counlel'I1I.epcm 89 (R.eprcsentadve Vernon O. Bucbanan " QL) /'asc21 I 2 3 4 at 38-39 (testifYing that BuehanBII asked his partners for conlributions during the 2006 election). Despite not remembering whether he asked Kazran 10 f\JndralliC in 2006, Buchanan was certain that he told Kazran not to reimburse conlributious. So Buchanan Depo at 93-94, 110, '111_ two statements arc largely inconsistent with c:ach other, and 5 lD lD o .j arc inconsistent with the other evidence. Also, Silverio ami Gruten testified tIut Buchanan discussed his campaign with 6 7 8 III ... "if his partners at the molllhfy partner nmetings, which Bucbanau regul_Iy attnllCled. Silwrio Depo at 16-17,27-28; GruUlrl Depa at 32, SO-SI. Buc.b.anlll and his lOp Nl 'If 0 9 10 dcp\llies, Toscb. aad Slater, appeared to bave contradicted oue aaother as to whether Buchanan attended partner meetings during his campaign and whether his campaign was discussedattholiCmectings. See BuchanBII Depo at 26, 51,114; Tosch Depo at 28; Slater Dcpo at 41-57. However, Gruters' and Silverio's testimony were consistent with Kazran's account. .... N 11 12 13 14 IS Buchanan testified that he did not report an individual partner's funclraising goal bacIc to the aunpaign, the campaign did not track timdraising goals, and that he could not 16 "imagine saying anything" to biB campatBn about what his parIDerI asrcetI to raise. BuctnuuD~ Depo at 41, 56. 17 18 19 20 21 Futtbar, Bucl'llilll(ll _IRed, "J don't iqJow MIIil an,bDdy lIns raised." I. at 110. Howe_, thls IllltiDlllJlY iB c:outladieted by lbuOlltil1lony ofGrulr.rs and documents pIOdU\l.ed by VBFC. The c:ampalgu IllllinWMClliBts showing the amounts that Buchanan'. partners had committed to raise, or what they bad raised so far, Gruters Depo at 42-43, 97, 109, and Buchanan himself would foUow up with partners to see how they were prosr-iog with their funclraisins. Id at 38-39, 42, 109-111. VBFC produced 22 23 an cmaillisting $S8,300 in IlODlributions from various Individuals received by VBFC on FEC_MUR_6054_0790 11-7565_0152 MUR 6054 General CO\!lll~'s Ileporl89 (Represenlllive Vemon G. Buchanan II G/.J Page 22 September 27, 2007, including S9,200 from Kazran and his wife. VBFC initially 2 3 4 S III produced this email 011 JIIIIC 2S, 2010, but redacted the recipients' emsil addres9CS, including Buchanan's, as "non?responsive," VBFC 000361. After Buchanan's deposition, Respondents produced this document in unredactc:d form, revealing that the email was sen! to Buchanan. Faced with the inconsisWllcics between Buchanan's testimony and that oftbe other witnesses and rccordl reprding thCH il'sUlll, KaspolldcnlS CIOI18I1ie tUt Buobmuln's -OIlY W "" M M 6 7 8 I'll 'Ill' ~ (;) N 9 Respondenta plIO coutcnd !hat these inconsistencies and Iapscs lIe not meanin~ 11'4 they relate to legal activity. Reply Brietal 16-18. We do not insist lhatany witness have perfect recall ofpast events to be considered credible, but we think that Buchanan's inability to remember basic facts lIS to these uncontroversie.l, routine issues detracts from his credibility. '"" 10 II 12 13 14 Nevertheless, these inconsistencies on background Issues do not necessarily show that Bucbanan directed Kazmn to reimburse contn1lutions. IS 16 17 18 19 VI. RESPONDEm'S' ARGUMENTS ARE NOT FACfUALLY ACCt1RATE While we do not, for the teBSDIlIS Slated above, recommend finding probable cause, we believe It is necessary to show tbetthree argwnents raised in the Reply Brief are fitetually illQOlteCt. rn tfIeir bdef, Rapoudents coatead that ''tine falBl flalNslI prev..t tbu CollUiliaUaa from finding probable cause in this matter. OOC (I) "relies exclusively on the testimony of one Ullteliablc witness and his relative," (2) "conveniently omits exculpatory cvidcl1llO that contradicts OOC's ultimate conclusion," and (3) "contorts commouplace.lawful tilndraising 20 21 22 23 practices into cvidc:nce of wrongdoing." Reply Brief at 1. FEC_MUR_6054_0791 11-7565_0153 MUlt60S4 0 ......1Couasel's Report 119 (Repnseatative Vernon G. BuchaJIan fI aI.) Psg. 23 I A. OGe Relle! oR More IhlQ On! WimFlI and his Relativ, 2 3 As discWlsed above, other wilJlOSBeS, including Lephart, Rosa, and SilveriC>--ilOtle of whom are related to Kazran-gave testimony that was consistent with parts of Kazran:8 restimony. As discWlsed above, to some extent, Buchanan and his associates also corroborated 4 S 6 aspeCts ofKaznm's testimony. llesponde1lts IISIIeI't !hat Parid is not credible bllCBWle he is Kazran's brother-In-law and co 1.0 l.Il ..t ooj 7 8 partner. Repiy BJb:f at 6?7. The faot that Plaid ia Ibr.ran\. lmlUIer?in?lsw and blurincu partlltlr does not make Farid's SWIlIn tcstimony inhmeotly masCiI or lIIIIIliiablc. nor cknI it affect the III q' 9 10 II Q "'" ...,. oxsent to which therellllio.der oftha ovideru:c may support Kazam's (and Pand's) testilnOl1Y. Also, Respondatts rdy Bignifieantly on an unsworn email from Buciuuwt's sister-In.law ?VOMC BuchlUlllll Slating !hat "We've never reimbursed anyone.~ See Reply Brief at IS and VGB 002. Further, her statement was inac:curate because by the time of her email, there was no dispute that VBFC !mew that contributions at SunCoast Ford had been mimbwsed by the dealership and subsequently mfunded by VBFC at the direction of its treasurer. Ac:cordingly, it is hard to ICC why Ms. BuchaDan's email statellllmt is significant. Respondents abo contend that Kann IIlIS a substaolial mCRive to fabricate his testimollY "'" 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 to receive lenient t\IIIIImGQt Iioaa tilll Commiloiua, lraviag !IdmItted illegal activity. Reply Brief Commission make knowing and willfiLI findings agtlinst KazraD at the RTB 8IId Probabla Cause stagel, md we recently recommended that the Commission sue Kazran, which it did. See FEe v. 22 23 ScIIII /(Q:ran alfr/a Sa", Khazrawan, It aI., No.3: 10-cv?0l1 SS-UATC-IRK (M.D. PIa.) (complaint filed Decenlber 17,2010). We DOte that Buchanan, a sitting Representative, also has a motivalion to avoid a probable cause dotermination that he and bis committee violsted the Act. 24 FEC_MUR_6054_0792 11-7565_0154 MUR 60~4 Ganaal Counsel's Raport 119 (ReprClClltatiVC VC/1lllI\ O. BUWIII/Ill d.) Pago24 1 2 Respondents also seek to undercut Kazran's testimony by citing allDgations from Buchanan's lawsuit against Kazran and pending bankruptcy proceedings as lnIlh, even though J these matters are not final. Respondents allege that Kazran's credibility is diminished bc:c1l1lBC he did not repay a loan from Buchanan to Kazran and that K.azran allegedly diverted funds 4 S Q) intended for one dealership to support a different dealership and for other purposes. Set Reply Brief lit 5?6. Litigntion between !uclua_ and Kaz:'an has hecm onuoins fen OYEII' mil yaIn. The Conullission is: in lID pisiti.n to resolve tIa: allegations lll. thWIIIllllllfl:lR, and fur 1Il0W, IWac allegations are just that: allegatiou. B. Eftulmtgty Ul Ln 6 7 8 !fI .... q' q' .... c;) 9 10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19 InrpnytlQg W.. nqclosed to RespondenCl N 1"1 Respondents received exculpatory information, some in the OC's Brief, some in the depositions, and some shortly before the December 9, 20 I 0, probable cause bearing. /. The HNJ RlJporue Documelll As evidence that Buchaoan was not Involved with the HNI reimbursements, Respondents relied significantly on a &1atement in an unswom docwnent Kazrao submitted to OGe styled as the HNJ Response to the Commission's Subpoma (HHNJ Response"). In K.!o.nn's aimvetttJ SUbpOCllll quustion TI, Karon omits BucinImIn'slWll'c fmm a list orHNJ pw1bcrs, offieers, and IIIIlIIIgCrs 'lIillllln he claims! knew alxnli the ndmburmid acmtributiona. IiJaqrinS Tr. at S1.10, 37; HNJ Response illS. Kazran submlltcd this document OR Oc:tober 2, 2009, which WIllI after he stated duriug i!llmVicws on July IS and 16, 2009, that Bucluman inatructI:d him to reimbllrsc: 20 contributions and before he teatificcJ under oath durins a deposition on NoVI!IDbEiI' 6,2009, that insuuctedhim to reimburse contrlbulioDS. Kazran Depo alI3, 21, 31, 72. FEC_MUR_6054_0793 11?7565_0155 MUR 6054 General Coumel's Repoxt N9 (RepmcnlBllYe Vcman G. Bucillllan " aI,) Pap2S We undcrsWld why Respondents might think this unswom dooumcnr is signifiosnt 2 3 because they may be unaware that we Interviewed Kazmn before he submitted that statement, and in that prior lotervlew, he elaimed that Buehanan direc:tl:d the reimbursements at HNJ. 4 S Further, It is Ukely Kazran W1denrtood the relevant queJtion as referring only to currenl HNJ partners, not a pasl partner such as Buchanan. Aceordingly, this documenl is not s1snlfiCllllt. Ib a final note, Respondlmls IIISeI1I1!at WI provided this doeum4lll1 two days b=tiwe?lh., 0 .... IJ'I .... til "" q" q' 6 7 hearing, and IhIl)' mI corrcet. HoWIIVer, it WIllI an DvarsitPtt. we pmvided U. (\oollIllUI 8 9 Immldiatcly when il was callmi to our Blt. 19 20 we lUllll'lllJClld tImt the Cmnmlllim take no fuIthnr DeIioD agallllt lheIII 1e.'SpoUClltal FEC_MUR_6054_0796 11?7565_0158 MUR.60S4 Oeneral Counsel's RepoTt H9 (Ilepresmtative Vernon o. BlIChanan ., Q/.) P8ge28 I VIII, RECOMMENDATIONS 2 3 4 1. S (; Take no further action as to Representative Vernon G. Buchanan, Vern Bucbanan for Congress and Joseph CUuteJ1l, in his official c:apacity as treasurer, and.close the file III to these reapondents, Approve the appropriate tCUers. 7 I!Il 2. L'I ... I!!J' .... "'" 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ?20 21 22 I{ III q' Z5( 1\ ... (l) I'd Date 5eI1teral Counsel for Enfo_wI 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 MarltAllen Assistant General CoUll8cl Michael A. CoJ:Qmbo 35 - 36 Attorney FEC_MUR_6054_0797 11-7565_0159 EXHIBIT 10 1 1 -7565_0160 CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 as Amended OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW INRE: REVIEW NO.: DATE: LOCATION: TIME: PARTICIPANTS: Dennis Slater 11-7565 October 25, 2011 Lindell Investments Inc. 402 Knights Run Ave. Tampa, FL 33602 10:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. (approximate) Paul J. Solis Kedric L. Payne SUMMARY: Dennis Slater (the "witness") is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lindell Investments Inc. OCE requested an interview with the witness and he consented to an interview. The witness made the following statements in response to our questioning: 1. The witness was given an 18 U. S.C. ? 1001 warning and consented to an interview. The witness signed a written acknowledgement of the warning, which will be placed in the case file in this review. 2. The witness is currently the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lindell Investments. He has been employed with the company for approximately one year. 3. He was the Chief Operations Officer and Corporate Controller for the Buchanan Automotive Group ("BAG") from approximately 2003 to 2005. BAG consisted of approximately twelve automobile dealerships. 4. He left BAG when Representative Vern Buchanan began selling his dealerships during his first congressional campaign. 5. As COO and Controller, the witness was responsible for creating budgets and forecasts and interacting with the various dealerships. The Controllers for each dealership reported to the witness. 6. The witness reported to Representative Vern Buchanan and John Tosch, who was Vice President and Chief Executive Officer for BAG. 7. The witness first met Representative Buchanan when Carl Lindell introduced them to discuss a potential business relationship between Representative Buchanan and the witness. MOI - Page 1 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to the Nondisclosure Provisions ofR. Res. 895 as Amended 8. The witness described the nature of his relationship with Representative Buchanan as a business relationship. 9. When the OCE asked when the witness most recently communicated with Representative Buchanan, the witness paused for an exceptionally long period of time. He then said that his most recent communication was eight or nine months ago. This communication occurred during an in-person meeting at the Sarasota Club. 10. During the meeting, the witness and Representative Buchanan discussed Sam Kazran. The witness told the OCE that he offered to talk with Mr. Kazran on behalf of Representative Buchanan to help resolve a "business dealing" between the two. 11. The witness has known Mr. Kazran since 2003 and would usually see him once per month when Mr. Kazran was an operating partner of one of the car dealerships. 12. The business dealing was related to a car dealership where Mr. Kazran defaulted on a loan. The witness told the OCE that Representative Buchanan had loaned Mr. Kazran a substantial amount of money and Mr. Kazran had diverted the funds and defaulted on the arrangement, yet Mr. Kazran wanted more money from Representative Buchanan. The witness stated that he discussed with Mr. Kazran the claims against Representative Buchanan and told Mr. Kazran to move on. 13. The witness stated that based on his understanding of the loan agreement, Representative Buchanan's description of the facts was correct and Mr. Kazran's description of the facts was a "figment of his imagination." 14. The witness also discussed with Mr. Kazran his lawsuits against Bank of America and offered "friendly advice" to him. 15. The witness described Mr. Kazran as a highly emotional person who "manufactures things in his mind." He stated that the automobile dealer business has a reputation for manipulation and that Mr. Kazran fit that perfectly. 16. The witness told the OCE that he first began acting as an intermediary between Mr. Kazran and Representative Buchanan about a year and half ago after he offered to help. He stated that Representative Buchanan had no "malicious intent" towards Mr. Kazran. 17. The witness told the OCE that Mr. Kazran is motivated by his need for $5 million to restart a dealership and that Mr. Kazran had asked the witness to reach out to others for the money. He needs this abnormal amount of money to start a dealership because "he had burned his bridges with everyone in the industry." 18. The witness stated that the last time he spoke to Mr. Kazran as eight to nine months ago. At that time, Representative Buchanan told the witness that he wasn't going to keep paying money to Mr. Kazran although he was willing to help him as a "humanitarian." 19. When asked why he made campaign contributions to Representative Buchanan in 2005, the witness told the OCE that he wanted to support Representative Buchanan and he was excited about him running for office. MOI-Page20f3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS CONFIDENTIAL Subject to tbe Nondisclosure Provisions ofH. Res. 895 as Amended 20. The witness was not directed to attend fundraisers or to make contributions to Representative Buchanan's campaign while at BAG business meetings. Campaign contributions were not a topic at the meetings. 21. The witness stated that he attended eight to ten fundraisers for Representative Buchanan. 22. The witness told the aCE that he "absolutely" did not receive any reimbursements for any contributions that he made to Representative Buchanan's campaign nor was he told by Representative Buchanan that he would get his money back. 23. The witness told the aCE that he was familiar with Mr. Kazran's FEC deposition testimony, which states that Representative Buchanan asked the witness to contribute to his campaign and offered to reimburse the contribution. The witness stated that Mr. Kazran's statements in the deposition are false and that Representative Buchanan did not offer to reimburse him for a campaign contribution. The witness also stated tbat he did not solicit any contributions for Representative Buchanan's campaign. 24. The witness said he was not aware of anyone receiving reimbursements for campaign contributions and tbat he did not authorize anyone with the company to reimburse anyone for canlpaign contributions. 25. He stated that he did not discuss the deposition testimony with Mr. Kazran. 26. The witness did not have any ownership interest in any of the car dealerships affiliated with Representative Buchanan. 27. He stated that he was not asked by Representative Buchanan to submit any type of affidavit. 28. The witiless told the aCE that Mr. Kazran has never substantiated his allegations. He knew all the individuals tbat were allegedly involved and if there were any financial misdealing, it would have been the witness' responsibility, and he has never been implicated. This memorandum was prepared on November 29,2011, based on the notes that the aCE staff prepared during the interview with the witness on October 25, 2011. I certify that this memorandum contains all pertinent matter discussed with the witness on October 25,2011. Kedric L. Payne Deputy Chief Counsel MOI - Page 3 of3 OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS