Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Topeka, denies that he got a sweetheart deal on his Washington, D.C., townhouse, but it does smell fishy. Ryun paid the U.S. Family Network $410,000 for the house in 2000, $19,000 less than the group paid for it two years earlier. Ryun has said that he paid less because of some structural problems. But the real estate market was rapidly rising at the time (and the house is currently assessed at $764,310).
A big part of the suspicion is the sleaziness of U.S. Family Network. The nonprofit group was founded by Ed Buckham, an evangelical minister and former chief of staff to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. It was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to former lobbyist and now convicted felon Jack Abramoff, and more than a third of that money — $1 million — went to Buckham and his wife, The Washington Post reported.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
-
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in. -
Contact us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Regular on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Barnie on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Regular on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Predestined on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Predestined on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Regular on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- CF2K on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- Predestined on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- CF2K on Democratic convention thread 8/28
- lindainks55 on Democratic convention thread 8/28
20 Comments
The blog that originally broke this story has an update:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000224.php
It’s just impossible to believe that anyone would be able to take a loss in the red-hot Washington, DC real estate market.
Another fine example of GOP values! Ain’t that right Joe?
Yup, “what would Jesus do?”
He’d see his opportunities and he’d TAKE ‘EM!
Just ask the finest Congressman money can buy.
And they don’t come any more Bible-thumpin’, radical right than Jim Ryun. Wonder how fast he can run away from this one?
Come on. First of all, the DC market didn’t get red hot till about 2002. Check your facts.
Second, has anyone found a house on that block that sold for over $500,000 in 2000 like that muckraker blog claims? A friend of mine is a realtor and I asked him to do a search. He couldn’t find one. The closest he found was a house that sold for $449,000.
Next, what is the relevance of the current assessed value of the home to the facts that surround the sale? Of course it’s higher, it was called the housing boom that hit the DC area between 2002 and 2005.
Since you mentioned the current assessment, it looks like Ryun paid $85,000 more than the 2000 assessment when he bought the house.
There’s also no evidence that Ryun knew they were taking a loss. Have you seen any evidence to that effect Phillip?
Finally, was US Family Network accused of any wrongdoing in 2000 (other than running an office out of a townhouse that wasn’t zoned for that)? There’s nothing I can find. That means that Ryun would have no reason to believe he couldn’t deal honestly with them.
Fine American Values. What’s new in D.C. Ben?
Ryun needs to count his blessings, because he won’t be a member of Congress come six years from now.
Six years? Why waste so much time dumping him? He needs to go in 2006. Maybe we will see how his values play in Kansas.
US Family Network = misnomer.
Not US, rather part funded by Russians.
Family - well, the DeLay crime family.
Network - of payoffs, lies and intermediaries.
Just another hog at the trough.
Add another dirty politician to a long list of dirty politicians. No matter who they are when the arrive, a little time in DC corrupts people. How much longer are Americans going to but up with the buying and selling of politicians?
Dave–
Do you WORK for Ryun or something?
PL -
I note you answer none of Dave’s issues. Because a congressman got a good deal from a distressed seller does not mean he did anything illegal, or even unethical.
It is not the actual guilt that means anything.
It is yet another opportunity at the presumption of guilt everyone gets to jump on.
Presumption of guilt… heheh.
If it looks like dirty duck, it walks dirty duck, it smells like a dirty duck and quacks like a dirty duck…
Is it such a stretch to then conclude it is a dirty duck?
IOKIYAAR
“Presumption of guilt”
Well, it was good enough to skewer Clinton!
Back in 1964, Jim won the mile with a 3:58.3 time. Seems his 4:10 is now way off the mark.
Oh, that was $410K…never mind.
“He doesn’t deal with the facts. He just ad homenim’s the conservatives.”
That’s because the facts speak for themselves, you conservative suck-ups.
Why is an Abramoff funded PAC headed by a Tom DeLay staffer buying and selling houses to people they like? Why has the value of the property almost doubled yet Ryun bought it for 5 percent less than the former owners did?
I mean one can come up with a labored hypothesis to explain all this away, but Occam’s Razor says the conclusion that requires the least assumptions is that Ryun got an under-the-table campaign contribution.
And an illegal campaign contribution is graft.
“But, but they haven’t PROVEN he did anything wrong.” No, it’s not proven. But which conclusion is easier to believe–which is more likely–mine or Dave’s?
Too - Ryun has said that he did not take any money from USFN - but Ed Buckham - who sold Ryun the house - had a pretty big client named Enron - and Ryun took a pretty penny from them
If Ryan is returned to office, I smell a hammered kitten.
“Dave” conveniently overlooks a couple of facts:
1) Prices on the Hill did indeed start to skyrocket in 1999. Anyone who claims it didn’t start until 2002 is lying or ingorant, or both.
2) Dave, you mention a house that sold for $449K: that’s 154 D St SE (square 733 lot 35), sold in June 2000. Guess what? The same house sold in Feb. 1999 for $280K. In other words, the Capitol Hill real estate market went crazy in 1999-2000, including on Ryun’s block.
hill dweller,
did you know the owners of 154 D Street spent $100,000 in renovations to fix it up because it was a dump before? I don’t either, and that’s the point. We don’t know what condition any of the houses was in. If houses on the street were selling in the $400,000 to $450,000 price range, why would Ryun’s deal look that out of whack to him?