McCain Coaxed to Meet S&L; Monitor--Aide
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WASHINGTON — An aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the Senate Ethics Committee today that Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), tried to coax her boss into meeting with federal regulators on behalf of savings and loan millionaire Charles H. Keating Jr.
The committee explored the role of the two senators in those meetings with federal regulators as it began a fourth day of hearings into allegations that five senators improperly intervened on behalf of Keating and his Lincoln Savings and Loan.
Today’s testimony revealed the divisions and conflicting stories among the five senators who are battling for their political reputations and futures.
Gwendolyn van Paasschen, an economics aide to McCain, testified she felt that her boss was “being coaxed along into” a meeting with top S&L; regulator Edwin Gray. She said she felt that DeConcini wanted McCain there because as a Republican he would lend a bipartisan aura to the meeting.
She was concerned, she said, because at the time of that April, 1987, meeting, McCain had received more in campaign contributions from Keating than had DeConcini.
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