Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

One-time Democrat and ex-Padres owner Moores gives $20,000 to anti union political withholding measure

Rancho Santa Fe mega-millionaire John Moores is one of the most infamous switch-hitters of San Diego politics.

When he arrived in San Diego from Texas after buying the Padres in 1994, Moores was a Democrat, and so friendly with President Bill Clinton that he and two other Lone Star Democratic fat cats each paid an $18,000 "retainer" to Webster L. Hubbell, a lawyer who had resigned from Clinton's Justice Department amid allegations of impropriety.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/31/34718/

Moores told reporters he paid the money at the request of Truman Arnold, Clinton's close friend and onetime finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Based on allegations of hush money being paid to protect Clinton's wife Hillary in the so-called Whitewater scandal, Moores and two of his employees were subpoenaed in 1997 to testify before a federal grand jury in Arkansas convened by Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr.

As we noted back in May of that year, "Moores 'walked past groups of reporters twice Wednesday without responding to questions before finally exiting the federal courthouse in Little Rock through a back door.

"'Moores was accompanied by two unnamed female employees, who were also testifying under subpoena.'"

Then came 2002, when conservative Ward Connerly mounted an initiative drive to ban collection of racial data. Both Connerly and Moores were members of the University of California Board of Regents and opposed to affirmative action programs.

Moores had been a half-million-dollar contributor to the cause of Democratic governor Gray Davis, who had then appointed the Padres owner to the regents board.

Three years later, as part of a 2005 settlement of charges that he had illegally routed campaign cash through a non-profit corporation, Connerly revealed that his heretofore secret donors included Moores and Fox media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Flash forward to this year's campaign, and Moores, though still very chummy with ex-Democratic president Jimmy Carter, is apparently sticking to his Republican guns. On October 29, according to a disclosure filing posted online by the California Secretary of State's office, Moores gave $20,000 to the Yes on 32 campaign to ban labor unions from using payroll deductions of their members to fund political campaigns. The same prohibition would apply to corporations, but most corporate political money isn't raised in that manner.

Moores joins other San Diego locals R.B. "Buzz" Woolley, the La Jolla financier and founder and chairman of the Voice of San Diego online news operation, who has given $10,000, and Oceanside Tea Party Republican businessman Dan Hughes, CEO of Carlsbad's Coast Environmental, Inc., with $5150, in backing Prop 32.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

Rancho Santa Fe mega-millionaire John Moores is one of the most infamous switch-hitters of San Diego politics.

When he arrived in San Diego from Texas after buying the Padres in 1994, Moores was a Democrat, and so friendly with President Bill Clinton that he and two other Lone Star Democratic fat cats each paid an $18,000 "retainer" to Webster L. Hubbell, a lawyer who had resigned from Clinton's Justice Department amid allegations of impropriety.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/31/34718/

Moores told reporters he paid the money at the request of Truman Arnold, Clinton's close friend and onetime finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Based on allegations of hush money being paid to protect Clinton's wife Hillary in the so-called Whitewater scandal, Moores and two of his employees were subpoenaed in 1997 to testify before a federal grand jury in Arkansas convened by Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr.

As we noted back in May of that year, "Moores 'walked past groups of reporters twice Wednesday without responding to questions before finally exiting the federal courthouse in Little Rock through a back door.

"'Moores was accompanied by two unnamed female employees, who were also testifying under subpoena.'"

Then came 2002, when conservative Ward Connerly mounted an initiative drive to ban collection of racial data. Both Connerly and Moores were members of the University of California Board of Regents and opposed to affirmative action programs.

Moores had been a half-million-dollar contributor to the cause of Democratic governor Gray Davis, who had then appointed the Padres owner to the regents board.

Three years later, as part of a 2005 settlement of charges that he had illegally routed campaign cash through a non-profit corporation, Connerly revealed that his heretofore secret donors included Moores and Fox media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Flash forward to this year's campaign, and Moores, though still very chummy with ex-Democratic president Jimmy Carter, is apparently sticking to his Republican guns. On October 29, according to a disclosure filing posted online by the California Secretary of State's office, Moores gave $20,000 to the Yes on 32 campaign to ban labor unions from using payroll deductions of their members to fund political campaigns. The same prohibition would apply to corporations, but most corporate political money isn't raised in that manner.

Moores joins other San Diego locals R.B. "Buzz" Woolley, the La Jolla financier and founder and chairman of the Voice of San Diego online news operation, who has given $10,000, and Oceanside Tea Party Republican businessman Dan Hughes, CEO of Carlsbad's Coast Environmental, Inc., with $5150, in backing Prop 32.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.