so exciting and new....................
Photo catches McCain celebrating birthday with indicted con man
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Although John McCain has made condemning the influence of lobbyists in Washington one of his signature issues, his own campaign is largely run by high-powered lobbyists, including his campaign manager, Rick Davis. The connection with Davis appears to be behind McCain's having spent his 70th birthday partying on the yacht of Italian conman Raffaello Follieri -- who hired Davis's business partner to lobby for him just a few months later -- along with Follieri's then-girlfriend, actress Anne Hathaway. The date was Aug. 29, 2006 and the place was Montenegro, where McCain had traveled with a delegation of US senators to celebrate that nation's independence. ...................
The Maverick and the Celebrity Con Man
John McCain has been hammering rival Barack Obama for being little more than a vapid "celebrity" and "elitist." But The Nation has obtained a photo revealing just how star-struck a straight-talking maverick can become when offered the chance to celebrate his birthday aboard a yacht filled with celebrities--even if one of those celebrity types turns out to be an A-list con man. The photograph substantiates reports that in late August, 2006, McCain celebrated his 70th birthday aboard a yacht, the Celine Ashley, rented by A-list con man Raffaello Follieri and his then-movie star girlfriend Anne Hathaway. In the current edition of Vanity Fair, Michael Schnayerson reported that Follieri rented the Celine Ashley for the month of August 2006. Montenegro's leading daily newspaper, Vijesti, earlier reported that during McCain's visit in 2006 he celebrated with birthday cocktails and sweets aboard the Celine Ashley yacht. In the photograph, taken in Montenegro at the end of August, McCain is shown boarding the yacht ramp towards the smiling Follieri and Hathaway. Just ahead of McCain and shaking hands with Follieri appears to be Rick Davis--McCain's top aide and now co-manager of his campaign, who accompanied him on the trip and advised the government of Montenegro. A few months after McCain's yacht party, Follieri strengthened his ties to McCain's orbit by retaining Rick Davis's well-connected Washington lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, and offering Davis both an investment deal and help in securing the Catholic vote for McCain's presidential bid. .........
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