Thread: Former White House Adviser Arrested

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1712023

Former White House Adviser Arrested
Former White House Adviser, Onetime No. 2 at Homeland Security, Arrested on Theft Charges
By STEPHEN MANNING
The Associated Press
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A former domestic policy adviser to President Bush has been charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores.

Claude Alexander Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by Montgomery County police for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities.

Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated to the court again a year later, but Allen never received a Senate vote.

During his confirmation hearing, Allen was questioned about his use of the word "queer" when he was a press aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in 1984. Allen said he didn't intend it as a slur against gay people.

In early 2005, Bush hired Allen as a domestic policy adviser. He resigned abruptly on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Calls to Allen's home in Gaithersburg, a Washington suburb, were not returned. The White House also did not return calls seeking comment.

Allen has been under investigation since at least January for the alleged thefts on 25 different occasions at Target and Hecht's stores, a police spokesman, Lt. Eric Burnett, said. Police reviewed his credit card records to track his purchase.

Police believe Allen would buy items, take them to his car, then return to the store with his receipt. He would select the same items, then take them to the store return desk and show the receipt from the first purchase. Using that method, he would receive credit for the second items on his credit cards, Burnett said.

Allen was allegedly seen Jan. 2 at a Target in Gaithersburg taking items off the shelf that he then took the return desk. He had a receipt for the merchandise, was given a refund and left.

The items he allegedly received fraudulent refunds for include clothing, a Bose theater system and stereo equipment. Some purchases were as little as $2.50.

Allen was released on his own recognizance by a Montgomery District Court judge.

Before joining the Bush administration, Allen was Virginia Health and Human Resources secretary.

Well at least he has a good defense, he can claim “Innocent by reasons of Corrupt Political Insanity” a psychological disorder of Biblical proportions that seems most prevalent amongst Washington DC Politico’s.


Bit-o-Ruckus

Bush is saddend by the news...

Bush Shocked by Arrest of Former Adviser
Updated 4:30 PM ET March 11, 2006

President Bush on Saturday said he was shocked and saddened to learn that former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen was charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores.

"When I heard the story last night, I was shocked, and my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment if it's true that we were not fully informed," Bush said. "Shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family."

Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by police in Montgomery County, Md., for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities. He had been under investigation since at least January for alleged thefts on 25 occasions at Target and Hecht's stores.

"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my chief of staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing" the president said at the White House following an event on Iraq. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad."

Allen, who had been the No. 2 official at the Health and Human Services Department, was named as domestic policy adviser at the White House in early 2005. He resigned abruptly on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The night of Jan. 2, after an alleged incident at the Target in Gaithersburg, Md., presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said Allen called White House chief of staff Andy Card to tell him what had happened. The next morning, Allen spoke in person with Card and White House counsel Harriet Miers.

McClellan said Allen told Card and Miers that it was all a misunderstanding and cited confusion with his credit card because he had moved several times. "He assured them that he had done nothing wrong and the matter would be cleared up," McClellan said.

The president first learned of Allen's planned departure and the January incident in early February. But since Allen had passed the usual background checks and had no other prior issues that White House officials were aware of, "he was given the benefit of the doubt," McClellan said.

Mallon Snyder, a Gaithersburg lawyer representing Allen, said his client was not improperly trying to take the items. Snyder said asked Target to produce videotape they said they have of Allen but that store representatives refused. He said he wants to meet with Target investigators to clear things up.

"It's a misunderstanding on their part," Snyder said, adding that the investigation had nothing to do with Allen's departure from the White House.

Allen has been released on his own recognizance. Calls to Allen's home in Gaithersburg, a Washington suburb, were not returned.

Gee, a Thief in the White House. Who would have guessed?

http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/s ... 3911c.html


Police: Former Bush aide admitted theft
The Associated Press
Published 11:14 am PST Tuesday, March 14, 2006
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - A former top White House aide who was arrested on a theft charge admitted to a store investigator he fraudulently returned merchandise that he didn't buy, according to charging documents.

Police allege that Claude Allen, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bush, made fraudulent returns worth at least $5,000 at Target and other stores in the Washington suburbs on 25 different occasions.

Target Corp. investigator Pete Schomburg said he stopped Allen on Jan. 2 outside the company's Gaithersburg store after Allen allegedly received a refund for items using a receipt from an earlier purchase.

"Allen had receipts from previous purchases at Target stores and admitted to Agent Schomburg that he was committing fraudulent returns," according to the charging documents filed March 7, two days before Allen was charged with theft and theft scheme.

Allen's lawyer, Mallon Snyder, has denied the charges, saying they are a result of problems with Allen's credit cards. Snyder said Tuesday he did not have any comment on the charging documents, first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.

Allen, 45, is scheduled to go on trial April 27.

Police initially charged Allen with a misdemeanor, a charge that was dropped Thursday when he appeared in court. Later that day, however, he was arrested and charged with the more serious charges of theft and theft scheme over $500. Each count carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years.

Allen resigned in February from the $161,000-a-year job, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. The alleged crimes occurred while he was working at the White House.

White House officials said Allen notified chief of staff Andy Card the night of the Jan. 2 incident but told Card it was a misunderstanding. Bush was informed of the incident and Allen's planned departure in February. On Saturday, Bush said it would be "deeply disappointing" if Allen had not told the White House the truth about what happened.

According to authorities, Allen would buy items and take them to his car, then return to the store, pick up identical items from store shelves and take them to the return desk, presenting his original receipt.

Who'd a thunk the President would have ever have associated with thieves?