ITALY
Melvin Sembler
$127,600 to the GOP*
It seems that President Bush was determined to find a place for Mel Sembler in his administration. Bush initially picked him to head the Export-Import Bank, but Sembler withdrew his nomination when it was discovered that his company did business with banks that received loans from the agency.
Bush then nominated Sembler, the former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and ambassador to Australia under Bush's father, as ambassador to Italy.
Sembler contributed $11,350 to Republican candidates and party committees during the 1999-2000 election cycle, including $1,000 to George W. Bush's campaign account. He also wrote a $5,000 check to the Bush-Cheney recount fund, and his company, the Florida-based Sembler Co., contributed $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Committee. (Both contributions have been included in Sembler's contribution totals.)
Sembler's wife, Betty, contributed $11,250 to GOP candidates and party committees during the presidential election cycle, including $1,000 directly to the Bush campaign. Together, the Semblers contributed a total of $127,600 to the GOP and nothing to Democrats.
*Figures represent contributions from the individual and his/her immediate family in 1999-2000. Total includes donations made to Republican candidates and party committees, as well as the Bush-Cheney recount fund, transition foundation, and inauguration committee.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.