According to a report by Todd Spangler in the Detroit Free Press, Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI 10th) is apparently angling for a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Miller hopes to grab the seat held by Rep. Joe Knollenberger (R-MI 9th) who was defeated in his bid for re-election.
Miller, Michigan's former Secretary of State, was State Chair of Mayor Rudy Guiliani's failed presidential campaign. She had tapped Detroiters Mike Ilitch, Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. to raise funds for Guiliani. Given that her guy failed to win the GOP nomination Miller had planned to skip the GOP National Convention in St. Paul. But when Senator McCain chose Gov. Palin, Miller reportedly changed her mind and headed west to the Twin Cities.
Detroit casino synidcator Michael Malik and his gaming partner Marian Ilitch, along with her husband Mike Ilitch and other members of their family, frequently top the list of Rep. Miller's campaign donors -- even though they aren't constituents in Michigan's 10th Congressional District.
In addition to contributing to Rep. Miller's campaign warchests, Malik and the Ilitch Family were the primary donors to CANDICE PAC, a so-called "leadership PAC" that Miller had established to win influence with her Capitol Hill colleagues. TVT started to expose CANDICE PAC's funding streams and the favors Rep. Miller was delivering to its donors.
For starters, Rep. Miller just happened to establish CANDICE PAC on the same day she introduced her first bill in Congress intended to get approvals for the Malik/Ilitch backed Port Huron casino. Malik was the first and only true donor to CANDICE PAC for the better part of the first year. After TVT began to expose these and other circumstances surrounding CANDICE PAC, Rep. Miller, who has further political ambitions, quickly shut down CANDICE PAC.
Tom Shields, the primary PR/political operative for Malik and the Ilitch Family, owns Marketing Resource Group (MRG). Rep. Miller uses MRG as her primary campaign consultant. Rep. Miller has sponsored and co-sponsored various failed bills in Congress intended to advance plans Malik and his associates have for an off-reservation Indian casino in Port Huron, MI. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) was the sole co-sponsor of the first such bill introduced by Rep. Miller. Subsequently, Rep. Young attempted several times to bury approvals for Malik's Port Huron casino in voluminous House Transportation Appropriations bills. Those efforts were eventually blocked too.
If Rep. Miller is chosen to replace Rep. Knollenberg on the Appropriations Committee, keep an eye out for future attempts to win stealth approval for Malik's Port Huron casino or earmarks that fund projects needed to advance real estate and development objectives of Malik and the Ilitch clan.
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