Political Contributions

Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped the name of Barack Obama's Chicago patron into the South Carolina debate Monday night, putting front and center a tangled relationship that has the potential to undermine Obama's image as a candidate whose ethical standards are distinctly higher than those of his main opponent.

California's political watchdog agency is drafting tougher disclosure rules for gifts accepted by elected officials and could ban many of them altogether for statewide office-holders. If the Fair Political Practices Commission adopts the proposals, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could be in jeopardy of losing free overseas trips on luxury jets leased by a taxpayer-subsidized nonprofit, which is linked to the California Chamber of Commerce.

An indicted businessman who poured thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and other politicians was jailed Monday after prosecutors disclosed that he had received $3.5 million from an Iraqi billionaire while claiming to be broke. Real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur Antoin "Tony" Rezko was arrested at his home in Wilmette, Ill., and held after his lawyers failed to dissuade Judge Amy J. St. Eve from revoking his $2-million bond.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he would give to charity an additional $72,650 in 2004 political donations associated with his onetime patron, Antoin Rezko, who faces corruption charges in Chicago. The money represents donations from Rezko family members, employees and "others who may have contributed through his efforts" to Obama's 2004 campaign for the U.S. Senate, Obama's campaign said in a statement.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, who drew heavy criticism last fall for using campaign funds for world travel and luxury purchases, continued to spend thousands of dollars on airfare and gifts in the last six months, according to financial reports made public Thursday.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign for a $243-million telephone users tax has received a major contribution from an unlikely source -- a Texas oilman whose company could see a windfall from one of the mayor's environmental initiatives. Proposition S, which is on Tuesday's ballot, took in a $150,000 contribution last week from billionaire T. Boone Pickens, the co-founder of Clean Energy, which bills itself as the nation's largest supplier of liquid natural gas.

The trial of political fundraiser Antoin Rezko has been delayed one week to give his attorneys more time to prepare. Rezko has raised thousands of dollars for Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He was jailed Monday after U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve determined that he might flee to avoid trial. Rezko is accused of shaking down companies seeking state business. Neither Obama, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, nor Blagojevich has been accused of any wrongdoing. St.

Looking back, Joseph Cosgrove said he was naive to think that Sen. Barack Obama could require that nuclear power plant operators publicly disclose any radioactive releases. Cosgrove and others who live and work in the hamlet of Godley, Ill., sought help after discovering years after the fact that there had been releases from the nearby Braidwood Generating Station. Two years later, Obama's legislation, lobbied by one of his largest corporate backers, has stalled.

California was by far the Democratic presidential candidates' most lucrative source of campaign money in 2007, accounting for more than 1 in 5 of the millions of dollars they raised, campaign finance reports show. But while Democrats found riches in the Golden State, the Republican candidates raised about 10% of their money here, Federal Election Commission records show. "Think of it as the politics of hunger," said Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist unaffiliated with any candidate.

Once the leading fundraiser among presidential candidates, with a $100-million war chest, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she had lent her campaign $5 million, and aides confirmed that some of her top staff members were currently working without pay. The day after Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois fought to a draw in the Super Tuesday elections, Clinton attempted to narrow a growing gap between the two candidates' fundraising.