Former Senator George Allen received over $100,000, Governor McDonnell over $90,000, from business interest that secretly sold petrochemical equipment to terrorism-sponsor Iran

ProgressVA today called for Virginia politicians who have accepted contributions from Koch Industries and their owners, conservative activists Charles and David Koch, to return the money or donate it to charity. A Bloomberg investigation revealed Sunday that Koch businesses circumvented US trade embargos to sell millions of dollars worth of petrochemical equipment to Iran. Iran is one of four countries designated by the U.S. State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism. In a 2009 report, the State Department called Iran the most active state sponsor of terrorism, stating "Iran's financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf and undermined the growth of democracy."

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Koch Industries has donated $897,037 to Virginia politics since 1996. David Koch, co-owner of Koch Industries, donated an additional $54,441 to Bob McDonnell's 2009 gubernatorial campaign. 

"Koch Industries has circumvented U.S. law to make money off of business dealings with a terrorist-supporting state," said ProgressVA Executive Director Anna Scholl. "That dirty money has been funneled into Virginia political campaigns to the tune of almost $1 million since 1996. Virginia politicians have no business taking money from companies or individuals that do business with terrorist-supporting Iran. Our leaders should be protecting us against Koch and any corporation that trades American lives and American security for profits. George Allen, Bob McDonnell, and the other recipients should immediately return or donate this dirty money."

The biggest recipients of Koch largess include:

➢ George Allen: $102,350 (see below chart)
➢ Bob McDonnell: $91,941
➢ Jerry Kilgore: $73,750
➢ Bill Howell: $57,000
➢ Republican Party of Virginia (including the Joint Caucus, Senate Leadership Trust, and House Campaign Committee): $77,700
➢ Commonwealth Victory Fund (Democratic Caucus): $44,000

(A full list of recipients of state level contributions can be found at here. Federal donations to George Allen and his affiliated committees are listed below.)

A former Koch Industries employee told Bloomberg that "Every single chance they had to do business with Iran...they did."

According to the Bloomberg report, "Internal company records show that Koch Industries used its foreign subsidiary to sidestep a U.S. trade ban barring American companies from selling materials to Iran. Koch-Glitsch offices in Germany and Italy continued selling to Iran until as recently as 2007, the records show.

"The company's products helped build a methanol plant for Zagros Petrochemical Co., a unit of Iran's state-owned National Iranian Petrochemical Co., the documents show. The facility, in the coastal city of Bandar Assaluyeh, is now the largest methanol plant in the world."

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ProgressVA is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization that works year-round to engage citizens from across the state around issues of immediate state or local concern.

Amount	Date	Contributor	Organization	Recipient
$1,100	10/14/2006	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	06/06/2006	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	10/18/2006	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	02/09/1999	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	07/07/1999	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$3,000	06/02/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$2,500	12/14/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,500	07/18/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	03/11/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	06/02/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	03/11/2002	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$2,500	05/10/1999	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,500	10/10/2000	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,500	03/17/2000	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	03/17/2000	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	05/12/1999	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	06/12/2000	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$1,000	09/21/1999	KOCH, DAVID	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$250	09/27/2006	LOUGHLIN, PETER	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$500	09/27/1999	MITCHELL, NANCY	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$500	10/28/1999	MITCHELL, NANCY L WADLEY	Koch Industries	George Allen (R)
$5,000	06/11/2010	FINK, RICHARD H	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	09/22/2006	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	09/22/2006	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	12/31/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	12/20/2005	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	12/24/2003	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	06/08/2004	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	06/17/2004	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	12/31/2003	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$4,000	04/11/2002	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$4,000	03/11/2002	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$2,000	10/24/2002	KOCH, CHARLES	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$2,000	10/24/2002	KOCH, ELIZABETH	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$1,000	10/23/2002	Koch Industries	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$1,000	10/23/2002	FINK, RICHARD	Koch Industries	Good Government for America*
$5,000	06/16/2005	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$4,000	03/25/2005	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$1,000	03/31/2003	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$4,000	10/03/2000	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$1,000	06/22/2000	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$1,000	12/27/1999	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$1,000	04/27/2000	Georgia-Pacific Corp**	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
$500	03/14/2000	TURNER, JOHN	Georgia-Pacific Corp	George Allen (R)
TOTAL $102,350

 

*Good Government for America is Sen. Allen's federal leadership PAC (http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00317479)

** Georgia-Pacific Corp is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.