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It's time to play 'Name that Party!' (tax edition)

January 10, 2009

Instapundit has a running gag called "Name that Party," which points out instances where published reports omit certain relevant information when politicians of a certain persuasion face embarassment. We can play that game with this story about a Mississippi political consultant who will go away for eight months on federal tax charges:

GULFPORT — Political consultant Richard K. Buckman, who has helped several South Mississippi politicians win elections over the past decade, was sentenced Friday to eight months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of willfully failing to file income tax returns.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden also sentenced Buckman to one year of supervised release and 80 hours of community service. Ozerden ordered him to pay $182,000 in restitution to the IRS and a special $200 assessment.

Buckman’s sentence was to begin right away, officials said.

Surely the article says which Mississippi politicians hired Mr. Buckman?

Buckman operated Buckman & Associates in Gulfport and TCB Consulting in Washington.

Over the past 10 years he has worked in a number of South Mississippi political campaigns, including several mayoral races.

A reader could be excused for wondering which politicans hired a tax cheat, but the article is hopelessly coy, with nary a word about which politicians, or which party, used Mr. Buckman. It takes some determined Googling to come up with this, from a New Mexico blog:

A Democratic political operative from Mississippi who was paid $40,000 the state Democratic Party while dating the party’s executive director, has raised eyebrows among some party activists.

TCB Consulting, headed by Richard Buckman, 37, was contracted for “party building and fund raising” between December and September. During at least part of his tenure in New Mexico he was dating Vanessa Alarid, executive director of the state party.

So Mississippi reporters looking to track down some of Mr. Buckman's clients now have their field narrowed down to the Party That Must Not Be Named.

UPDATE: Maybe not. From the comments:

Buckman worked for candidates for both parties. I don't know of anyone in Mississippi who considers him a Democrat, but I would not call him a Republican either. He is just a mercenary con man.

Tags: tax crime.

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