Stumping for Bush Cut Into Dornan’s Honorarium Income

Stumping for George Bush last year cost Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) a chunk of change in lost speaking fees, but it earned the conservative Garden Grove Republican an honorary law degree and a free trip to London, according to 1988 federal financial disclosure reports released here Monday.

Dornan’s filing states that he received speaking fees of $10,000 in 1988, down from his usual annual total of $15,000 to $20,000. Brian Bennett, Dornan’s chief of staff,attributed the drop to the amount of time Dornan spent canvassing the country for the Bush campaign. Dornan reported no other outside income.

Financial disclosure statements filed by the county’s other congressmen showed that:

-Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) reported outside income of $80,000 to $200,000, mainly from rents paid at an apartment building, a professional building and a business park that he owns wholly or partially.

Dannemeyer said he received $8,570 for speaking or writing from groups that included the National Center for Constitutional Studies and the American Assn. of Railroads. In addition, he received a paid trip to Indonesia from the World Trade Center Assn. of Orange County to promote trade, his statement said.

An aide said that his trip, sponsored by the World Trade Center Assn. of Orange County, was intended “to help foster clearer understanding of the economic opportunities available in the Pacific Rim.”

-Rep. C. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), who took office Jan. 3, said he received only about $18,000 in salary last year. A former senior associate White House legal counsel, “Cox quit his job at the White House just about the time he declared (for Congress), so he really had almost no income last year, “ said his chief of staff, Robert J. Sutcliffe.

Cox said he received interest income of $5,000 to $15,000 from a loan of more than $100,000 he made to his own campaign. He also earned $1,000 to $2,500 from interest on a money-market account.

-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Lomita), another freshman legislator, earned $22,000 from his job as a White House speech writer before he quit to run for Congress. He said he made $1,000 or less from stock dividends. Last May and July, Rohrabacher said he sold off investments valued between $15,000 and $55,000.

-Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) said he received outside income of $22,500 to $70,000 from investments that include a trust deed on a 180-acre parcel in Oceanside and holdings in Pacific Pepper Tree and the First National Bank of North County. Packard received $2,000 for serving as a director of Rancho Bernardo Savings Bank and was given a total of $3,000 for two speaking engagements on the subject of airline safety.

Packard also reported receiving transportation plus 4 days food and lodging in Sun Valley, Idaho, for a charity golf tournament.

Meanwhile, although Dornan’s aide said the congressman lost money because he spent so much time on the road for Bush, two of Dornan’s appearances for the GOP standard bearer proved financially rewarding.

A Jan. 29 speaking engagement at Findlay College in Findlay, Ohio, earned Dornan a $1,000 speaking fee and an honorary doctorate of laws degree, Bennett said.

The following December, the independent British television network paid for Dornan’s trip to London to appear on its television show, “The World This Week,” to share his views on the President-elect, Bennett said. The previous June, the same network had paid for Dornan to fly to London to appear on a program about the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Dornan also was paid twice to travel to New York to appear on the Morton Downey television program, his statement said. Downey, whose caustic demeanor has rendered him a highly controversial television personality, is a longtime Dornan friend, Bennett said.

“Downey is a big fan of Bob’s,” the chief of staff added. “They call him all the time.”

SCHROEDER TOPS LIST

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) collected more than $114,000 in appearance fees in 1988. Part I, Page 20.