D’Amato Shifted Funds, Paper Says

Some donations made to the National Republican Senatorial Committee ended up in the campaign war chest of New York Gov. George Pataki, with the help of Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato, it has been reported.

Instead of depositing the money into the D’Amato-headed fund, to be used in Republican Senate races around the country, the checks were deposited into one of two state-level accounts, the New York Times said today.

Some were given to a “New York State Victory Committee” that made a $1.9-million campaign donation to Pataki and donated more than $300,000 to help finance the election of three Republicans to the New York Supreme Court, the newspaper said.

Another $360,000 was sent to the state Republican “housekeeping” account, which is meant to finance New York’s Republican Party.

Several people from around the country who made contributions to the national committee fund told the Times they were never notified of the rerouting.

D’Amato defended the action, saying, “We don’t have an obligation to tell people.”