Top Republican Aids Lieberman Fundraiser
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 21 September 2006

    Washington - A prominent Republican who chairs I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's legal defense fund co-hosted a fundraiser Wednesday for Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is running for re-election as an independent after losing the Democratic primary.

    Mel Sembler, a former Republican National Committee finance chairman, helped organize a reception that raised about a "couple hundred thousand dollars" for Lieberman, who was in attendance. Sembler said the event at his firm's office in St. Petersburg, Fla., drew a mix of Republican, Democratic and independent donors.

    "He's a man of principle," Sembler, a former ambassador to Italy and Australia, said of Lieberman in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. "Everybody crossed party lines, that's what was interesting ... He's an excellent candidate. We're happy to support him."

    Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, was indicted last year on charges that he lied to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about how he learned CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and when he subsequently told reporters.

    Sembler, who is board chairman of the Sembler Company, a real estate and shopping center development company, said he has worked hard to raise money for Libby's legal defense fund.

    "It's amazing to go to all this hard work when a crime never got committed," said Sembler, who also described himself as "dear friends" with Cheney.

    The Libby defense fund's steering committee includes a few Democrats and several Republicans; Sembler is its chairman.

    Sembler said the three-term Connecticut senator was supportive of him in 1989 when his nomination to be ambassador to Australia stalled in the Senate. Former President George H.W. Bush made the appointment.

    In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Sembler as ambassador to Italy.

    Sembler said he was bothered by what he termed distortions of Lieberman's record during the August primary, which upset him. That, coupled with Republican nominee Alan Schlesinger's low name recognition, persuaded him to back Lieberman financially in the general election.

    Democrat Ned Lamont, an anti-war challenger, stunned Lieberman, the party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, with a victory in Aug. 8 primary. Lieberman then embarked on an independent bid to hold his Senate seat.

    "I am not taking PAC money or lobbyists' money," Lamont said after speaking to a group of Manchester Democrats on Thursday night. "Senator Lieberman is going to raise money as he sees fit. We have a different way of doing business."

    Lamont, a multimillionaire businessman from Greenwich and political newcomer, spent about $4 million of his own money in last month's primary.

    Tammy Sun, a spokeswoman for Lieberman, said the campaign is "grateful for Mel Sembler's support."

    "We don't believe that just because you receive the support of one person, you also receive the support of all their friends," she said.

    Lieberman has stressed that he's reaching across the aisle for Republican votes. He's also reaching for GOP wallets.

    Republican New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to host a Nov. 1 fundraiser for Lieberman with former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch.

    Bruce Bialosky, a longtime Republican fundraiser in California, said he's getting a strong response as he helps organize an Oct. 10 fundraiser in Los Angeles for Lieberman that also will be a bipartisan affair.

    "It should be a smashing success," Bialosky said. "There are a lot of people across the country who are Republicans who are raising money for Joe."

    Lieberman will need Republican and independent votes to prevail in November. One of his television ads shows him erasing a line between the words "Democrats" and "Republicans" on a chalkboard.