Gifts To National Gop Races Went Into State Campaign Chests

Some donations made to the National Republican Senatorial Committee ended up in the campaign war chest of Gov. George E. Pataki, with the help of Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, The New York Times reported today.

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 newspaper said.

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 paper said.

D’Amato defended the action, saying it was not illegal and he was not required to tell contributors where the money was going.

“There is nothing wrong with what I did. There was no intent to deceive,” D’Amato said.