New evidence has surfaced that sheds some light on the roles of Denley and Colby Vennes in their father Frank's quest for a presidential pardon. A schedule of payouts to the two from the bankrupt Palm Beach Funds suggests that money from the Petters Ponzi may have been the source of political contributions made by the Vennes brothers when they were both students. And it appears Denley even spent some time inside the White House itself as an intern in 2004 while Frank was in hot pursuit of a pardon from President George W. Bush.
Denley Vennes, "LiquidElk" on the Deviant Art website has a portfolio of photos which includes a photo with this caption:
Election Day 2004. Marine One just landed on the south lawn of the White House. A Marine exits the chopper before the President.
Another Deviant Art member asked how he was able to take the picture, Denley Vennes replied:
Thanks! I was interning at the White House at the time so I had the privilege of being there with the press.
We checked around and found this photo from the George W. Bush White House archives:
Just behind President Bush and VP Dick Cheney is an intern that looks remarkably like the photo of Denley Vennes on his Deviant Art page.
We've created this side-by-side comparison using a higher resolution version of the intern photo - what do you think?
If Denley Vennes was an intern in 2004, that would put him close to the very man who could wipe his father's record clean of the felony convictions that kept him from raising more money for the Petters Ponzi scheme (for more about this, read Karl Bremer's three-part series on the effort to win a pardon for Frank Vennes including a timeline of donations and events relating to the Vennes request for a pardon Parts One, Two & Three).
In a search warrant issued in 2009, a U.S. Postal Inspector sought access to two email accounts used by both Frank Vennes and his son Denley. According to the affidavit, Frank Vennes allegedly used the Yahoo accounts to send information to investors (see Strib article). Frank Vennes is currently under indictment for his role as financier of the Petters Ponzi scam, The Vennes trial is scheduled for May of next year.
It should also be noted that Denley Vennes contributed $2,000 to the Bush/Cheney campaign in 2003 (brother Colby also donated $2K). In 2004, Denely Vennes donated $2,000 to the campaign of Patrice Bataglia, a Republican candidate who ran against Betty McCollum in the 3rd Congressional District. In both years, Denley Vennes lists his occupation as student. In 2004, Denley said he was a student at Northwestern Bible College. Denley's father Frank was on the board of Northwestern and donated thousands of dollars to the college. The trustee for the Palm Beach Finance bankruptcy is currently clawing back the Vennes contributions to Northwestern. For more about Northwestern and Frank Vennes, read "Northwestern College Trustee Fracas" at the Petters Info blog.
According to a complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Florida November 23rd. Denley Vennes apparently received more than four hundred thousand dollars of his father's allegedly purloined largesse and the Palm Beach Finance trustee is clawing that back too (additional clawback complaints go after other Vennes family members and associates who have sprinkled campaign contributions along the Frank Vennes pardon trail - see interactive timeline at Dipity).
Since the trustee filed a clawback for Ponzi money donated to Bachmann, it is possible some of the following contributions might be clawed back as well:
George Bush/Dick Cheney Presidential Campaign (2003, 2004):
COLBY VENNES - $2000
DENLEY VENNES - $2000
NORMA VENNES - $2000
GREGORY VENNES - $2000
STEPHANIE VENNES - $2000
KIMBERLY VENNES - $2000
Minnesota Republican Party (2003):
COLBY VENNES - $1500
Patrice Bataglia Campaign (MN3CD) (2004):
DENLEY VENNES - $2000
COLBY VENNES - $2000
(Karl Bremer helped research and write this article)
