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Hasan family speaks out

by | 7:56 pm, July 16, 2010 | 9 Comments

In an interview on KHOW’s Caplis & Silverman show, Dr. Aliya Hasan, brother of Ali Hasan and Board member of the Hasan Family Foundation, offered tremendous insight into the Foundation’s agreement with Scott McInnis.

Dr. Hasan was as pleasant and forthright as a person could have been in her position, making clear repeatedly that neither she nor her family felt ill will toward McInnis.

Nevertheless, the simple facts of what she said make McInnis look even worse than he did before, something I didn’t think was possible.

In particular, as readers of these pages know, I was wondering just what the Hasan family thought they were buying for $300,000 (over two years), because papers about water, even if not plagiarized couldn’t be worth that much money.

To the extent that I had suspicions about politically motivated overpayment for a small service, i.e. to pay for some prior or future “favor”, those concerns were put to rest by Dr. Hasan.

She said that the reason McInnis was paid so much was essentially that they thought they were hiring him for a full-time job and had to offer a salary that could compete with his other options at the time that he left Congress.

In particular, Seeme Hassan, mother of Aliya and Ali, believed (and presumably still believes) that understanding water issues, not least interstate water issues, are extremely important to the long-term success of Colorado and are very poorly understood.

Therefore she, through the Foundation, signed up McInnis for a “fellowship” for $150,000 a year which was supposed to include not just writing papers, but also getting the issue into the media, giving talks, and generally doing whatever he could to educate Coloradoans on the issue of water, water rights, water law, etc.

Shortly after taking the fellowship, McInnis then signed up for a full-time job  as a partner with law firm Hogan and Hartson (now Hogan Lovells).  McInnis told the Hasans that the quality of his work would not suffer from having this new commitment, but clearly it did, as can be seen not only from the plagiarized papers but also from the fact that, according to Dr. Hasan, he did none of the other things he was being paid to do.

The Foundation basically just shrugged their shoulders and didn’t renew his fellowship after the second year, much nicer to McInnis than I would have been in the same situation.  It seems clear from listening to Aliya Hasan that the Hasan family’s motivation here is in no way sinister, underhanded, or politically motivated and to the extent that I wondered aloud if it might have been, I apologize to the Hasan family.  (I have met most of the family and found them interesting, intelligent, and genial…and committed to fundamental American principles.)

Dr. Hasan noted that her family only learned about the plagiarism from the same media reports from which everyone else (except the people who discovered the plagiarism) learned about it.

The Foundation has demanded its money back, so they can put it to better charitable and/or educational use elsewhere.  McInnis has said he would repay the money. Dr. Hasan said, while not trying to sound confrontational, that if McInnis did not make good on his promise to repay the money the Foundation would pursue legal remedies against him, i.e. sue him.  She also said that they were more than willing to “work with” McInnis on a repayment schedule.

All in all, Aliya Hasan explained her family’s position and the history of the relationship in a way that fills in many pieces of the puzzle, and did it in much better cheer than I probably would have in the same situation. I applaud her for the excellent interview, especially given that she was, by her own admission, a little nervous being on the radio talking about something so controversial and so outside her normal daily interests.  By coming on the air, she did Coloradoans a service. We know more than we did before.

Unfortunately for Scott McInnis, the more we know, the less tolerable it is for him to remain a candidate.

Really, imagine a guy being elected governor who has to make debt payments every month to reimburse a Foundation he essentially defrauded.  No way, no how.

In short, McInnis took the Foundation’s money for a full-time job and then took another job and kept taking the money.

Scott, please get out now.  You can’t win. And I’m not just saying that because of the new Rasmussen poll which now shows you two points behind John Hickenlooper, a 7-point drop in a month.

I note in the poll that Maes is also behind Hickenlooper…something which leads to further discussion about what the GOP should do now, if it has any real options at all.  But that’s a topic for another day.

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

Category: Colorado Politics, Syndicated
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Comments

  1.   Elliot
      July 16th, 2010 @ 8:33 pm

    Wow. Just wow.

    As a throwaway – long before I realized who the Hasan family was I was a big fan of my LPR classmate Ali Hasan – who has by far the most charisma of anybody I’ve met so far in Colorado politics. I was really pissed off at what people did to this patriot’s name during the nomination process.

  2.   Donald Johnson
      July 16th, 2010 @ 10:49 pm

    It’s hard to believe that McInnis thought he was taking a full time job at $150k a year. There must have been a serious communications breakdown or McInnis misled the Hasans.

    Doesn’t look too good for either side.

  3.   Muhammad Ali Hasan
      July 17th, 2010 @ 7:04 am

    Elliot – thank you! I love ya my brother!

    Ross – thank you – this article is greatly appreciated

    Peace and love –

    Muhammad Ali Hasan

  4.   Aliya Hasan
      July 17th, 2010 @ 12:53 pm

    Yes, thank you! Aliya

  5.   Alex
      July 17th, 2010 @ 1:40 pm

    I seriously doubt that the Hasans and their foundation is that innocent. The timing of this is just to suspect for me. On more of many questions? Why did Ali Hasan shut down his campaign phone number right after people began asking for their donations back. Just because the phone’s turned off doesn’t mean we don;t want our money back. I wish I could have my vote as a delegate back too.

  6.   Rossputin
      July 17th, 2010 @ 3:25 pm

    Alex,

    Frankly I wasn’t paying close attention to the treasurer’s race at assembly time (and didn’t go as a delegate.)

    If you have problems with Ali, he’s not hard to find and I suggest you contact him and get the answers you want and deserve.

    Regards,
    Ross

  7.   Muhammad Ali Hasan
      July 17th, 2010 @ 4:57 pm

    Hi Alex!

    I can definitely confirm that I have not received multiple requests asking for contributions to be returned – to my knowledge, we closed down our campaign office at the end of June

    However, I’m more than happy to get in touch personally – please feel free to email me anytime –

    hasan2008@mac.com

    Thank you!

    Muhammad Ali Hasan

  8.   Mrs Seeme Hasan
      July 17th, 2010 @ 5:26 pm

    1—The best part of being an American citizen is that there is so much opportunity the sky is the limit.All an entrepreneur needs is hard work and you can be a success.
    Scott could not do anything for us,we helped him.
    The only people who need influence from politicians are companies like the defense companies or drug companies.The ones who seek to get big government contracts.
    2—Regarding phone numbers,how long do you think Ali should keep the campaign open?When he did not garner enough votes at the convention it was time to wrap up.
    3–Money back is a different matter.Anyone wants money back they can get it back from Ali.The campaign cant return money cause per the sectary of State rules all information has been turned in and books are closed.
    4—Alex find me one family who has done as much as we have done for Colorado.It is unfair to say hurtful things just because you feel like being a bigot.Go meet the almost thousand students who graduate from Hasan Business School every year.Their lives change for the better and they attain things they did not even dream of.Rich people in this State use their money to advance themselves.They only give money to organizations that put their family members on their boards.Or give them other favors.Just so you can sit on a computer and type away you think you know a lot.You don’t know much it is obvious to me,just bitterness.Try to see the good in your fellow man,or maybe because we are Muslim you just are blind sided.Islamophobia.Scott is forcing an old man to sign a confession and that is OK,but somehow you have an issue with my family.
    5—Mr Rossputin thanks for your apology.My family has been in politics for many generations.My great grandfather was the minister for education.Our family both mine and my husbands have been very generous.My father in law and grand father in law,gave their personal homes to make schools for girls in India in the 1940′s.This is not anything new to us,we have always helped the community we live in.We have done it for hundreds of years.
    6–I am shocked,this election was a learning experience for me.I had no idea Republicans were so biased and racist.Delegates were yelling in front of my grandkids You muslims are bad,you muslims are liars.Who is the liar the 25% delegates who promised Ali their votes and then reneged or Muslims.Who is the lair Scott or the Muslims.Am I angry you bet.When people want money and extend their hands out to me,I am not a Muslim.When it is time to do something in return suddenly people remember that I am a muslim.By the way Ali’s campaign manager had to call security because delegates were attacking our volunteer’s.
    7—So people like Alex keep your unfriendly views to your self.When you have done as much as my family has done both in volunteer hours and financial contributions than you can critic me or my family.What is that religious saying don’t lift a stone till___/PS Both my husband and I have individually given over 15 thousand hours in non profit volunteer work.Say something when you reach my level of giving and sharing.

  9.   Donald Johnson
      July 17th, 2010 @ 5:54 pm

    My first exposure to the Hasans was when I heard Dr. Hasan talk about he and his HMO were striving to improve the quality of care and cost effectiveness care. That was back in the mid 1990s. I’m a retired health care business journalist, and I’m not easily impressed, but Dr. Hasan caught my attention.

    My next encounter with the family was when I heard Ali speak at a campaign event and then interviewed him for my blog. He is smart, skilled and forthcoming. While I didn’t like everything he said, I liked him and hope he’ll give politics another try. I’ve also had a chat with his sister, another physician and academic. What a neat young lady.

    And, of course, I’ve met, listened to and briefly interviewed Scott McInnis. From the start, he struck me as slippery and deceptive. Just too clever without being very smart. He talks a good game, I think, until you hear him a few times and realize that he really doesn’t know much or have much to say. The plagiarism scandal just proves that my early impressions of McInnis were pretty accurate, sad to say.

    After reading about the Hasans and their foundation, I’ve concluded that they are a tremendous family. They are making the most of what America has to offer. And they’re giving back as few do. I hope they keep it up.

    And I’m delighted to see them stand up for themselves here and elsewhere. That’s the American way.

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