karen nicholas ran the nonprofit for him. herb vederman, a lobbyist, was his campaign-finance director when he ran for mayor and had worked under rendell, as well, during his mayoral term. and robert brand, a fattah friend. and the allegation is not just the money, but, also, that allegedly, fattah would use his power to try to get positions or at least access to the obama administration appointments to ambassadorships and that kind of thing. some people would say that's politics as usual, that it's pay to play and that people use their power to offer access and to get money, that it's sort of a quid pro quo that might not be legal, but it happens a lot, people say. >> well, it's not legal, and when it does happen, it's not unusual for those with wealth, for them to use the wealth to influence, benefit for themselves. but usually, it's a bit more subtle, and it's not in your face. but it is illegal, and it should not be usual, and especially in a system where we have a history of institutionalized corruption. but, having said that, i think these are sweeping allegations against congressman fattah, and we have to, also, as renee pointed out, you have to look at the context of one's