Docs Show Gov Jeb Bush Funneled At Least $1.7 Billion Of FL Pension Cash To George W. Bush Donors

[kpete]

EXCLUSIVE: Docs show Jeb Bush Funneled $1.7 BILLION of pension cash to brother's donors - some who are now Jeb donors:

Jeb Helped Fund W's Reelection Campaign Using State Money

.............

While Jeb Bush was governor of Florida, state pension officials committed at least $1.7 billion to financial firms whose executives were “Pioneer” fundraisers for his brother’s presidential campaigns. To achieve Pioneer status, the fundraisers had to amass at least $100,000 worth of bundled contributions to one of George W. Bush’s campaigns.

An International Business Times analysis of Florida government documents and a list of George W. Bush’s bundlers compiled by Public Citizen found that 11 firms that received new Florida pension investments under Jeb Bush were Pioneers. IBTimes also analyzed data from the Florida Division of Elections and Political Moneyline to determine how much money executives from those firms donated directly to Jeb Bush’s campaigns, George W. Bush’s campaigns, the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Florida between 1998 and 2006.

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http://www.ibtimes.com/george-w-bush-fundraisers-whose-firms-received-florida-pension-deals-under-jeb-bush-1880624

Here are some of the companies:

Blackstone Group: Donated $99,000, received $150 million

Carlyle Group: Donated $69,000, received $275 million

Deutsche Bank: Donated $200,000, received $450 million

Freeman Spogli: Donated $743,000, received $50 million

Goldman Sachs: Donated $1.5 million, received $150 million

Hicks Muse: Donated $189,000, received $25 million

J.P. Morgan Chase: Donated $64,000, received $100 million

Lehman Brothers: Donated $499,000, received $175 million

Morgan Stanley: Donated $1.1 million, received $150 million

Prudential Financial: Donated $406,000, received $100 million

UBS: Donated $147,000, received $100 million

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/14/1377654/-Jeb-Bush-Funneled-Almost-2-Billion-in-FL-Pension-Funds-to-Brother-s-Pioneer-Donors

[Rex]

1. If only GOPukers were held to the same legal standards as us normal people.

That can't be legal or ethical. Lucky for him he is an elite GOPuker. Unlucky for the rest of us.

[okaawhatever]

4. It is both as long as there isn't any quid pro quo. Proving quid pro quo can be very difficult. nt

[Rex]

5. True, now that it is obvious he or his minions erased all emails and notes

or shredded anything that can be used as proof. The GOPukers are really good at destroying evidence! Just ask Dick Cheney, he is the master at it!

[onecaliberal]

2. How is this legal? This pos can do whatever

He wants including the same email system Sen Clinton used that is a scandal.

[Faux pas]

3. Seems that their

sliminess is genetic. Assholes.

[rhett o rick]

6. Wonder how many of these will be donating to both Jeb and H. Clinton.

Like Goldman-Sachs.

[Oilwellian]

7. They sure do sell us out cheap, eh?

And that reaches across the aisle.

[Doctor_J]

8. Paging Holder

Can we please put one BFEE member in Leavenworth before you leave? I think all of the pot smokers have been flushed out.

[starroute]

9. Hicks, Muse was involved in the UTIMCO scandal

http://www.utwatch.org/utimco/hicks.html

Tom Hicks is a Dallas billionaire and investment banker who began raiding the University's public funds after the University refused to invest in his dental company in the early 90's. Hicks first appeared on the public scene when he donated $17,500 to Ann Richards, Texas governor at the time. He was subsequently appointed to the Board of Regents by Governor Richards in 1994.

After Ann Richards was defeated in 1994 by George W. Bush, Hicks shifted his heavy donations to Bush. Hicks gave $146,000 to Bush in both of his gubernatorial campaigns. In return for the gratitude, Bush approved legislation to form UTIMCO in 1995. Hicks had used a full-court press strategy, spending between $50,000 to $110,000 in lobbying and using with the powerful lobbying team Vinson and Elkins, who represents several Texas business interests, to achieve this dream.

Conveniently for both men, Bush appointed Hicks as the first chair to UTIMCO, which began the tradition of tit-for-tat management and good-ol' boy favoritism that has defined the relationship between UTIMCO and Texas politics since. In 1998, Hicks would make Bush a multi-millionaire by purchasing the Texas Rangers. In addition, Hicks' company, Hicks, Muse, Tate, & Furst, Inc., is now Bush's number 4 career patron. The company is still donating to the GOP; Rick Perry has received $283,481 from Hicks Muse, with another $176,500 coming from Charles Tate (Hicks, Muse, Tate, & Furst, Inc.). Hicks's brother Steven has also thrown in $138,516.

For several years, UTIMCO acted in secrecy under the protection of the Texas Attorney General, which facilitated the process of questionable investments in return for political favors. UTIMCO invested some $525 million in assets run by Hicks associates and other major GOP donors. After the Houston Chronicle exposed such insider dealings in a 1999 article, Tom Hicks resigned from the board.