Billionaire father and daughter linked to Trump shake-up

[DonViejo]

Donald Trump’s dramatic staff shake-up on Wednesday revealed the growing influence wielded on his campaign by a Republican mega-donor duo.

The fingerprints of Robert Mercer, a New York hedge fund billionaire, and his middle daughter, Rebekah, can be seen all over the new Trump staffing appointments and other decisions being made by the GOP presidential nominee. The Mercers, who previously put $13.5 million into a super-PAC supporting Ted Cruz's bid against Trump, have recently converted the group into the Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC, targeting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Robert Mercer has reportedly made a “substantial” additional investment of at least $1 million in the new super-PAC, which has already spent $500,000 on digital ads attacking Clinton in eight battleground states. Additionally, he and particularly Rebekah have become influential figures in Trump World in the past few months.

Rebekah “lives in a beautiful apartment in one of Trump's buildings on the Upper West Side [of New York City] overlooking the Hudson River,” a source who knows her told The Hill. A Heritage Foundation trustee and director of the Mercer Family Foundation, Rebekah takes the lead on the details of the Mercers’ political operation, while her father provides the funds.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/291772-billionaire-father-and-daughter-linked-to-trump-shakeup

[Brother Buzz]

1. Mercer is a snake, and definitely a powerbroker operating behind the curtain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mercer_(businessman)

The Wikipedia link is a little hinky as you have to enter a back door to find the his actual page, and not the Roman Catholic priest. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Mercer). I wonder if the powers that be did it intentionally to run his entry under the radar.

Political activity

In addition to the money he has spent on political campaigns, estimated at $32 million as of 2016, Mercer has invested millions of dollars in the Heritage Foundation, the media outlet Breitbart.com, and Cambridge Analytica.

In 2015, the Washington Post called Mercer one of the ten most influential billionaires in politics. Mercer is a major financial supporter of the 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz, contributing $11 million to a super PAC associated with the candidate. Reporter Zachary Mider, writing for Bloomberg in January 2016, called Mercer "the biggest single donor" in the 2016 U.S. presidential race.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics Mercer is currently ranked the #1 donor to federal candidates in the 2016 election cycle, ahead of Renaissance founder James Harris Simons who is ranked #5 and generally donates to Democrats. By June, Mercer had donated $13.5 million to Ted Cruz’s super PAC, $2 million to John R. Bolton’s super PAC, and $668,000 directly to the Republican National Committee. Since 2006, Mercer has donated about $34.9 million to federal campaigns. Since 1990, Renaissance Technologies has contributed $59,081,152 to federal campaigns and since 2001, has spent $3,730,000 on lobbying.

Mercer has given $750,000 to the Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads, and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund. In 2010, Mercer financially supported Art Robinson's efforts to unseat Peter DeFazio in Oregon's 4th congressional district. In the 2013-2014 election cycle, Mercer donated the fourth largest amount of money among individual donors, and the second most among Republican donors. The Mercer Family Foundation, run by Mercer's daughter, Rebekah, has also donated to a variety of conservative causes.

Mercer was the main financial backer of the Jackson Hole Summit, a conference that took place in Wyoming in August 2015 to advocate for the gold standard. He has also supported Doctors for Disaster Preparedness and Fred Kelly Grant, an Idaho activist who encourages legal challenges to environmental laws. Mercer has supported a campaign for the death penalty in Nebraska and funded ads in New York critical of the so-called "ground-zero mosque". According to associates interviewed by Bloomberg, Mercer is concerned with the monetary and banking systems of the United States, which he believes are in danger from government meddling.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. I would think only someone who hates Trump and wants to see him mortally humilated would

facilitate this latest bufoonerly, but hey - special shout out to whoever did!