The Politico advances the underlying story of Tom Daschle’s relationship with media entrepreneur Leo Hindery - a relationship that may have helped jeopardize Daschle’s bid to become HHS Secretary, after it was revealed that Daschle failed to pay taxes on the use of a car and driver that Hindery provided him.
Politico has two interesting nuggets:
First, that Daschle backed Hindery, who had run unsuccessfully for DNC chair in 2000, for a job in the Obama administration. Hindery had been mentioned as a possible Commerce Secretary or US Trade Rep. “Tom was pushing for him,” says a source.
Ultimately, Hindery “waited for the phone to ring,” but it never did.
The website also has a bit more detail on what Daschle might have done for Hindery’s firm, InterMedia, to earn the $1 million-a-year he received as a consultant.
It reports:
An industry source said that, more specifically, Daschle’s political ties could open doors to labor and state pension funds, major investors in such equity vehicles. The firm controls a fund, Intermedia Partners VII, which has $700 million under management, according to a Thomson Reuters estimate.
Yesterday, we noted Hindery’s interesting background, including the fact that he walked away from his tenure as CEO of Global Crossing with at least $250 million, just over a year before the telecom went belly up.