TPMMuckraker James Conzelman
John Kasich
Stanford Lobbyist, Bush Admin. Medicare Bamboozler Host Kasich Fundraiser
Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, Alston & Bird attorney Tom Scully (left inset), and Ripon Society President Jim Conzelman (right inset)
Two of the hosts of a fundraiser for Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich have some interesting items on their resumes: One was a senior executive and top lobbyist for alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, while another is a former Bush administration official who threatened to fire a subordinate if he revealed to Congress the true cost of a major bill.
This afternoon, Washington's tony Capitol Hill Club was the scene of a fundraiser for Kasich, the former Ohio congressman who is the presumptive Republican nominee to take on the incumbent Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, this fall. According to an invitation obtained by TPMmuckraker, the 15-person host committee includes Jim Conzelman and Tom Scully.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Allen Stanford, James Conzelman, John Kasich, Lobbyists, Medicare, Ted Strickland, Tom Scully
Allen Stanford
A Washington Tale: As Feds Closed In, Stanford Boosted Efforts To Buy Influence
Allen Stanford
As the federal government closed in on Allen Stanford in 2008, he began desperately pulling out all the stops in a bid to stay one step ahead. The Texas banker launched his own in-house lobbying shop, run by a former top aide to a powerful congressman. And he hired a former Clinton administration PR specialist to aggressively deflect reporters looking into his financial empire.
The Stanford story, of course, is primarily about how a high-living tycoon used a Caribbean tax shelter to allegedly orchestrate a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. But it's also an object lesson in how Washington works: How wealthy and powerful people can buy a level of influence and access that allows them to play by a different set of rules. In Stanford's case, that only worked for so long. But it's not hard to see how he could have thought playing the Beltway influence game might be his salvation.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Allen Stanford, James Conzelman, Lobbyists, Lula Rodriguez, Yolanda Suarez
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