George Bush's Wise Guys: Noe, Abramoff, Reed, and the Wyly Brothers
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
News from the DNC:
Today, George Bush will be banking millions of dollars for Republican campaigns. This afternoon Bush will be in Pennsylvania to raise money for Senator Rick Santorum's (R-PA) reelection campaign, and tonight he will return to Washington, DC to raise millions at a dinner organized by the NRCC and NRSC. There will be a few empty seats at today's fundraising events, though: five of Bush's big time fundraisers -- Thomas Noe, Sam and Charles Wyly, Jack Abramoff, and Ralph Reed -- have found themselves under Federal investigations for illegal contributions, tax evasion, and various corruption scandals. With at least five of Bush's donors coming under federal investigation, the attendees at today's fundraisers have to ask themselves: What's next?
Sam "Republicans for Clean Air" and Charles "Swift Boat Veterans" Wyly -- Donated Millions to Bush Efforts, Pioneers (2000)
Wyly Brothers Involved in a State and Federal Tax Investigation. According to news reports Sam and Charles Wyly, better known as the "Wyly Brothers" are under investigation for tax evasion. In early 2005 Michaels Stores Inc. revealed that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York County District Attorney were investigating the stock transactions of Charles and Sam Wyly, the company's President and Vice-President. The Billionaire Bush patrons are accused of setting up offshore trusts on the Isle of Man, a noted tax shelter in the Irish Sea, in an attempt to evade paying taxes on stock options. [Dallas Morning News, 6/4/05]
Wyly Brothers Set Up Trusts in Family's Name for Purpose of Tax Evasion. In the 1990's the Wylys brothers, while being advised by Bank of America on tax issues, set up trusts in the names of some of their family members. The trusts, which were set up on the Isle of Man, a noted tax shelter, were supposedly set up to benefit members of the Wyly family, but are now under investigation by federal and state officials as possible tax evasion schemes. [Dallas Morning News, 6/4/05]
IRS Accused Wyly of Laundering Money Through Trusts to Avoid Taxes. While writing about the Wyly's scandal the Dallas Morning News attempted to explain the Wyly's complicated tax evasion scheme. "First a public company grants stock options to a senior executive. The executive then transfers the options to a trust or partnership controlled by the executive's family. The parties structure the transfer as a 'sale' and the trust then 'pays' the executive for the options with a long-term or deferred note -- say due in 30 years. Shortly after the options are transferred, the trust exercises the stock options and sells the stock in the open market. The executive then takes the position that tax is not owned until the date of the deferred payment -- in this case 30 years -- although the executive has access to the partnership assets." [Dallas Morning News, 6/4/05]
Thomas "The Coin" Noe -- Pioneer (2004)
Republican Chairman Under at Least Six Separate Investigations. Noe was tapped by the Voinovich Administration to manage a portion of the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau's pension funds. "He also happened to be a dealer in rare coins. And in 1998, the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau agreed to invest in a rare-coin fund that he controlled as a way to hedge its holdings in stocks and bonds, an investment that experts have called highly unorthodox. But this week, Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two funds could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a 'Pioneer,' raising more than $100,000." [New York Times, 5/28/05, emphasis added]
- While Noe Collected Millions, State Assets Went Missing. According to a Toledo Blade investigation"two coins worth $300,000 had been lost in 2003. Then state officials acknowledged that another 119 coins worth $93,000 were missing" It is unclear to Ohio officials if Noe had the legal authority to invest the state's money on collectibles or whether the state was even the rightful owner of those items. During his time as administrator of the fund Noe collected over $3 million in fees to the state. [New York Times, 5/28/05]
Jack "The Troglodyte" Abramoff -- Pioneer (2004)
Abramoff Insulted Native American Leaders in Emails With His Lobbying Partner. During a Senate investigation into Abramoff's lobbying practices, an email exchange between Jack Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon was discovered, in which the two men refer to their Native American clients as "troglodytes" adding in smiley faces for effect. "'The [expletive] troglodytes didn't vote on you today,' Abramoff responded. 'What's a troglodyte?' Scanlon asked. ...'What am I, a dictionary? :) It's a lower form of existence, basically,' Abramoff wrote." [New York Times, 5/1/05]
Criminal Taskforce of Investigators From FBI, IRS, Department of the Interior, Senate and Justice Department Investigating Abramoff. According to the Washington Post, "A criminal task force of investigators from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department's public integrity section, the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Interior Department inspector general's office is looking into payments Abramoff and Scanlon received from an array of clients, including 11 wealthy Indian tribes that operate gambling casinos, according to officials familiar with the investigation." [Washington Post, 7/16/04]
Scanlon and Abramoff Hand Picked Tribal Candidates, Got Them Elected, Then Lobbied for Million Dollar Contracts. Emails uncovered during a Senate investigation show that Abramoff and fellow lobbyist Michael Scanlon hand picked candidates for tribal councils, backed the candidates with money for campaigning, and then cashed in on lucrative contracts after the individuals were elected. "Lawmakers said the emails and other documents show that the two men spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailings and other materials for candidates in tribal elections." [Washington Post, 9/30/04]
- Abramoff Boasted To Scanlon That One Scheme Would Help Them Make "Millions." During the Saginaw Chippewas' tribal election, Abramoff sent Scanlon an email boasting that millions would be made once their candidates took control of the tribal council. "I had dinner tonight with Chris Petras (legislative director) of Sag Chip (Saginaw Chippewas). He was salivating at the $4-5 million program I described to him. He is going to come in after the primary with the guy who will be chief if they win (a big fan of ours already) and we are going to help him win. If he wins, they take over in January, and we have millions." [Washington Post, 9/30/04]
Abramoff and Scanlon Took $66 Million From Tribes. Contrary to a Washington Post report that noted Abramoff and Scanlon receiving about $10 million in compensation from tribes, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo), a leading Senator on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said, "The truth is it's much worse." Campbell unveiled figures that showed Scanlon's PR firms took in $66 million from six tribes. [Roll Call, 3/23/04]
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee uncovered embarrassing and questionable details of Abramoff's dealings. "At least one tribe, the Agua Caliente of California, paid $300,000 into a pool of money Abramoff used to rent box suites at FedEx Field, the MCI Center and Camden Yards...A Jan. 16, 2002, email from Abramoff to Scanlon talked about needing 'moolah' and set a goal of making '$50M this year (our cut!)...In one nine-month period in 2002, Scanlon's Capitol Campaign Strategies sent more than $12 million to Abramoff's Kay Gold Inc." [Roll Call, 3/23/04]
Abramoff's Political Ties to Members of Congress Are Also Being Investigated. According to the Washington Post, "Government sources and people who have been interviewed said the twin investigations are examining tens of millions of dollars in fees that Abramoff and Scanlon received from clients, including, in Abramoff's case, a number of foreign entities. Investigators also are looking into ties the two have to members of Congress, into campaign donations and into whether criminal or tax codes were violated in the work they contracted to do or by the fees they collected, the sources said." [Washington Post, 7/16/04]
Ralph "The Golden Boy" Reed -- Pioneer (2000), Ranger (2004)
Ralph Reed Named in Investigation of Abramoff Payments. The Indian affairs committee, as part of its ongoing investigation of Jack Abramoff, subpoenaed Reed. In addition- investigators are looking into a $4 million payment that Abramoff made to lobbyist Ralph Reed, a key player in the president's reelection operation who raised more than $300,000 for Bush's two presidential campaigns. [Washington Post, 4/27/05; 4/22/05]
Reed Paid Millions By Scanlon and Abramoff To Rally Support To Close Texas Casino. During an ongoing investigation involving Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon and Ralph Reed, The Washington Post obtained emails showing the trio manipulating a Texas Casino for millions of dollars. "The emails reveal how closely Abramoff and Scanlon worked in tandem with Reed, whose longtime opposition to casino gambling and his connections to churches made him a powerful ally in Texas's effort to shut down the Tigua casino that Cornyn said was operating illegally. Reed was paid $4.2 million by Abramoff and Scanlon for his work opposing several tribal casinos in southern states from 2001 to 2003, government sources said." [Washington Post, 8/30/04, emphasis added]
- Once Reed Had Successfully Helped Close The Casino, Abramoff and Scanlon Would Offer The Tribe Its Lobbying Services At A Hefty Price. According to emails between Reed, Abramoff and Scanlon obtained by The Washington Post, Reed "built public support for then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn's effort to get the courts to close the Tigua tribe's Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso in late 2001 and early 2002. The emails also reveal what appears to be an effort on the part of Abramoff and Scanlon to then exploit the financial crisis they were helping to create for the tribe by securing both the multimillion-dollar fee and $300,000 in federal political contributions, which the tribe paid." [Washington Post, 9/26/04]
- Reed, Abramoff and Scanlon Took Millions From Casino They Quietly Worked To Shut Down. The Washington Post reports that Ralph Reed, Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff worked with then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn to help shut down the Tigua tribe's Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso. "Then the two (Scanlon and Abramoff) quickly persuaded the tribe to pay $4.2 million to try to get Congress to reopen it." [Washington Post, 9/26/04]
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