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HUH? The New York Times this morning has a big piece on some of Barack Obama's financial deals which, at first glance, doesn't take things much further than "raises questions" territory. A couple of paragraphs, however, really jumped out at me:
Even so, the stock purchases raise questions about how he could unwittingly come to invest in two relatively obscure companies, whose backers happen to include generous contributors to his political committees. Among those donors was Jared Abbruzzese, a New York businessman now at the center of an F.B.I. inquiry into public corruption in Albany, who had also contributed to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that sought to undermine John Kerry�s Democratic presidential campaign in 2004.What's a Swift Boat-backer doing contributing to Obama? The story suggests they had a shared financial interest:
[Obama] bought his Skyterra shares the same day the Federal Communications Commission ruled in favor of the company�s effort to create a nationwide wireless network by combining satellites and land-based communications systems. Immediately after that morning ruling, Tejas Securities, a regional brokerage in Texas that handled investment banking for Skyterra, issued a research report speculating that Skyterra stock could triple in value....In May 2005, Mr. Abbruzzese, who was vice chairman of Tejas and a principal investor in Skyterra, contributed $10,000 along with his wife to Mr. Obama�s political action committee -- a departure from his almost exclusive support of Republicans. Eight months earlier, for instance, he had contributed $5,000 to the Swift Boat group, and he has given $100,000 to the Republican National Committee since 2004.Last year, Mr. Abbruzzese, a major investor in several high-tech companies in New York and elsewhere, emerged as a central figure in the federal investigation of the New York State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno. The inquiry is examining Mr. Bruno�s personal business dealings, including whether he accepted money from Mr. Abbruzzese in return for Senate approval of grants for one of Mr. Abbruzzese�s companies. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Mr. Abbruzzese did not return phone calls seeking comment.And why would Obama accept money from one of the Swift Boat backers? It's not as if he has any trouble raising funds from less tarnished sources.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
