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Jeb 'dogged' by decades of questionable business deals

  The Washington Post is getting around to a story that both Mother Jones and the New York Times have covered: Jeb's dicey business deals.

   What's striking is that all three publications have essentially come to the same conclusion, reporting that Jeb routinely traded on his family name at inappropriate times in order to open doors. Here's a revealing passage from the Post about Jeb leveraging his status as the son of a sitting president on a business trip to Nigeria in 1989:

   “My father is the president of the United States, duly elected by people that have an interest in improving ties everywhere,” he told a group of dignitaries in a private meeting, according to a video documenting the visit. “The fact that you have done this today is something I will report back to him very quickly when I get back to the United States.”Just days after Jeb Bush returned home, President George H.W. Bush sent a note to Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida, thanking him for hosting his son. “We are grateful to you,” President Bush wrote on White House stationery. MWI eventually got the deals it was seeking. Former employees said Bush’s participation was crucial. “There’s no question about it: ‘Here is the son of the president of the United States.’ It was a big deal,” Cornelius Lang, MWI’s former controller, told The Washington Post in a recent interview. “He could open doors we couldn’t.”

   MWI, Corp., the water pump company Jeb was promoting, was ultimately investigated by the Department of Justice for fraud. Although Jeb was not named in the lawsuit against the company, the Post reports:

   Five of his business associates have been convicted of crimes; one remains an international fugitive on fraud charges. In each case, Bush said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing and said some of the people he met as a businessman in Florida took advantage of his naiveté.

   Holy Schnikes, to quote Bush himself.  Whether Jeb cynically used his father's presidency to grease the skids for a bad deal or he was the victim of his own naiveté, the pattern does not bode well for the judgment he would employ as an occupant of the Oval Office.

Kerry Eleveld -- Daily Kos

 

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