Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump In Defense Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank

Wall Street Journal Online ^ | September 27, 2001 | DANIEL GOLDEN, JAMES BANDLER and MARCUS WALKER

[Beep]

If the U.S. boosts defense spending in its quest to stop Osama bin Laden's alleged terrorist activities, there may be one unexpected beneficiary: Mr. bin Laden's family.

Among its far-flung business interests, the well-heeled Saudi Arabian clan -- which says it is estranged from Osama -- is an investor in a fund established by Carlyle Group, a well-connected Washington merchant bank specializing in buyouts of defense and aerospace companies.

[Beep]

The DU Rats and Judicial Watch apparently cannot read and comprehend at the same time. The JW report on this WSJ Online article is completely skewed! We cannot stand by and watch them besmirch the good name of all generations of the Bush family! Here is the real article!

[Beep]

PING!

[Howlin]

Let's just put it right here where everybody can read what Larry said in his latest press release, so they can COMPARE what the WSJ says and what Larry says and make up their OWN minds.

9/28/2001

Press Office 202-646-5172

WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUSH SR. IN BUSINESS WITH BIN LADEN FAMILY CONGLOMERATE THROUGH CARLYLE GROUP

FAMILY HAD RENOUNCED TIES TO TERRORIST SON BUT FAMILY STILL UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION

FATHER OF PRESIDENT SHOULD PULL OUT OF INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING FIRM

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, reacted with disbelief to The Wall Street Journal report of yesterday that George H.W. Bush, the father of President Bush, works for the bin Laden family business in Saudi Arabia through the Carlyle Group, an international consulting firm. The senior Bush had met with the bin Laden family at least twice. (Other top Republicans are also associated with the Carlyle group, such as former Secretary of State James A. Baker.) The terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had supposedly been “disowned” by his family, which runs a multi-billion dollar business in Saudi Arabia and is a major investor in the senior Bush’s firm. Other reports have questioned, though, whether members of his Saudi family have truly cut off Osama bin Laden. Indeed, the Journal also reported yesterday that the FBI has subpoenaed the bin Laden family business’s bank records.

Judicial Watch earlier this year had strongly criticized President Bush’s father’s association with the Carlyle Group, pointing out in a March 5 statement that it was a “conflict of interest (which) could cause problems for America’s foreign policy in Middle East and Asia.” Judicial Watch called for the senior Bush to resign from the firm then.

“This conflict of interest has now turned into a scandal. The idea of the President’s father, an ex-president himself, doing business with a company under investigation by the FBI in the terror attacks of September 11 is horrible. President Bush should not ask, but demand, that his father pull out of the Carlyle Group,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

“This has the potential of making ‘Billygate’ (Jimmy Carter’s brother’s dealings with Libya) look like small potatoes,” added Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

See "Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump In Defense Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank," by Daniel Golden, James Bandler, and Marcus Walker, The Wall Street Journal, 9/28/01 (www.wsj.com, subscription required).

[onyx]

Thanks, Howlin. Klayman is desperately hysterical.

[Beep]

Excellent idea!! Thank you!! ;-}

[Howlin]

A Carlyle executive said the bin Laden family committed $2 million through a London investment arm in 1995 in Carlyle Partners II Fund, which raised $1.3 billion overall. The fund has purchased several aerospace companies among 29 deals. So far, the family has received $1.3 million back in completed investments and should ultimately realize a 40% annualized rate of return, the Carlyle executive said.

Now, am I missing something here, or is the above statement from The Wall Street Journal QUITE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT LARRY SAID:

The Wall Street Journal report of yesterday that George H.W. Bush, the father of President Bush, works for the bin Laden family business in Saudi Arabia through the Carlyle Group, an international consulting firm.

[Askel5]

You don't happen to have the Rumsfeld/Carlyle excerpt do you? I think the ladies would love to rip it apart.

[Howlin]

Is it just me? Am I wrong in my reading of that, or has Klayman completely distorted what the WSJ said? Help me out here.

[Howlin]

Never one to miss a Bush bashing thread, are you?

Whatever you may have to "post" here, it won't change the fact that Larry Klayman LIED in his press release.

[CheneyChick]

Is JW this desperate?! Sheesh.

[piasa]

Bald-faced, it looks like.

[Askel5]

Hey ... am I bashing?

I just want to see what you make of Rumsfeld and Carlucci's relationship.

(Go easy on Klayman, will ya? Larry's are probably just sour grapes for not being part of the Club after his fangtoothed incessant -- and practially solo -- attack on all things "Clinton".)

[Howlin]

Askel, I love you dearly, but Klayman is in this for nothing excpet money. I'd be willing to bet the conservative money has dried up.

Scroll through his latest "press releases." Even if you hate Bush, they are embarassing.

[Howlin]

Am I wrong in my interpretation? I know it's late.......but hasn't he twisted what WJS said?

[Deb]

Klayman has apparently decided the truth is just too annoying and the butts of his groupies at FR, must tingle when a Bush-trashing thread goes up.

They've inherited the title, "People of the Lie".

[Howlin]

Get a look at this.

[Beep]

It is definitely not just you!! I really don't see any correlation between the two! What a completely twisted version of the reported facts!

[a history buff]

If you follow a link I bumped tonight, you'll notice that GHWB advises the CG on offset deals. As anyone, and their grandmother knows, there is an extremely strong, and hardly unfounded sense that arms deals in the middle east involve side deals. Under the Shah there was a Mr. Ten Percent who took an epynomous cut.

Maggie Thatcher's playboy son, bereft of any relevant expertise, made something like $20 million brokering the Al-Yamamah deal, so we have a strong precedent of Western leaders using their office to enrich their family at the expense of others. IMO this is unacceptable. The Economist intimated that both Maggie and son might face jailtime; instead she hit the American lecture circuit. I liked Maggie's politics, I knew a friend she'd take a day to meet every year or so while on vacation, but that part positively stunk.

[Howlin]

Don't thank me......SLJP found this little jewel!

[Beep]

Just following up on a report! I had no idea what I was going to find. I was bracing myself -- for nothing but a pack of lies, obviously! Cripes!!

[Askel5]

Shazam ... I'm wondering why I didn't make the Powell connection (along with Weinberg) either.

A teaser from the NYT (3/5/2001) Elder Bush in Big G.O.P. Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm by Leslie Wayne

---

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... The steady flow of politicians to lucrative private-sector jobs based on their government contacts is a familiar Washington tale. But in this case, it is being played out for more dollars, on a global stage, and in the world of private finance, where the minimal government rules prohibiting lobbying by former officials for a given period are not a factor. These rules say nothing about potential conflicts when former government officials use their connections and insights for financial gain, and they may attract more notice now that George W. Bush is president. Many of those involved with Carlyle, which invests largely in companies that do business with the government or are affected by government regulations, have ties to the Oval Office.

For instance, Frank C. Carlucci, a Reagan secretary of defense who as much as anyone is responsible for Carlyle's success, said he met in February with his old college classmate Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense, and Vice President Dick Cheney, himself a defense secretary under former President Bush, to talk about military matters — at a time when Carlyle has several billion-dollar defense projects under consideration.

Carlyle officials contend that the firm's activities do not present any potential conflicts since Mr. Bush, Mr. Baker and other former Republican officials now at Carlyle — including Mr. Carlucci, who is Carlyle's chairman, and Richard G. Darman, Mr. Bush's former budget director — do not lobby the federal government. Carlyle executives point out that many corporations have former government officials as board members.

"Mr. Bush gives us no advice on what do with with the federal government," said David Rubenstein, the firm's founder and a former aide in the Carter White House. "We've gone over backwards to make sure that we do no lobbying."

Others, however, see little difference between potential conflicts involving lobbying and those involving investments.

"Carlyle is as deeply wired into the current administration as they can possibly be," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit public interest group based in Washington. "George Bush is getting money from private interests that have business before the government, while his son is president. And, in a really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, some day, benefit financially from his own administration's decisions, through his father's investments. The average American doesn't know that and, to me, that's a jaw-dropper."

It is difficult to determine exactly how much money the senior Mr. Bush and Mr. Baker have made. Mr. Baker is a Carlyle partner, and Mr. Bush has the title senior adviser to its Asian activities. With a current market value of about $3.5 billion on Carlyle's equity and with the firm owned by 18 partners and one outside investor, Mr. Baker's Carlyle stake would be worth about $180 million if each partner held an equal stake. It is not known whether he has more or less than the other partners.

Unlike Mr. Baker, Mr. Bush has no ownership stake in Carlyle; he is an adviser and an investor and is compensated by obtaining stakes in Carlyle investments. Carlyle executives cited, for example, Mr. Bush's being allowed to put money he earns giving speeches for Carlyle into its investment funds. Mr. Bush generally receives $80,000 to $100,000 for a speech. He sits on no corporate boards other than Carlyle's.

Carlyle also gave the Bush family a hand in 1990 by putting George W. Bush, who was then struggling to find a career, on the board of a Carlyle subsidiary, Caterair, an airline-catering company.

...

Carlyle has become the nation's 11th largest defense contractor, owning companies that make tanks, aircraft wings and a broad array of other military equipment. It also owns health care companies, real estate, Internet companies, a bottling company and even Le Figaro, the French newspaper.

"Carlyle is one of the most successful fund-raising groups," said Mario L. Giannini, president of Hamilton Lane, a Philadelphia consultant to institutional investors. "They have tremendous access and they have done very well with their money."

And its access extends well beyond American shores. In Europe, Carlyle has assembled an advisory board that besides Mr. Major includes Karl Otto Pöhl, former president of German's Bundesbank, and the past or present chairmen of B.M.W., Hoffman-LaRoche, Nestlé, LVMH-Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton and Aerospatiale, the French Airbus partner.

Carlyle's Asia advisory board, which helps raise money and finds and reviews deals, includes former President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines, the former prime minister of Thailand and the executive director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The former South Korean prime minister Park Tae Joon was also an adviser to Carlyle.

...

One of the people who put Carlyle on the map — developing its riches and its image — is Mr. Carlucci, who joined the firm in 1989 when it had engaged in a string of ill-fated ventures. He is credited with steering Carlyle into successful defense industry acquisitions — just when other investors were shunning them — and with using his seat on more than a dozen corporate boards to bring Carlyle deals and investors.

In an office adorned with photographs of Mr. Carlucci and the politically mighty — he sits beneath an Oval Office picture of himself and Mr. Reagan — Mr. Carlucci makes it clear that his extensive government and global ties are as fresh as ever.

"I know Rumsfeld extremely well," Mr. Carlucci said in an interview. "We've been close friends throughout the years. We were college classmates."

Pointing to a picture of the Chinese president, he said, "There's a photo of me and Jiang Zemin. And there's me and the president of Taiwan."

Right now, Carlyle is hoping that financing is provided for the $13.7 billion Crusader program. The Crusader is a heavy-duty tank made by a Carlyle portfolio company and other contractors. And Carlyle just lodged a complaint with the government after another of its portfolio companies lost a $4 billion contract to build a lightweight combat vehicle.

While Mr. Carlucci is open about his discussions with Mr. Rumsfeld on Pentagon policies, he said he never lobbies. "I've made it clear that I don't lobby the defense industry," Mr. Carlucci said. "I will give our Carlyle bankers advice on what they might do and who they should talk to. But I do not pick up the phone and say you should fund X, Y or Z."

---

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Wal-Mart To Offer Free Immunizations for Kids

[Beep]

OH yeah -- the NY Times is completely impartial! /sarcasm off

;-p

[Askel5]

Please point out the quotes and/or facts you believe the New York Times made up to advance their liberal agenda.

[CheneyChick]

From the WSJ article:

There is no indication President George W. Bush has met any of the bin Ladens,

It seems as though Klayman is making a HUGE stretch here by trying connect them to a murky business partnership.

[onyx]

Good work! Make that excellent!

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Very interesting. I saw this garbage on JW's website after deport called my attention to it. I dismissed it because of the source, but now I see how deliberately misleading it was and I am even more disgusted. Either Klayman isn't very bright or he is dangerously delusional. I guess he thinks that people won't see through his distortion.

[Howlin]

So what do you expect me to "rip apart?" If you'll kindly point out the laws they are breaking, I'll be glad to respond. Or are being Bush's father and making money illegal now? At least it's all there for the world to see.

And I can't see as how this has anything to do with Larry Klayman making up press releases.

[Howlin]

As opposed to Klayman's statement: The senior Bush had met with the bin Laden family at least twice.

[Howlin]

FYI.

[Askel5]

Fair enough. Thanks.

[Beep]

You want me to reprint the whole thing?! Unnecessary! The NYT's rep speaks for itself. It's never what, but how; you should know that by now! (Poet and don't know it! But on target too.) Everybody knows the NYT for what it is! Not unlike our lovely Nashville Tennessean. Rat bent rag.

[Beep]

Thanks! But I just lucked out! I don't tend to take things at face value. I always check!

[CheneyChick]

Good job, girl.

CC :)

[Askel5]

It does seem hard to believe that they NEVER crossed paths.

Who knows. I suspect that if Klayman's citing only two encounters, those are the only for which he's got proof.

I'll keep reading.

[Beep]

Thank you, CC! Just doing my homework. ;-}

[Howlin]

I hope you notice that I didn't say I think it's swell that GHWB and his pals are doing this.

[Howlin]

I will read what you post, but PLEASE, don't ever use "proof" in the same sentence with Klayman. He hasn't got any of that.

[Askel5]

The entire article's cut from whole cloth?

And here I was ready to join Howlin in being proud of the way our Public Servants make an honest buck in the off-season (or beyond our seamless national borders).

[Beep]

My thoughts exactly. If he had proof, it would have been splashed everywhere! It's "how." I'm tellin' ya! Get a whiff of something, word it just so, throw it out there, and hope people bite! Classic crap. (Journalism major -- sorry! This kind of stuff irks me to no end!)

[Askel5]

Oh dear ... I didn't pick up the "not swell" part.

I take back my inferring pride on your part. Doesn't make me very proud either, actually.

As for "proof", I think you'd be surprised. Besides, there is the admissible evidence that is the body of sworn testimony he's built. Awesome. As a Bloodhound, I can tell you it's been invaluable in many respects.

[Askel5]

Classic crap. (Journalism major -- sorry!

If I were a journalism major, I'd too would be apologizing for using "classic crap".

[Beep]

You're missing the point. (Deliberately, I believe!) If you take the same set of facts and dole them out to different people, you'll get a different end result depending on what they want to lead you to believe. Straight-up, honest reporting is practically non-existent anymore. (If it weren't for FOX News, I think I'd pull out all my hair!) You don't have to be a journalism major to notice that these days!!

[Askel5]

Are you still in school?

[Askel5]

Just curious ... mostly it's your spirited replies that make me think you're young.

[Beep]

You do like to be coy, don't you?! I was apologizing for ranting. Not for making the observation! ;-}

I graduated loooonnnnggg ago!!

[Beep]

Young at heart, dear! Young at heart! ;-}

[Askel5]

Trust you stay thus always. Regards, SLJP.

[Howlin]

As for "proof", I think you'd be surprised.

I'll be surprised if has any, that's for sure.

Besides, there is the admissible evidence that is the body of sworn testimony he's built.

What sworn testimony has Larry Klayman taken concerning whether or not George Herbert Walker Bush ever met bin Laden?

And I surely do hope you don't think all "sworn testimony" is admissable evidence.

[gopgen]

As I've said before, attacking the bin Laden Group companies (that have no ties to Osama) would be like taking after Hearst Newspapers because Patty Hearst joined the Symbionese Liberation Army. If these people truly shun Osama, and are doing legit business, leave them alone. But if evidence is found that they support Osama, THEN you'll have reason to seize their assets.

[Howlin]

And here I was ready to join Howlin in being proud of the way our Public Servants make an honest buck in the off-season (or beyond our seamless national borders).

Since it's hard to tell with you, could you start labeling your "stuff" as "TRUE" or "SARCASM"?