"Critics of the Carlyle Group frequently note its connections to various political figures. Some of the sectors and companies in which it invests are highly sensitive to political activity; indeed, its actions may be viewed as a form of political arbitrage. This may create conflicts of interest when political decision makers have their own personal wealth [1] linked to such investments. Carlyle is the largest private equity firm located in Washington, D.C., its corporate headquarters are located on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Critics refer to Carlyle as a private military contractor, because it owns controlling or partial interests in several military contractors. For example, it used to own United Defense Industries, which was developing the Crusader artillery project. This project was funded in eight consecutive Clinton budgets but was cancelled soon after Bush became president, which eliminated the remaining $9 billion of the original $11 billion contract. A much smaller contract was awarded to United Defense to capture technologies developed during the eight years of development.
In the book House of Bush, House of Saud, author Craig Unger states that Saudi Arabian interests have given $1.4 billion to firms connected to the Bush family. Nearly 85% of the 1.4 billion, about 1.18 billion, refers to Saudi Arabian government contracts awarded to defense contractor BDM in the early to mid 1990s. Carlyle, however, sold its interest in BDM before former President George H. W. Bush joined as an advisor.
Former President George H.W. Bush retired from Carlyle in October 2003. George W. Bush served on the Board of Directors of early Carlyle acquisition Caterair. Bush left the board in 1992 to run for Governor of Texas.
The Saudi Arabian relatives of Osama bin Laden were also investors in Carlyle until October 2001 when the family sold its $2.02 million investment back to the firm in light of the public controversy surrounding bin Laden’s family after September 11. The bin Laden family has publicly disowned the al-Qaeda leader, but privately some members of the family have kept in contact with him.[citation needed] Osama bin Laden has no economic interest in Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), whose investments were in part managed by the Carlyle Group until the arrangement was terminated by mutual consent."
JUst a tiny bit of food for thought. Damn them Bush's cleaned up.
More food for thought....
"He says the government shouldn't overreact to corporate scandals. He watched the September 11 attacks at the Ritz-Carlton with the Bin Laden family. He's defending the Saudi's against a trillion-dollar lawsuit brought forth by the September 11 families. He led the campaigns of the last four Republican presidents. Now he's been chosen as Bush's personal envoy in charge of restructuring Iraq's $132 billion in debt. Some say he's the most powerful lawyer in the world. He may be one of the busiest. Who is he?
JAMES A. BAKER
He's the Senior Counsel for The Carlyle Group, a company that invests pension funds in defense and telecommunications companies around the world. The Carlyle Group is the nation's 10th largest defense contractor, with extensive ties to Enron, Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen, the Saudi Royal Family, and the Bin Ladens.
Through his law firm, Baker & Botts, he is also working to assist American oil companies in the Caspian Region. This work right now involves a pipeline to be built through Afghanistan, a pipeline that Texas oil companies were negotiating with the Taliban to build before 9-11.
The judge who decided not to freeze the assests of Enron executives in January later recused herself from the case because she was a former employee of Baker & Botts, because of her ties to George Bush and the fact that she had been an Enron stockholder.
Baker & Botts was Enron's counsel when they merged with Enron Power and Pipeline in 1997.
Baker & Botts is currently defending the CEO of Rite-Aid, indicted for conspiracy and fraud.
Two of Baker and Botts's specialties are Corporate Crisis and White Collar Criminal Defense."
Oh, and he works for the department of justice. Nice one.
Last edited by Mason4Assassin444 (2007-02-26 13:09:06)