Monday, November 14, 2011

Obama at Jon Corzine home April 2011 for fundraiser, Corzine at White House in March 2011, later told MF clients he was in line for Obama appointment

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Jon Corzine, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs, has recently hired a criminal defense lawyer.

11/2/11, "Corzine, top Obama fundraiser, under FBI investigation," MSNBC, M. Isikoff

"Just a few months after that event (in April 2011), Corzine’s firm, MF Global, surprised many Wall Street investors by issuing highly unusual securities notes that appeared to highlight Corzine’s close relationship with the White House: The notes suggested that the former New Jersey governor might be in line for a top administration post

  • should the president get re-elected.

The notes promised to pay an extra 1% in interest rates in the event of “the departure of Mr. Corzine as our full time chief executive officer due to

and his confirmation…by the United States Senate prior to July 1, 2013.”"...

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11/4/11, "Jon Corzine Hires Criminal Defense Lawyer," Business Insider

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Jon Corzine among names released 3 months after March 2011 White House meeting:

6/24/11, "W.H. releases DNC meet names," Politico, Gerstein, Negrin

"Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, former technology executive Bernard Schwartz and banking executive James Staley were among 30 well-connected figures in the business and finance world who met with President Barack Obama at the White House in March for an unusual economic
  • discussion organized by the Democratic National Committee.

The White House released the names on Friday under a policy Obama instituted in 2009 to disclose nearly all White House guests approximately three months after they visit....

In addition to the Wall Street financiers and business executives, the session was attended by Andy Tobias, the DNC treasurer; Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director and current DNC executive director; and Brad Thompson, a DNC fundraiser who works with high-dollar donors and bundlers in New York."...

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The NY Times leaves out the fact that Gov. Jon Corzine was present at a White House meeting in March for Wall St. executives and supporters:

6/12/11, "Obama Seeks to Win Back Wall St. Cash," NY Times, N. Confessore

"A few weeks before announcing his re-election campaign, President Obama convened two dozen Wall Street executives, many of them longtime donors, in the
  • White House’s Blue Room....

The event, organized by the Democratic National Committee, kicked off an aggressive push by Mr. Obama to win back the allegiance of one of his most vital sources of campaign cash — in part by trying to convince Wall Street that his policies, far from undercutting the investor class, have helped bring banks and financial markets back to health.

Last month, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, traveled to New York for back-to-back meetings with Wall Street donors, ending at the home of Marc Lasry, a prominent hedge fund manager, to court donors close to Mr. Obama’s onetime rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. And Mr. Obama will return to New York this month to dine with bankers, hedge fund executives and private equity investors at the Upper East Side restaurant Daniel."...

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4/5/11, "Obama fundraiser at Corzine home," Politico, M. Haberman

"President Barack Obama's first New York event since he launched his reelection will be at the home of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, with the former Goldman Sachs financier set to host a high-dollar, small dinner, an invitation to the event shows.

Tickets to the event, which sources said Corzine is co-hosting with another financier, longtime Obama backer Orin Kramer and his wife, cost $35,800 per person.

That event is the first of three the president will appear at in New York City on April 27.

The choice of Corzine's home is notable, given his ties to the financial sector. The White House has made efforts in recent months to soothe frayed relations with the business community, after an election cycle during which some donors, unhappy with the push for Wall Street reform, claimed to be sitting on their hands.

After dinner there will be a reception for roughly 350 people at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, with tickets ranging from $2,500 a head to $25,000 per person. The highest level gets guests a spot at the VIP reception

  • and in the photo line with the president. "...

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4/28/11, "Remarks by the President at DNC event," Obama at the home of bundler Jon Corzine, White House press release

"I'm among a lot of friends and I, first of all, obviously want to thank Jon and Sharon for hosting us in this extraordinary venue. These guys have been just great friends from the start. Some of you know that Jon was a big supporter of mine in my first U.S. Senate race when nobody could pronounce my name. (Laughter.) And I had a chance to meet Sharon then and could already see that -- where that was going. (Laughter.) So it is wonderful to see them together as newly-weds and we are just thrilled to be with them."...

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11/3/11, "Remember that fundraiser at Jon Corzine Home? “Wall Street Guy” Is Now Being Investigated By The FBI," Politisite

Good summary of Corzine-Obama connections including:

6/23/2008, "Corzine profile rises in Obama camp," Newark Star-Ledger, Heininger

""There's no question about it -- Senator Obama has a great deal of respect for Governor Corzine in so many regards, including Jon Corzine's expertise covering domestic and international financial markets," said Rep. Steven Rothman (D-9th Dist.), Northeast regional co-chairman of Obama's campaign. "Senator Obama will be calling upon Governor Corzine's expertise in a whole host of areas to assist him in winning this November."

Casting Corzine in the role of Wall Street wizard works to his advantage and Obama's, political experts said. Obama gains gravitas through Corzine's experience, while Corzine gains a stage to tout his fluency in finance and aligns himself with a potential president, said Joseph Marbach, a political scientist at Seton Hall University."...

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Obama campaigns for Corzine in NJ, July 16, 2009, ap photo. Corzine was defeated by Chris Christie.


much via Politisite

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