Thread: Cain: 'I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother'

Cain: 'I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother'

By NBC's Michael Isikoff

Herman Cain enthusiastically embraced the Koch brothers -- saying he is their "brother from another mother" -- just hours after facing a legal complaint challenging his campaign's ties to a Koch brother affiliated non profit.

"Just so I can clarify this for the media, this may be a breaking news announcement for the media: I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother," Cain said during a speech at the Americans for Prosperity gathering in Washington, D.C. "Yes. I'm their brother from another mother! And proud of it!"

Cain said: "I'm proud to know the Koch brothers." He said a recent New York Times article made it sound like "we've had time to go fishing together, hunting together, skiiing together."

Charles and David Koch, whose company, Koch Industries, is one of the country's largest privately-held energy firms, have been major donors to conservative causes and, through their group, Americans for Prosperity, have been widely credited with helping to spur the emergence of the Tea Party. (David Koch was in attendance for today's speech.)

But Cain's ties to the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity have received new scrutiny this week. A watchdog group, the Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), on Friday filed a legal complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) charging that Cain and his campaign manager, Mark Block, violated election laws by using $40,000 in funds from a non profit founded by Block to pay for iPads and charter flights for Cain's presidential campaign.

Cain made his remarks Friday in direct reference to a story published Friday in the New York Times outlining those ties.

Non-profits are barred by law from spending money for presidential campaigns. Internal documents from the non-profit, Prosperity USA, were published this week by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They contain apperent references to expenses paid by AFP on behalf of Prosperity USA and Cain -- "From AFP- H. Cain travel," one reads -- and an AFP spokesman this week confirmed the group was reviewing what it called "financial dealings" between the groups.

Asked about the FEC complaint filed by CREW, Cain campaign spokesman, JD Gordon, emailed Friday: "As with any suggestions of this type, we have asked outside counsel to investigate The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's suggestions and may comment, if appropriate, when that review is completed."

The campaign finance allegations have added to Cain's problems this week. The candidate has found himself under siege this week for his acknowledgement of settlements that existed between two women and the National Restaurant Association related to allegations of sexual harassment brought against Cain during his time as the restaurant lobby's chairman. Cain did not address that controversy in his Friday speech.

The event was Cain's last in D.C., where he's spent most of the week. He's set to travel next to Houston, where he'll debate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a fellow Republican presidential hopeful.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20 ... her-mother

GOP Mega-Donor Koch Brothers' Company Tied To Global Criminal Misdeeds In Bombshell Article

Zeke Miller|October 02, 2011|

A just-published bombshell article in the November issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine implicates Koch Industries, the company controlled by Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch, in dozens of criminal acts around the globe over the past three decades.

According the report, company officials have been caught paying bribes to win contracts, trading with Iran in violation of the U.S. embargo, price-fixing, neglecting safety and ignoring environmental regulations.

The billionaire brothers are major donors to FreedomWorks, the Cato Institute, and dozens of other conservative think-tanks and nonprofits. They have also been tied to several independent expenditure groups supporting Republican candidates across the country  and last year The New Yorker exposed the family's efforts to oppose President Barack Obama.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/201 ... z1cn8lWaR2

Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales

By Asjylyn Loder and David Evans - Oct 3, 2011 10:28 AM PT
Bloomberg Markets Magazine

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Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Koch Industries Inc. is a global industrial company run by brothers Charles and David Koch. Bloomberg Markets magazine's November issue examines some of the company's questionable practices and political lobbying. Bloomberg's Peter Cook reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

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In May 2008, a unit of Koch Industries Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held companies, sent Ludmila Egorova-Farines, its newly hired compliance officer and ethics manager, to investigate the management of a subsidiary in Arles in southern France. In less than a week, she discovered that the company had paid bribes to win contracts.

“I uncovered the practices within a few days,â€

Damn those evil Koch brothers for employing 50 thousand people , many of them Americans and allowing them to feed their families and actually live in brick homes instead of cardboard shacks.
Koch industries exposed the bribery themselves , the trading with Iran was legal, and find me any company of that size who has complied with the hundreds of thousands of governmental regulations 100%.
If they personally are criminals where is the Dept of Justice , and why have neither one been personally prosecuted?

Originally Posted by dsprtt

Damn those evil Koch brothers for employing 50 thousand people , many of them Americans and allowing them to feed their families and actually live in brick homes instead of cardboard shacks.
Koch industries exposed the bribery themselves , the trading with Iran was legal, and find me any company of that size who has complied with the hundreds of thousands of governmental regulations 100%.
If they personally are criminals where is the Dept of Justice , and why have neither one been personally prosecuted?

It is all about Herman Cain's high poll numbers. :P