Upon further investigation of Senator Obama’s (D-IL) financial dealings, his investments seem more questionable by the day. According to an article in the New York Times, George Haywood, his friend who helped direct him toward AVI and SkyTerra, donated about $50,000 to Obama and his PAC, the Hope Fund. From the article:
But he put $50,000 to $100,000 into an account at UBS, which his aides say was recommended to him by a wealthy friend, George W. Haywood, who was also a major investor in both Skyterra and AVI BioPharma, public securities filings show.
You can view his donations for the 2004 and 2006 election cycles at OpenSecrets.
After the FCC’s ruling to allow SkyTerra to set up a nationwide wireless network, Tejas Securities released a report speculating that the decision could triple the stock’s value. From the New York Times article:
He bought his Skyterra shares the same day the Federal Communications Commission ruled in favor of the company’s effort to create a nationwide wireless network by combining satellites and land-based communications systems. Immediately after that morning ruling, Tejas Securities, a regional brokerage in Texas that handled investment banking for Skyterra, issued a research report speculating that Skyterra stock could triple in value.
Tejas Securities and their top executives donated more than $150,000 to Senator Obama and his political committees (Click here to view Tejas’ donations on OpenSecrets). John Gorman, Tejas’ chairman, made several donations to Obama (Click for OpenSecrets). Jared Abbruzzese, vice chairman of Tejas and a principal investor in SkyTerra, and his wife Sherrie donated $10,000 to Obama’s Hope Fund PAC (Click for OpenSecrets).
Obama’s political donors had large stakes in the companies in which he chose to invest. It seems highly unlikely that this is coincidence. Unfortunately for the public, it will be difficult to learn the truth behind these questionable investments until the media stops pulling punches against the junior senator from Illinois.
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