Philip Falcone. The Latest Obama-Backer Engulfed in a Corruption Scandal.
Aside from the non-stop gaffes, projection of weakness to our enemies, treating our allies like garbage and failed economic policies, the Obama administration seems to specialize in corruption and scandal.
Solyndra.
And now you can add LightSquared to that list:
The four-star Air Force general who oversees Air Force Space Command walked into a highly secured room on Capitol Hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, Gen. William Shelton said the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor.The company is LightSquared. The donor is Philip Falcone. According to Vanity Fair, Falcone became the subject of an SEC investigation when he took a $113 million loan from the hedge fund he manages in order to pay his taxes.
Source: The Daily Beast
Falcone also received a 116% return on an $11 billion bet against subprime mortgages in 2007 (link). How's that for a corporate jet owning fat cat? He fits right in with the rest of Obama's shady leftist friends!
Back to the story:
According to officials familiar with the situation, Shelton’s prepared testimony was leaked in advance to the company. And the White House asked the general to alter the testimony to add two points: that the general supported the White House policy to add more broadband for commercial use; and that the Pentagon would try to resolve the questions around LightSquared with testing in just 90 days. Shelton chafed at the intervention, which seemed to soften the Pentagon’s position and might be viewed as helping the company as it tries to get the project launched, officials said.
“There was an attempt to influence the text of the testimony and to engage LightSquared in the process in order to bias his testimony,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said in an interview. “The only people who were involved in the process in preparation for the hearing included the Department of Defense, the White House, and the Office Management and Budget.”
Source: The Daily Beast
