More cronyism from Obama, and his connections to the Wall Street protesters
Read more: Look whose relative just got $135.8 million energy loan Look whose relative just got $135.8 million energy loan
The sister-in-law of John Podesta, President Obama's influential White House transition director, served as the lobbyist for a wind power firm that was just awarded a $135.8 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
The company is Brookfield Asset Management. It boasts a board of nine directors, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's long-term girlfriend.
The Energy Department's promise to Brookfield marks the latest in controversial massive alternative energy loans to companies with strong ties to the Obama White House and to top Democrat lawmakers.
Since 2009, Brookfield has been represented by the lobby firm Heather Podesta and Partners, LLC.
Podesta, a top financial bundler for Democrat politicians, is wife of lobbyist and art collector, Tony Podesta, who is the brother of John Podesta.
John Podesta is director of the Center for American Progress, which is reportedly highly influential in helping to craft White House policy.
A Time magazine article profiled the influence of Podesta's Center for American Progress in the formation of the Obama administration, stating that "not since the Heritage Foundation helped guide Ronald Reagan's transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway."
The center is funded by billionaire George Soros. Its board includes Van Jones, Obama's former "green jobs" czar, who resigned in September 2009 after it was exposed he founded a communist revolutionary organization.
Heather Podesta and her husband this past July topped the FEC's lobbyist bundler database, raising more money in the six months prior than any other lobbyist by far. Their fund raising was largely for Democrats.
According to White House visitor logs, Heather Podesta visited the White House eight times in Obama's first six months alone.
Brookfield, meanwhile, is a Toronto, Ontario-based asset management company that manages a global portfolio of assets valued at over $120 billion. The firm's assets include not only renewable power generation but also real estate, including some of Manhattan’s most famous skyline buildings.
Brookfield also happens to own Zuccotti Park, the park where the Occupy Wall Street protesters are currently holed up. The protesters have reportedly been making a mess of the park, which is named after Brookfield's co-chairman, John Zuccotti.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Brookfield wanted the protesters removed, but Bloomberg's New York Police Department urged the private company to allow the protests to stay in the park.
Read more: Look whose relative just got $135.8 million energy loan Look whose relative just got $135.8 million energy loan
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