Profiles in Corruption

by Peter Schweizer

  185. Robert Tomsho, “Charter Schools gain in stimulus scramble,” Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2009, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124778613357254605; Amanda Michel, David Epstein, and Michael Grabell, “No-Bid Stimulus Contracts for Military,” ProPublica, July 17, 2009, https://www.propublica.org/article/no-bid-stimulus-contracts-for-military-717#.

  186. Lisa Rab, “Mavericks Charter Schools Don’t Live Up to Big Promises,” Miami New Times, December 29, 2011, https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/mavericks-charter-schools-dont-live-up-to-big-promises-6385627; Lisa Rab, “Mavericks Charges Charter Schools $350K in Rent, Plus Fees,” Broward Palm Beach New Times, December 21, 2011, https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/mavericks-charges-charter-schools-350k-in-rent-plus-fees-6473527.

  187. Rab, “Mavericks Charter Schools Don’t Live Up to Big Promises”; “Frank Biden,” School Property Development Brochure, accessed September 4, 2019, p. 3, https://deutsch29.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/spd-company-info.pdf.

  188. Lisa Rab, “UPDATED: Joe Biden’s Brother Is President and ‘P.T. Barnum’ for SoFla Charter School Chain,” Broward Palm Beach New Times, November 22, 2011, https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/updated-joe-bidens-brother-is-president-and-pt-barnum-for-sofla-charter-school-chain-6466011.

  189. Ibid.

  190. Buddy Nevins and Alan Cherry, “Taxi King Gambles and Usually Wins,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, August 20, 2008, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000–08–20–0008200214-story.html; Bob Norman, “The Sheriff’s Criminal Association,” Broward Palm Beach New Times, October 15, 1998, https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/the-sheriffs-criminal-association-6331789; Stefan Kamph, “The Hidden Real Estate Empire of Jesse Gaddis, Yellow Cab Magnet: Here’s Our Map,” Broward Palm Beach New Times, July 17, 2012, https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/the-hidden-real-estate-empire-of-jesse-gaddis-yellow-cab-magnate-heres-our-map-6445580.

  191. All records related to the transaction, during a period approximately between June 10 and June 21, 2010, may be found at Broward County official records: https://officialrecords.broward.org/AcclaimWeb/search/SearchTypeName. Where Grantor is “Gaddis Capital” and grantee is “School Property Development, LLC.”

  192. Karen Yi, “Charter school leaders concede laws need to be tightened,” Sun Sentinel, February 19, 2015, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-pb-charter-school-panel-20150219-story.html.

  193. Rab, “Mavericks Charter Schools Don’t Live Up to Big Promises.”

  194. Ibid.; Yi, “Charter School Leaders Concede Laws Need to Be Tightened.”

  195. Karen Yi and Amy Shipley, “Mavericks in Education: Failing to make the grade,” Sun Sentinel, October 10, 2014, http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-mavericks-charter-investigation-20141010-story.html.

  196. “Mavericks High of North Miami Dade County,” U.S. News, accessed September 9, 2019, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/florida/districts/miami-dade-county-public-schools/mavericks-high-of-north-miami-dade-county-4939; “Miami-Dade County Public Schools District,” U.S. News, n.d., https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/florida/districts/miami-dade-county-public-schools-110364.

  197. Yi and Shipley, “Mavericks in Education: Failing to Make the Grade.”

  198. Rab, “Mavericks Charges Charter Schools $350K in Rent, Plus Fees.”

  199. “School Property Development: Company Information,” School Property Development Brochure, accessed September 4, 2019, https://deutsch29.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/spd-company-info.pdf.

  200. “National Recovery Council Team.”

  201. Rab, “Mavericks Charter Schools Don’t Live Up to Big Promises.”

  202. Yi and Shipley, “Mavericks in Education: Failing to Make the Grade.”

  203. White House Visitors’ Logs; Peter Olsen-Phillips, “DNC paid $4.5 million for events at White House,” Sunlight Foundation, March 4, 2015, https://sunlightfoundation.com/2015/03/04/dnc-payments-white-house/; Gray Rohrer, “Florida Democratic Party Leader Resigns After Report of ‘Creepy’ Behavior,” Orlando Sentinel, November 17, 2017, https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-fdp-chair-bittel-resign-20171117-story.html.

  204. “Minutes Meeting of the Sunrise City Commission,” City of Sunrise Florida, April 28, 2015, p. 47, http://sunrisefl.granicus.com/MinutesViewer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=468&doc_id=29c25f75–5899–11e5-ab53–00219ba2f017.

  205. Lisa Rab, “ ‘The Hope Factory,’ Part 2,” New Times Broward-Palm Beach, January 23, 2012, https://www.theadvocate.com/gambit/new_orleans/news/article_1ac741e1–8fc6–50ed-81ad-60e9560616fd.html.

  206. “Charter Schools Program State Educational Agencies (SEA) Grant,” U.S. Department of Education, accessed on September 5, 2019, https://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html.

  207. Ibid.; Applicant Information, U.S. Department of Education (archived information), accessed on September 5, 2019, https://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter/2015archive.html.

  208. Rab, “ ‘The Hope Factory,’ Part 2.”

  209. “SPA Awards Database,” excel file, accessed September 5, 2019, https://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter/cspawardsdatabase.xls.

  210. Patrick Svitek, “Biden Makes First Texas Trip as a 2020 Presidential Candidate, Pitching New Education Plan,” Texas Tribune, May 28, 2019, https://www.texastribune.org/2019/05/28/joe-biden-first-texas-trip-2020-candidate-pitches-education-plan/.

  211. George Bennett, “Lawsuit Seeks End to Sugar Cane Burning in the Glades,” Palm Beach Post, June 4, 2019, https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190604/lawsuit-seeks-end-to-sugar-cane-burning-in-glades.

  212. Ibid.; “Joe Biden to Travel to New Hampshire on Tuesday,” June 4, 2019, 4president.org (blog), accessed September 5, 2019, https://blog.4president.org/2020/2019/05/joe-biden-to-travel-to-new-hampshire-on-tuesday-june-4–2019.html.

  213. “Berman Law Group Welcomes Francis Biden as Senior Advisor,” Berman Law Group, August 10, 2018, https://www.thebermanlawgroup.com/blog/2018/august/berman-law-group-welcomes-francis-biden-as-senio/.

  214. “Omnibus Budget Will End Chances of Horse Slaughter Plants Opening in US,” PR Newswire, January 14, 2014, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/omnibus-budget-will-end-chances-of-horse-slaughter-plants-opening-in-us-240039791.html; “Executive Staff at The Berman Group,” Berman Law Group, accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.thebermanlawgroup.com/about-the-firm/executive-staff/.

  215. Dan Sweeney, “Sugar companies hit with federal class-action lawsuit over health effects of cane field burns,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, June 4, 2019, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-ne-sugar-cane-burn-lawsuit-biden-abruzzo-20190604–6rjj2mkr2va5zmggky43duieky-story.html.

  216. Berman Law Group, “The Glades Burning,” YouTube, June 4, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6inCWEUuxXE.

  217. Bennett, “Lawsuit seeks end to sugar cane burning in the Glades.”

  218. “US Energy Partnerships with Caribbean Countries Will Herald Long-Term Benefits,” Atlantic Council, accessed on September 5, 2019, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/?view=article&id=31900:us-energy-partnerships-with-caribbean-countries-will-herald-long-term-benefits.

  Chapter 4: Cory Booker

  1. Leanna Garfield, “Mark Zuckerberg Once Made a $100 Million Investment in a Major US City to Help Fix Its Schools—Now the Mayor Says the Effort ‘Parachuted’ in and Failed,” Business Insider, May 12, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-schools-education-newark-mayor-ras-baraka-cory-booker-2018–5; Vincent Lara-Cinisomo, “Newark Mayor Cory Booker Connects with Google’s Schmidt on Waywire (Correction),” Silicon Valley Business Journal, August 12, 2013, https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/08/06/newark-mayor-has-big-stake-in-startup.html; Olivia Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth About Cory Booker, New Jersey’s Golden Boy,” Daily Beast, October 20, 2014, https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-ugly-truth-about-cory-booker-new-jerseys-golden-boy.

  2. Tom Moran, “Booker is running. I’ve watched him for 20 years. Here’s what I’ve learned,” Star-Ledger,
February 1, 2019, https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/02/booker-is-running-ive-watched-him-for-20-years-heres-what-ive-learned-moran.html.

  3. Ibid.; Jordain Carney, “Booker Releases ‘Confidential’ Kavanaugh Documents,” Hill, September 6, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405345-booker-releases-confidential-kavanaugh-documents.

  4. Matt Taylor, “Cory Booker Doubles Down,” Salon.com, July 9, 2013, https://www.salon.com/2013/07/09/do_liberals_know_cory_booker/.

  5. “Finding Your Roots,” PBS, n.d., https://www.pbs.org/show/finding-your-roots/; Cory Booker, United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good (New York: Ballantine Books, 2016), p. 12.

  6. Jill Lepore, “Confessions of a Presidential Candidate,” New Yorker, May 13, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/20/confessions-of-a-presidential-candidate.

  7. Ben Jacobs, “Cory Booker: Ivy League elite or hunger-striking hero?,” Guardian, March 13, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019mar/13/who-is-cory-booker-democrat-2020; Alexandra Moller, “Lyons Award Honors Service,” Stanford Daily Archive, on Internet Archive, February 28, 2001, https://web.archive.org/web/20120624011945/http://archive.stanforddaily.com/?p=1000223 (the screenshot of the site was captured on June 24, 2012); Benjamin Ball, “NJ Senator Cory Booker Announces Presidential Bid,” Daily Princetonian, February 1, 2019, http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2019/02/nj-senator-cory-booker-announces-presidential-bid.

  8. Robert Curvin, Inside Newark: Decline, Rebellion, and the Search for Transformation (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2014), pp. 218–20; Yair Rosenberg, “New Jersey Senate Candidate Cory Booker Knows His Torah. So What?” Tabletmag.com, August 12, 2013, https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/140767/cory-bookers-jewish-story.

  9. Shelbi Austin, “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Cory Booker,” U.S. News, March 16, 2017, https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017–03–16/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-cory-booker; Peter J. Boyer, “The Color of Politics,” New Yorker, February 4, 2008, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/02/04/the-color-of-politics-2.

  10. David Skinner, “Home Is Where the Heart Is,” Education Next 6, no. 4 (Fall 2006), https://www.educationnext.org/home-is-where-the-heart-is/; Andra Gillespie, The New Black Politician: Cory Booker, Newark, and Post-Racial America (New York: New York University Press, 2012), p. 157.

  11. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 221.

  12. Ken Schlager, “He’s No Angel,” New Jersey Monthly, October 13, 2009, https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/hes-no-angel/; Guy Sterling, The Famous, the Familiar and the Forgotten: 350 Notable Newarkers (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), p. 2.

  13. Curvin, Inside Newark, pp. 221–22, 235.

  14. Ibid., pp. 235–36.

  15. William Schluter, Soft Corruption: How Unethical Conduct Undermines Good Government and What to Do About It (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017), p. 176; “Moran: Steve Adubato Sr. tarnishes legacy with cheating, ethics scandals,” NJ.com, November 18, 2012, http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2012/11/moran_steve_adubato_sr_tarnish.html; Max Pizarro, “In Newark, Oprah’s $500,000 Little Pieces,” Observer, February 3, 2009, https://observer.com/2009/02/in-newark-oprahs-500000-little-pieces/

  16. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 222.

  17. Andrew Jacobs “Evicted, Newark’s Mayor Finds Another Blighted Street,” New York Times, November 20, 2006, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/nyregion/20newark.html; Seth Mnookin, “The New Natural,” New York Magazine, April 22, 2002, http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/newyork/features/5921/.

  18. Marc Peyser, “Taking It to the Streets,” Stanford Magazine, March/April 2000, https://stanfordmag.org/contents/taking-it-to-the-streets; Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 222.

  19. Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth About Cory Booker, New Jersey’s Golden Boy”; Jonathan L. Wharton, A Post-Racial Change Is Gonna Come: Newark, Cory Booker, and the Transformation of Urban America (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 38.

  20. Ibid., p. 40.

  21. Associated Press, “Newark Mayor’s Race Unusually Spirited,” Asbury Park Press, April 7, 2002, https://www.newspapers.com/image/144886581; Scott Fallon, “Cory Booker’s 2013 Rise to the Senate Was Fueled by Outsider Status and Insider Maneuvering,” North Jersey Record, February 1, 2019, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/02/01/cory-bookers-2013-senate-win-fueled-outsider-status-insider-moves-jj-abrams-sharpe-james-norcross/2741821002/.

  22. Associated Press, “Record Fines for Newark Candidate,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9, 2005, https://www.newspapers.com/image/201137286/?terms=%22cory%2Bbooker%22; C-G 0714 07 04 M2002, New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission v. Cory Booker and Elnardo J. Webster II, Consent Order and Final Decision, November 29, 2006.

  23. Jacobs, “Cory Booker: Ivy League elite or hunger-striking hero?”

  24. Boyer, “The Color of Politics.”

  25. Jeffrey Gold, “Newark Mayor James Denies Strip Club Stops,” Journal News (White Plains, NY), April 18, 2002, https://www.newspapers.com/image/166220568/?terms=%22cory%2Bbooker%22; Jim Geraghty, “Twenty Things You Didn’t Know about Cory Booker,” National Review, February 7, 2019, https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/cory-booker-20-things-you-probably-didnt-know/.

  26. Fallon, “Cory Booker’s 2013 rise to the Senate was fueled by outsider status and insider maneuvering”; Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth About Cory Booker, New Jersey’s Golden Boy”; Jeff S. Whelan, “Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James Reports to Prison on Monday,” NJ.com, September 12, 2008, https://www.nj.com/news/2008/09/sharpe_james_to_be_behind_bars.html.

  27. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 224; Fallon, “Cory Booker’s 2013 Rise to the Senate Was Fueled by Outsider Status.”

  28. Christian Barnard, “Cory Booker’s Career Shows School Choice Is the Civil Rights Issue Where Most Democrats Come Up Short,” Hill, March 2, 2019, https://thehill.com/opinion/education/432307-cory-bookers-career-shows-school-choice-is-the-civil-rights-issue-where; Nancy Hass, “Scholarly Investments,” New York Times, December 4, 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/fashion/06charter.html.

  29. Stephen Vita, “Inside the Hedge Fund Infatuation with Charter Schools,” Investopedia, March 9, 2016, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/030916/inside-hedge-fund-infatuation-charter-schools.asp.

  30. Michael Gartland, “Booker Made $689K from Ex-Law Firm While Mayor,” New York Post, September 7, 2013, https://nypost.com/2013/09/07/booker-made-600k-from-ex-law-firm-while-mayor/; “Booker, Rabinowitz, Trenk, Lubetkin, Tully, DiPasquale & Webster, P.C.,” US Lawyers DB, n.d., https://uslawyersdb.com/attorney82024; Ben McGrath, “The Talk of the Town,” New Yorker, August 9, 2004; Paul H. Johnson, “Blacks must use history as a guide to confront evils, civic leader says; Likely Newark mayoral candidate presses for action,” Record (Bergen County, NJ), February 6, 2004.

  31. Michael Gartland, “Newark Mayor Cory Booker Pocketed ‘Confidential’ Annual Payouts from Law Firm While in Office,” New York Post, August 11, 2013, https://nypost.com/2013/08/11/newark-mayor-cory-booker-pocketed-confidential-annual-payouts-from-law-firm-while-in-office/; “Councilman Donald M. Payne, Jr./City of Newark,” Project Re-Direct, n.d., http://www.projectredirectnj25.org/services-2011.html; Newark Charter School Fund Inc., Internal Revenue Service, Form 990, 2014, p. 7

  32. Curvin, Inside Newark, pp. 223–27; Fallon, “Cory Booker’s 2013 rise to the Senate was fueled by outsider status and insider maneuvering.”

  33. Skinner, “Home is where the heart is.”

  34. Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth About Cory Booker, New Jersey’s Golden Boy.”

  35. Ibid.

  36. Moran, “Booker is running. I’ve watched him for 20 years. Here’s what I’ve learned.”

  37. Taylor, “Cory Booker Doubles Down”; Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth.”

  38. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 230.

  39. Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth”; Leanne Shear, “Booker’s Balancing Act,” Nation, May 23, 2007, https://www.thenatio
n.com/article/bookers-balancing-act/.

  40. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 259; Gillespie, The New Black Politician, p. 170.

  41. Gillespie, The New Black Politician, pp. 169–70; “The Fonseca Factor,” Insider NJ, April 25, 2017, https://www.insidernj.com/the-fonseca-factor/.

  42. Karen Yi and Marisa Iati, “No Prison for Ex-Booker Advisor Who Stole $113K from Gov’t,” NJ.com, March 1, 2018, https://www.nj.com/essex/2018/03/oscar_james.html; “Post-election Questions in Newark; New Jobs for Anne Milgram, Deborah Howlett,” NJ.com, May 16, 2010, http://blog.nj.com/njv_auditor/2010/05/post-election_questions_in_new.html.

  43. Nuzzi, “The Ugly Truth”; Gartland, “Newark Mayor Cory Booker Pocketed ‘Confidential’ Annual Payouts from Law Firm While in Office.”

  44. Ibid.

  45. Wharton, A Post-Racial Change Is Gonna Come, pp. 47–48.

  46. “Councilman Donald M. Payne, Jr./City of Newark”; Gartland, “Newark Mayor Cory Booker Pocketed ‘Confidential’ Annual Payouts from Law Firm While in Office”; Gartland, “Booker Made $689K from Ex–Law Firm While Mayor.”

  47. Naomi Nix, “Newark Development Agency Review Questions over $3 Million in Loans,” NJ.com, December 11, 2014, https://www.nj.com/essex/2014/12/newark_corporation_owed_millions_in_late_loans.html; Brick City Development Corporation, Internal Revenue Service, Form 990, 2007, pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2009_08_EO/26–0829057_990_200712.pdf.

  48. Jeffery C. Mays, “Booker Changes Staff to Ready for 2010 Campaign,” NJ.com, November 2, 2008, https://www.nj.com/newark/2008/11/booker_changes_staff_to_ready.html.

  49. Gillespie, The New Black Politician, pp. 166–67; Wharton, A Post-Racial Change Is Gonna Come, p. 86.

  50. Wharton, A Post-Racial Change Is Gonna Come, p. 99.

  51. Paul H. Johnson, “Winning Easy for Booker; Leading Newark Harder,” Record (Hackensack, New Jersey), May 10, 2006, A16, https://www.newspapers.com/image/504638728/?terms=%22cory%2Bbooker%22.

  52. Curvin, Inside Newark, p. 259.

  53. Gillespie, The New Black Politician, p. 170.

  54. Ibid., p. 164.