Feinstein’s Back Door Business In 1980 she married Richard C. Blum, an investment banker. In 2003, she was the fifth-wealthiest senator, estimated worth of $26 million. In 2005 her reported net worth skyrocketed to between $43 and $99 million. Senate ethics rules state that members must avoid conflicts of interest as well as “even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” April 21, 2009 Washington Times reported Blums wife Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husbands real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms. On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; the agency is supposed to operate from money raised from bank-paid insurance payments, not direct federal dollars. Documents reviewed by The Washington Times show Mrs. Feinstein first offered Oct. 30 to help the FDIC secure money for its effort to stem the rise of home foreclosures. Her letter was sent just days before the agency determined that CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) - the commercial real estate firm that her husband Richard Blum heads as board chairman - had won the competitive bidding for a contract to sell foreclosed properties that FDIC had inherited from failed banks. • Read the rate list for the FDIC contract from CB Richard Ellis, the firm Sen. Feinstein’s husband heads as board chairman. (downloads 4-page pdf). Read the correspondence between Sen. Feinstein and FDIC chairman Sheila Bair (downloads 5-page pdf). About the same time of the contract award, Mr. Blum’s private investment firm reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it and related affiliates had purchased more than 10 million new shares in CBRE. The shares were purchased for the going price of $3.77; CBRE’s stock closed Monday at $5.14. Spokesmen for the FDIC, Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Blum’s firm told The Times that there was no connection between the legislation and the contract signed Nov. 13, and that the couple didn’t even know about CBRE’s business with FDIC until after it was awarded. A native of San Francisco, Richard C. Blum, 77, has chaired the CBRE real estate services conglomerate—valued at $6.8 billion—since 2001. His privately owned investment firm, Blum Capital Partners, L.P. dominates CBRE’s board of directors through its ownership of 6.9 percent of the company’s shares, which were worth $380 million in March 2013. Feinstein’s in for half of Blum’s worth – as “wife” – yep. projectcensored.org/u-s-senator-dianne-feinsteins-husband-selling-post-offices-friends/
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:05:45 +0000
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