Partito Nostro: Doing Business with the Clinton Syndicate by Justin Darr

Partito Nostro: Doing Business with the Clinton Syndicate

By Justin Darr

March 20, 2006

In the final years of the Clinton Presidency, Hollywood producer and entrepreneur, Peter Paul, attempted to recruit outgoing President Bill Clinton to take a seat on the Board of Directors of Stan Lee Media, the innovative on-line animation company Paul co-founded in 1999.

Paul's motives were simple. He wanted to "…hire an ex-President to promote a company that inspired and motivated adolescents." To accomplish this, Paul organized an offer to Clinton of $17 million in cash, stock, and donations to the Clinton Library. Well worth the price when you consider the notoriety and prestige Stan Lee Media would have gained if Clinton joined the company.

However, what Peter Paul got was a guided tour of the putrid underbelly of Clintonian politics. A place where the powerful openly manipulate our justice and political systems for their own personal gain, conspire to destroy anyone who stands in their way. They systematically ignore the laws, and standards of morality and common decency that apply to the rest of us. Peter Paul discovered the hard way that there are two systems of justice in America: One for the Clintons, and another for the rest of us.

Hillary Clinton hid Paul's contributions of over $1.2 million to her campaign from the F.E.C. and denied she even knew Paul. When the smoke cleared, Hillary was elected to the Senate while Paul's company was forced into bankruptcy and he personally lost $1.2 million dollars. All because he wanted to 'sell some super heroes'

A survey of the major players in the case of Peter Paul shows just how deeply Bill and Hillary Clinton, their closest associates, and some of the most prominent officials in the Democratic Party, have allowed corruption to infect our political process. They may have impressive titles, but take those away and the Clinton Political Syndicate is nothing more than a gang of street thugs… with one key difference, the government will do nothing to stop them.

The Hustler.

You would think it would be fairly easy to get noticed if you were offering someone $17 million to come work with you. No so in the case of Bill Clinton. In order for Peter Paul just to gain access to President Clinton's associates so he could begin talking to them about talking to Clinton for him, he first had to deal with the Democratic Party's main moneyman, Chairman on the Democratic National Committee, now Pennsylvania Governor, Ed Rendell. Paul met Rendell at a fundraiser, where he proposed his idea about Clinton joining Stan Lee Media. Rendell, long time veteran of the Philadelphia "Pay for Play" system where kickbacks, bribes, and back room deals with corrupt politicians are the price of doing business, told him quite bluntly that in order to get his proposal to Clinton, he would have to pay up. For starters, $30,000 to co-host a DNC fundraiser on February 17, 2000, featuring Bill Clinton as the key note speaker, at Café De Artistes, in Hollywood.

At the fundraiser, Paul was seated with Bill, however, by now the hustle was on. Rendell approached Paul and told him that in order to get even more access to the President, he would have to come up with even more cash and offer to hold a Clinton fundraising event in his home. But that was not all. In April 2000, Rendell also asked Paul for an additional $150,000 to underwrite and produce yet another fundraiser, this time for Al Gore, in June 2000.

While producing the "Hollywood Supports Gore" fundraiser, Rendell was back again asking Paul for yet another $150,000, this time to underwrite a fundraiser at Spago Restaurant for Hillary Clinton. Paul ended up paying $32,000 in expenses related to the luncheon, in addition to the $150,000 he pledged, but now he could at least get to talk to Hillary about Paul's deal with Bill.

Finally, after over a quarter of a million dollars spent in campaign donations and event promotions, Rendell arranged with the Secret Service to have Paul's deal mentioned to President Clinton in person.

Unlike many other political donors, Peter Paul was not politically motivated in his donations. He was seeking out a business relationship with an outgoing President. Rendell opened the door for Paul to get his offer to the President, but also lined the pockets of the DNC, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton campaigns in the process. Curiously, reporting none of it to the F.E.C.

The Shill.

The relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton is a complex, some would say incomprehensible one. It is obvious that while most couples' marriages exist for the purpose of creating a family and happiness, the Clinton marriage has existed only to produce power.

Maintaining power, and keeping themselves in the limelight, was the only thing Bill and Hillary Clinton were thinking about as the Clinton Presidency ended. Just as Hillary was pushing aside Monica Lewinski's blue dress, Bill was pushing aside his Vice President, Al Gore, so he could focus more completely on getting his wife into the Senate.

This was a larger task than many imagine. While Hillary is one of the most popular political figures in the country, her support tends to be diffused along national, rather than regional lines. Lacking a preexisting geographic base, the Clintons had to shop for a venue with a sufficient number of liberal voters to elect Hillary into office.

The problem was that most of these liberal areas already had liberal Senators representing them: California, both seats taken; Massachusetts, both seats taken; the Clinton's home for decades, Arkansas, well, they were happy to see Hillary leave and the feeling was mutual. Luckily, there was one seat open in one blue state, New York, and that, coincidentally, was where the Clintons decided to "retire" after leaving the White House.

The second problem for Hillary's Senate run was funding. Most people running for Senate are political veterans who already have established organizations in place to produce political donations from local sources. Hillary did not have the time, or desire, to build up a grass roots organization. Hillary, never fond of getting down with the "dirty nail" crowd, chose, instead, to solicit funding for her campaign through her existing network of special interest groups and large block donations generated from mega fundraisers scattered across the nation.

Who better to drive this national fundraising effort than the popular two term President Clinton?

The left's enthusiasm for Bill Clinton is something rarely seen outside of religious cults. During the Clinton years, the sun was a little brighter; the grass a little greener, and cherry soda was pumped through all the drinking fountains, according to the left.

In the final months of his Presidency, Clinton supporters would do anything to make the claim that they had a piece of the Clinton legacy. Whether it was a weekend in the Lincoln Bedroom, seeing him speak, or stealing all the pens and toothpaste (and probably floor mats) off Air Force One, everyone wanted something that said "I was there when Clinton was king."

Clinton exploited this by using access to himself to generate revenue for Hillary's political ambitions. Want to hear Clinton talk about the price of tea in China? No freebies here, shell out a grand to the benefit of Hillary 2000. Whether Clinton's fans supported Hillary or not, they were all willing to pay to see Bill.

No small time tea and sandwich events either. Hillary likes her money in big chunks, preferably from big name donors who might impress people into voting for her.

Where better to find supporters like this than Hollywood, California?

And, who better to organize events like this than respected Hollywood producer Peter Paul?

After initial contacts, Bill Clinton agreed to accept Paul's $17 million deal to join Stan Lee Media. However, Clinton's agreement came with a caveat. Help Hillary win the Senate, or there is no deal.

Peter Paul responded by organizing the largest Senate political fundraiser in history. "The Hollywood Tribute" was also the largest single private concert in history, featuring the talents of Cher, Michael Bolton, Diana Ross, and Paul Anka, among others. Tickets to attend the concert were $1000 each, with an additional offer of attending the concert and dinner with the Clintons for $25,000 a couple. In all, over 1,200 people attended the concert with 350 staying for dinner, raising over $1.1 million in donations. This event was billed as Bill Clinton's goodbye to Hollywood as President, and his supporters turned out in droves with their pocket books open. However, the beneficiary of this concert was not Bill Clinton, or his Presidential Library, by the Senate campaign of his wife.

The Triggerman.

After the initial contacts with President Clinton regarding Paul's offer to join Stan Lee Media, Clinton indicated that he would prefer if Paul would deal directly with his close friend and associate, Jim Levin, rather than himself.

Jim Levin, the former owner of "The Doll House," a Chicago top-less bar that nationally popularized the trend of strip clubs offering lap dances to their patrons, filled many roles in the Clinton White House.

In addition to serving on Hillary's fundraising committee, Levin played prominently in the Al Gore Presidential campaign, raising money for the Clinton Library, and was allegedly "the lap dance provider to the President."

In any other organization, a person with Jim Levin's background would be considered an embarrassment, or at least a hindrance to the group's public image. However, in the Clinton White House, Jim Levin was considered a personal friend and confidant. A person with such a low standard of ethics that he could be counted on to do the Clinton's dirty work.

After Levin presented the President with Paul's official written offer to join Stan Lee Media, Levin returned the message to Paul that the President had accepted the offer subject to Paul's underwriting and producing a major fundraising event for the benefit of Hillary's Senate campaign.

Paul agreed, and Levin set up a conference call between Paul, himself, and other high level contacts within the Hillary Camp.

During this conference call, the first discussions of Paul's helping underwrite and produce the Hollywood Tribute were made. Initially, Paul agreed to pay roughly half the costs of the event, about $525,000, with the rest of the funding coming from other sources. However, as the event neared, the other sources of funding did not materialize and Paul was forced to cover the entire cost. The Hillary campaign even refused to help finance the cost of printing and sending the invitations for the event.

In the face of funding the entire Hollywood Tribute on his own, Paul began to balk at the astronomically escalating expenses. At this point, Levin turned from Clinton confidant to Clinton enforcer, as he, and others associated with Hillary, threatened Paul that if he failed to produce the entire Hollywood event, as planned, the deal between Stan Lee Media and the President would be off, Paul would lose all the money he had already invested into the event, and Levin and his associates would accuse Paul of incompetence and blame him personally for the failure of the event, irreparably damaging his reputation in Hollywood.

Blackmailed with no alternative, Paul continued to produce the event. However, only at the continued assurance from Levin that the deal to have the President work with Stan Lee Media was still intact.

Levin even became a frequent visitor to the offices of Stan Lee Media, interviewing employees, evaluating the accommodations, and otherwise planning for the President to eventually joining the company. During one of these visits, Levin was introduced to Tendo Oto, President of Venture Soft Company, Ltd., out of Japan.

Oto learned of Paul's plans to bring Clinton onboard Stan Lee Media, and desiring to gain access to the President to assist him in taking Venture Soft public in Japan, agreed to finance one half of the $5 million cash portion of the $17 million Clinton deal and to joint ventures between Venture Soft and Stan Lee Media in the far east.

Paul explained the association between Oto and Stan Lee Media, and Levin signed a confidentiality agreement acknowledging the "proprietary nature" of their relationship. In other words, Levin agreed that Oto and Stan Lee Media where one in the same. The Clintons could not work with Oto independently of Stan Lee Media.

Based on the access gained by Paul with the President, Levin arranged for Oto to attend events at the White House normally forbidden to foreign national under normal circumstances, even managing to have a photo of Oto taken sitting in the chair of the President in the Oval Office.

Oto, Levin, and the Clinton's became so close that Oto was initiated into the time honored Clinton tradition of backstabbing their friends. After arranging for Oto to attend a state dinner at the White House in September 2000 and the Hollywood Tribute, Paul learned that Levin had flown to Japan to personally set up a deal between Oto and the President independent of Stan Lee Media in complete violation of his confidentiality agreement.

Instead of Oto working with Stan Lee Media, he entered into an independent deal where Clinton would get the $2.5 million promised to Stan Lee Media, Venture Soft would get its U.S. subsidiary, with Levin at its head, and Peter Paul would be left holding the bag with Stan lee Media and its public shareholders sharing the consequences of being denied $2.5 million in funding Oto promised in November, 2000 when the dot com meltdown made funding in the US impossible.

After Hillary utilized the money generated from the Hollywood Tribute to win her seat on the Senate, Bill and Hillary Clinton never spoke to Paul again. It was not until 2005 that Paul learned Levin and the Clintons had induced Oto into secretly incorporating Venture Soft, USA, in Illinois with Levin as the manager, just days after Hillary's Senate election victory. The Clinton's effectively pulling the plug on Stan lee Media's financing from Japan caused the company to fold a month later and made the job offer to Bill untenable.

In typical Clintonesque style, Bill's defense for not working with Stan lee media in late January 2001 was that the company had become insolvent. An insolvency created by Clinton's own interference with a strategic partner of the company.

When Paul reached out to the Clintons, he could not even get a return phone call. The Clintons acted as though nothing had ever happened. Paul's role in producing the Hollywood Tribute was denied; over half the money Paul spent on the Tribute was not reported to the F.E.C., leaving Paul with nothing to show for his good faith efforts than a damaged reputation and depleted bank account.

Just add one more victim to the pile of those unfortunate enough to do business with the Clintons.

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