Peter Schweizer: ‘There Are Legitimate Questions’ About How Jeb Made His Money
BRZEZINSKI: “— the founder and director of Government Accountability Institute Peter Schweizer. Peter wrote the explosive book, ‘Clinton cash.’ And now he’s releasing a new 38-page e-book ‘Bush bucks.’ How public service and corporations helped make Jeb rich. In which he raised the question about the millions that the Republican presidential candidate earn after leaving the governor’s mansion in Florida.”
SCARBOROUGH: “So, Peter —“
BRZEZINSKI: “A lot of politicians earn a lot of money after leaving office.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Yeah. I mean, Peter, this is, this is the breaking news, isn’t it?”
SCHWEIZER: “It’s not breaking news, but I think it’s important for people to recognize that you have a lot of people that leave public life and they go and they work on Wall Street or other places, and they create this impression that well — I’m working in ‘private equity’. So, I’m a banker just like everyone else. And the fact of the matter is, people cash in after they leave public service. And they make lot of money because of their relationships, connections, and I would argue in cases, favors that they did for certain companies while they were in office.”
SCARBOROUGH: “But isn’t this a bit different from people that do favors for people while they are in office, like, say the Clintons?”
SCHWEIZER: “Yeah. I mean, look, you know, immediately people are going to compare Bush bucks to Clinton cash. I would argue there’s not a comparison. Certainly in the case of the Bushes, I think there’s a legitimate questions about Jeb and how Jeb has made his money, but look, in this case, we’re talking clearly about Jeb Bush being governor for 8 years, then leaving, and basically a handful of companies giving him, paying him a lot of money. And those companies did well during his tenure. In the case of the Clintons, we’re talking about something really unprecedented. We’re talking about a lot more money, and we’re talking about the Clinton family taking money simultaneously while Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State, and by the way, from foreign interests. That’s the other difference, I think between what the Clintons have done and what the Bushes have done.”
