This is hilarious--I hope the Daily Show picks up on it!
http://tucsoncitizen.com/baja-democrats/2012/04/20/jeff-flakes-lobbyist-past-comes-back-to-haunt-him/
Rossing Uranium also has some interesting ownership. It is 69% owned by UK based international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, parent company of Resolution Copper. But Rossing is also 15% owned by a little company called Iranian Foreign Investment Co.. The U.S. Treasury Department lists it as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tehran regime. From the National Journal:
Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a conservative think tank, noted that in the 1990s the Iranian regime “was not a friend of the United States; it was an enemy.” He added, “It’s a question of judgment when you represent a company that is owned in part by Iran.”
Flake claims he “didn’t know” about the Iranian ownership and has no comment. Actually, his 1990 federal filing falsely stated that Rossing was not “owned, financed, controlled, or subsidized in part or whole by a foreign government”. The truth was that in addition to the Iranian government’s stake in Rossing, the Namibian government also owned a stake. Is Mr. Flake in a habit of making statements under oath without bothering to check if they are in fact the truth?
Rossing Uranium’s Iranian connection came up last year when Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, majority owner of Rossing, pushed for the land swap near Superior. Resolution & Rio Tinto has a simple goal: trading land far out in the desert in the San Pedro River valley loved by birds but commercially worthless for federally owned land with one of the world’s largest known copper reserves would enable them to mine the copper without paying a penny to to its rightful owners, American citizens and taxpayers. Democrats objected to the swap, pointing out the connection between Rossing, Iran, Rio Tinto and Resolution. Congressman Flake spoke in favor of the swap twice and voted for it, calling it a “great deal”. Actually, it was a sweet deal, just not for American taxpayers.
When the conservatives are wagging fingers at their own, that's something!
= new reply since forum marked as read
