Daughter Of Rich GOPer Funding Ayers Ad Is An Obama Supporter

[RamboLiberal]

Fun fact: It turns out that the daughter of the wealthy GOP Texas oilman funding the Ayers-Obama Swift-Boating ads is a financial backer of Barack Obama.

Serena Connelly -- the daughter of billionaire Harold Simmons, the sole person bankrolling the ad campaign tying Obama to the former Weatherman -- is a prolific Democratic donor.

She $2,300 to Obama, maxing out for the primaries, in two installments in April and May of 2007, according to OpenSecrets.org. She also gave a total of $3,750 to Hillary on various dates throughout 2007.

More on this from AccountableAmerica, that new outfit being run by former MoveOn chief Tom Mattzie.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/

Well at least one child of his is sane.

[DJ13]

1. I bet she's being written out of his will

:rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

2. She's already got a trust account from him,

and is suing to remove him from control of it because he's been playing games with the money, using it to finance wingnuts & the like. There's a thread arond here on that somewhere.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Daily Kos Story

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/26/8426/07134/757/574867

Ms. Patigian and Ms. Swanson, but not the other daughters, have sued, asking the court to remove Mr. Simmons from control of two trusts he set up for his daughters and appoint a new trustee. They contend that Mr. Simmons, one of the nation's largest Republican donors, has used the trusts as his own personal checking account, living lavishly and making what Ms. Patigian called illegal contributions to politicians she opposed.

The suits, including one filed on behalf of his five grandchildren, threaten Mr. Simmons's control of several public corporations.

In his statement, filed in Dallas Probate Court, Mr. Simmons said the terms of the trusts gave him complete authority over their investments, management and payouts, with the right to receive income, but protected him from the sort of suits his daughters have filed.

In a nine-page sworn statement filed in court here today, Mr. Simmons said that his eldest daughter, Scheryle S. Patigian, had ''problems with drug addiction'' in the late 1980's that he paid to treat. She has no college degree despite 17 years of college, he said, and now puts her net worth at $30,000, although he has given her more than $2 million over the last five years.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E1DB113CF931A25757C0A961958260

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Yeah. I saw the Kos story.

Forgot where I read about this.

[drm604]

7. You may be talking about my thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6752650

Two of his daughters successfully sued him because in the nineties he forged their names and made political contributions from their trust funds. He also paid some FEC fines. I'm not sure if the daughter you're talking about is one of those two or not.

There's some other interesting stuff in that thread so a few kicks and recs on it would be appreciated!

[pnorman]

10. drm604, I just Google-bookmarked this thread and saw that I already had YOUR thread also bookmarked

n/t

pnorman

[eshfemme]

3. Wow, that's one family civil war right there. The holidays sure must be awkward.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Yeah, what a wonderful American family here

In a nine-page sworn statement filed in court here today, Mr. Simmons said that his eldest daughter, Scheryle S. Patigian, had ''problems with drug addiction'' in the late 1980's that he paid to treat. She has no college degree despite 17 years of college, he said, and now puts her net worth at $30,000, although he has given her more than $2 million over the last five years.

''Distributing more than I currently distribute to her each year would not be in her own best interest,'' he said. ''She has not demonstrated the ability to handle her finances.''

Another daughter, Andrea Swanson, has no savings, beyond the down payment on a house, despite the $900,000 he has given her over the last five years, he said, adding that he rejected a request for $2 million to $5 million, for investments, from her husband, who had held five different sales jobs in six years. They likewise deserve no larger payouts, he said.

By contrast, he noted that two other daughters, with gainful employment, had received smaller allowances.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E1DB113CF931A25757C0A961958260

Sounds like the female version of the Bush family.

[griffi94]

4. she contributes to the dems

daddy contributes to repubs. no matter who wins the family gets a seat at the table

[drm604]

8. He's also contributed to at least one Dem.

He contributed to Democrat Chet Edwards, Pelosis' suggestion for VP. Fortunately Obama didn't take her advice.

[anonymous171]

11. Maybe that was the reason she suggested it?