The oilman who brought Donald Trump and the Bush world together
Throughout the presidential campaign, the Bush family and many of its Republican allies turned their backs on Donald Trump. Now, they’re finding common cause with Trump over his pick to lead the State Department: Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has long orbited their same political, philanthropic and business worlds. Former President George W. Bush, who has largely avoided politics since leaving office in 2009, heaped praise on Tillerson in a recent phone call to Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee lawmaker who will oversee the secretary of state confirmation hearings. Jeb Bush, Tillerson’s preferred candidate in the 2016 race, called the Exxon executive a “good man and accomplished leader.” Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates – Bush’s vice president, secretary of state and secretary of defense – have all offered glowing endorsements. Gates, who runs a consulting firm with Rice that represents Exxon, first put Tillerson on Trump’s radar when the president-elect was dissatisfied with his more conventional options. Despite the high-level backing, Tillerson faces obstacles in his path to Foggy Bottom. He has no government experience, having spent his whole career at Exxon. Senators in both parties have raised questions about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a relationship that’s particularly eye-catching given uncertainty about Trump’s own connections to Russia. Corker said that while the support from the highest levels of the Republican national security establishment won’t wipe away senators’ questions about Tillerson, it could ease anxieties. “Most people will look at that and understand that he’s not outside the mainstream,” said Corker, adding that George W. Bush was “effusive” in his praise for Tillerson when they spoke last week. While Trump was never fully embraced by more traditional Republicans, his rejection by the Bush family and its national security apparatus was particularly glaring. The family produced the last two Republican presidents and had hoped for a third in 2016. The two Bush presidencies also defined the GOP’s foreign policy philosophy as one that saw overseas military intervention as a means to pre-empt attacks on the U.S. and promote democracy abroad. Trump has vowed to take the Republican Party in a new direction, both in style and substance. He showed no reverence for the Bush family during the campaign, blasting George W. Bush over the Iraq war and deriding his administration’s focus on nation building abroad. He was particularly hard on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who ran against Trump in the GOP primaries. Trump transition officials say the Bush family has not coordinated its support for Tillerson with the president-elect, though Gates and Rice did directly offer their support to Trump’s team. Like the Bush family, Tillerson has strong ties to Texas and its vast oil industry. Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush ran oil companies before going into politics. Tillerson, a native of Wichita Falls, Texas, joined Exxon out of college as a production engineer before moving through the oil giant’s executive ranks on his way to becoming CEO. The bonds between Texas oilmen can run as deep as their wells. They share the same politics, bankroll the same politicians, attend the same charity balls, and, often, talk business with the same twang. It’s a club of wealth, but also a culture. “If you’re a prominent family in Texas, you probably are friends with the oil business,” said Peter Feaver, who worked on the National Security Council in the Bush administration and did not support Trump during the campaign. “And if you’re in the oil business, you’re probably friends with prominent families in Texas.” Tillerson’s relationship with the Bush family dates back at least to President George W. Bush’s years as Texas governor, according to people who know both men. The ties have moved beyond the political realm and into philanthropy, with some of Exxon’s efforts overlapping with Bush’s foundation, including on women’s empowerment issues. Tillerson’s philanthropic work on behalf of Exxon has also overlapped with Jeb Bush, who promoted STEM education – science, technology, engineering and math – as governor of Florida. When Jeb Bush joined the crowded field of Republicans running for president in 2016, he quickly became Tillerson’s choice. The executive donated to both Bush’s campaign and his super PAC. Campaign finance records show Tillerson has been a regular donor to other establishment Republicans who cringed at the prospect of Trump becoming the party’s nominee. He gave money to Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential campaign who Trump also considered for secretary of State. He also donated to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who were lukewarm Trump supporters at best during the presidential race. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
5 things to know about America’s synthetic-opioid epidemic
Government scientists say they’re seeing the emergence of a new class of deadly drugs built to mimic the potent prescription painkiller fentanyl. What you need to know: — DOZENS OF VARIANTS The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration‘s Special Testing and Research Laboratory has around 50 fentanyl-related compounds in its drugs database. Regulators are trying to catch up. China has blacklisted 19 fentanyl-related molecules and is now considering adding four more to its list of controlled substances, including the weapons-grade carfentanil . — EASY TO ORDER It’s easy to source synthetic opioids online from Chinese vendors. Associated Press reporters identified more than a dozen companies offer to export fentanyl-like drugs. Some say they’d lie on customs forms, disguise packaging and even guarantee delivery. After Chinese officials warned vendors that one analog, carfentanil, is hazardous and shouldn’t be sold, vendors started marketing other opioids, like U-47700. — DISPUTE OVER SOURCE COUNTRY U.S. officials say casework and investigations show China is the main source of fentanyl-related drugs. But no U.S. agency has been able to produce comprehensive statistics. China says U.S. claims are unsubstantiated and has asked for more evidence. — MEXICAN CONNECTION Mexican drug cartels are profiting from the opioid trade. Nearly two-thirds of the 61 kilograms (134 pounds) of fentanyl seized by U.S. customs last year came from Mexico. Mexican authorities raided seven fentanyl labs in 2014, five of them in Sinaloa state, according to the office of Mexico’s attorney general. Mexican and U.S. authorities say those labs mainly use material imported from China to make the drugs. — GROWING DEMAND, AND DEATHS The proliferation of synthetic opioids feeds U.S. demand. Last year, U.S. authorities identified derivatives of fentanyl nearly 2,000 times, up from just 78 times in 2014. Unsuspecting users have been overdosing in record numbers on these poorly understood new chemicals, which are often cut into heroin or counterfeit pills. Deaths from synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and related molecules, more than tripled from 2013 to 2015, hitting 9,580 last year. — Sources: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Steve Flowers: 2016 in review — ain’t Alabama politics fun?
Historically speaking, Alabamians have been more interested in the governor’s race than presidential politics. For years, from 1876 to 1964, we were a totally Democratic state, more so out of tradition than philosophically. The hatred for the radical Republican Reconstruction shackles invoked on the South made an indelible mark on white southern voters. It was so instilled, that there are a good many stories told throughout the South where a dying grandfather would gather his children and grandchildren around his deathbed and gaspingly admonish them, “Two things I’m gonna tell y’all before I die – don’t ever sell the family farm and don’t ever vote for a damn Republican.” That all changed in November 1964. Barry Goldwater and the Republicans became the party of segregation and the white southern voter fled the Democratic Party en mass. As the fall election of 1964 approached, the talk in the old country stores around Alabama was that a good many good old boys were going to vote straight Republican even if their daddies did turn over in their graves. Well folks, there were a good many papas turning over in their graves all over the South. The entire South changed parties on that day 52 years ago. Since we were a solid Democratic state for 90 years, we really had no say in the presidential selection process. We are in the same position today, being a solid Republican state. Therefore, it makes sense that we would have more interest in gubernatorial politics than presidential rhetoric because we have much more of a say in that contest. In addition, all our other offices are up for election in the race for governor year, including all 67 sheriffs, all 140 members of the legislature, and all other constitutional offices such as attorney general, agriculture commissioner, secretary of state and treasurer. Indeed, for most of our past there were more votes cast in the Democratic Primary for Governor of Alabama than in a presidential contest. Today, our voting proclivity runs more along the national percentage. We also have the same tendency to vote more against someone than for someone. George Wallace used to always say give me a good boogeyman to run against. Well, lest you forget Hillary Clinton was the best boogeyman to vilify before Barack Obama. He was the hated villain for an eight-year interlude. Now Bill and Hillary have taken back their rightful place as the face of the despised national Democratic Party among white southerners. Therefore, as this year began, I thought it would be a yawner, a sleeper year for good old Alabama politics. However, we have had some good theater. Not to be outdone by the colorful campaign of Donald Trump, who was a continuous circus or vaudeville act, our local Alabama characters have put on quite a show. It began with the ethics trial of former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, which was a lengthy, detailed, fully vetted and well run process. Hubbard was found guilty by a Lee County jury, which he represented in the legislature. He will ultimately go to jail, a state prison, which is woefully overcrowded and dangerous. While the Hubbard story was anticipated and expected, the saga of good ol’ Dr. Robert Bentley has remained in the news continuously throughout the entire year. His former buddy, Spencer Collier, has filed a lawsuit against the Governor and his girlfriend. Now comes a second suit and revelations by his former Security Chief Ray Lewis which is juicier and adds to and confirms Collier’s story. This will probably keep the salacious story alive for another year or more. Bentley has been relegated to an irrelevant punchline or joke. He would not have been so adversely ridiculed if he had not been perceived as a family values man, churchman, retired doctor and looked like an old grandfather. There is an old saying in politics that if you ride a white horse you better not get mud on it because it shows up. Another truism is sex sells. Ain’t Alabama politics fun? Wow – what a year! Now we will get ready for the 2018 gubernatorial year, and to top it off, we have also got an open Senate seat up for grabs. We will have a governor’s race and an open U.S. Senate race in the same year. Those races have begun. Since winning the Republican primary is tantamount to election in Alabama, we elect a new governor and new U.S. Senator in June 2018, which is less than 18 months from now. See you next week. ___ Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
After violence abroad, Donald Trump meeting with security adviser
President-elect Donald Trump is planning to meet with his incoming national security adviser in the aftermath of a rattling day of violence around the world. Trump appeared to jump ahead of investigators in blaming Islamic terrorists for deadly incidents Monday in Turkey and Germany and vowing anew to eradicate their regional and global networks. He called the brazen shooting of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey “a violation of all rules of civilized order.” He added that a “radical Islamic terrorist” had assassinated the diplomat, Andrei Karlov. Turkish authorities identified the gunman as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a member of Ankara’s riot police squad, and said he was later killed in a shootout with police. Altintas shouted in Turkish about the Syrian city of Aleppo and also yelled “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.” As for Berlin, where at least 12 people were killed and nearly 50 hurt when a truck plowed through a Christmas market, Trump said the Islamic State group “and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad.” A man held by German authorities after the violence was later released after a lack of evidence to connect him to the incident. Trump’s meeting scheduled Wednesday with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will come a day after Flynn and several other members of the incoming national security team met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence in Washington. Aides said the meeting was planned before the acts of violence, though they were discussed. The gathering with Pence included retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s nominee for head of the Department of Homeland Security; retired Gen. James Mattis, the pick for defense secretary; and Rex Tillerson, the head of Exxon Mobil and the intended nominee for secretary of state. While Trump has assembled his Cabinet at a quick pace, the process to fill out top White House jobs has been slowed by infighting among advisers. Some of Trump’s earliest advisers have expressed concern to the president-elect himself that they are getting boxed out in favor of those more closely aligned with incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus, who has chaired the Republican National Committee. Among those whose future is still in flux is Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s controversial first campaign manager who was fired after clashing with the president-elect’s family. On Monday, Lewandowski met with Jared Kushner, Trump’s influential son-in-law, and could still be offered a job in the administration, though potentially one that would keep him out of the West Wing – and away from the president. The president-elect’s transition team has said it expects to announce some White House positions in the coming days. Trump met Tuesday with candidates for his unfilled Cabinet positions, including prospective hires to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, a beleaguered agency that the Republican businessman has vowed to overhaul. At Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s palatial Florida estate, the president-elect met with Luis Quinonez, who runs a company with military and health care ties and is said to be under consideration for VA secretary. He also interviewed Toby Cosgrove, the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, who was a top contender to replace Eric Shinseki when he resigned from the VA in 2014. Cosgrove later withdrew from consideration. Trump repeatedly pledged during the campaign to fix the woes at the department and said he would “take care of great veterans.” But he also came under scrutiny for being slow in paying out money raised for veterans groups and for suggesting that “strong” veterans don’t need treatment for mental health problems. Others said to be considered for the post include former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, Florida Rep. Jeff Miller and Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and former CEO of Concerned Veterans for America. Trump is also considering Jovita Carranza, who worked in President George W. Bush‘s administration, as his choice for U.S. trade representative. She served as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration under Bush. With just a handful of Cabinet posts to fill, Trump is facing some criticism for a lack of diversity in his senior team, which currently includes no Hispanics. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials said Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” at the lack of Hispanics considered for top jobs. Carranza was a member of Trump’s Hispanic advisory council during the campaign. Pence, meanwhile, met in Washington with former Texas state official Susan Combs, who served both as state agriculture commissioner and comptroller. Trump also needs to fill the Agriculture Department slot. Transition officials did not immediately confirm if Combs is up for that post. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
