Fund-Raiser Held Out Access to Trump as a Prize for Prospective Clients

The following article by Kenneth P. Vogel and David D. Kirkpatrick was posted n the March 25, 2018:

Elliott Broidy, left, at an inaugural dinner with (from left) Carol Mizel, a philanthropist; Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general; Larry Mizel, a real estate developer; and Robin Broidy, a lawyer and Mr. Broidy’s wife. Credit Clint Spaulding/WWD, via REX, via Shutterstock

WASHINGTON — For Elliott Broidy, Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign represented an unparalleled political and business opportunity.

An investor and defense contractor, Mr. Broidy became a top fund-raiser for Mr. Trump’s campaign when most elite Republican donors were keeping their distance, and Mr. Trump in turn overlooked the lingering whiff of scandal from Mr. Broidy’s 2009 guilty plea in a pension fund bribery case.

After Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Broidy quickly capitalized, marketing his Trump connections to politicians and governments around the world, including some with unsavory records, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Broidy suggested to clients and prospective customers of his Virginia-based defense contracting company, Circinus, that he could broker meetings with Mr. Trump, his administration and congressional allies. Continue reading “Fund-Raiser Held Out Access to Trump as a Prize for Prospective Clients”