Meet Fred Baron of Baron & Budd – the asbestos guys who buy all those mesothelioma ads we hear on FNC, ad nauseum.

But getting back to the hush money, I wonder if he launders it through the Texas Democratic Trust?:

Baron has been an active figure in politics as a prominent fund-raiser for the Democratic Party and fellow trial lawyer, Sen. John Edwards. Baron was the finance chair of Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign before co-chairing the Kerry Victory ‘04 committee, a joint effort of the Democratic National Committee and the Presidential campaign of John Kerry. Baron gave $1.7 million to the Texas Democratic Trust in the last two years and is also heavily involved in Edwards’s 2008 presidential campaign, moving to North Carolina to head up fundraising,[4] and lending Edwards his Hawker 800 private jet.[5]

Buy Danish on August 8, 2008 at 9:57 PM

OOOOH. It appears that Mr. Baron is good (or not so good) at coverups. Yep, as Paris Hilton might say, this is hot:

The Baron & Budd asbestos memo is a memo in asbestos litigation where it is alleged a prominent plaintiffs’ firm engaged in subornation of perjury and a cover-up. The Texas State Bar Association grievance committee dismissed complaints regarding the memo. It is cited by United States civil justice reformers[1] and politicians as an example of ethical problems in the plaintiffs’ bar. Accusations about the memo have also arisen in the context of Fred Baron’s relationship with former presidential candidate John Edwards.[2]

Buy Danish on August 8, 2008 at 10:10 PM

Flashback to 2004. ROBBER BARON. John Edwards Sleazy Friend.

[Senator] Kyl began his report by noting that because most exposure to asbestos took place more than 30 years ago, the rate of illness related to asbestos has fallen sharply over the last decade. Asbestosis has been called a “disappearing disease.” Yet asbestos claims, Kyl continued, have been increasing. The number of claimants filing tripled between 1999 and 2001, to more than 90,000. The number appears to be rising still: Brickman estimates conservatively that there were 110,000 new claimants in 2003. The number of defendants has increased, too. Asbestos litigation has driven 78 companies to bankruptcy, according to University of California, San Diego, economics professor Michelle White, with a disproportionate number of the bankruptcies occurring in recent years.

Why are the trend-lines going in opposite directions? Professor Brickman concludes that 80-90 percent of recent claims are specious. How have these claims been generated? By coaching witnesses to provide false testimony, Brickman and Kyl argue, and by faking medical tests.

Sounds like Baron is the perfect man to handle Rielle Hunter.

Buy Danish on August 8, 2008 at 10:18 PM

I’m not sure, but I don’t think this is what contributors thought they were paying for … Is it legal?

tarpon on August 8, 2008 at 10:30 PM

Ha Ha. Good question! One thing for sure, Baron knew how to grease the skids:

So how did Baron & Budd escape this embarrassing glimpse at the internal workings of the firm so cleanly? Why did several large corporations, judges, prosecutors and others let the matter drop?

While legal issues such as witness coaching are hardly clear-cut, critics wonder whether Baron & Budd’s perfectly legal campaign contributions might have played a role in getting it off the hook.

Former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins told the Observer recently he recused himself from participating in his office’s investigation of the memo because of a conflict of interest posed by the firm’s political contributions to his wife, Regina Montoya Coggins, in her run last year for Congress. He said contributions to his wife from the national trial lawyers group, where Baron earlier served as vice president, also drove his decision to remove himself from making decisions in the case.

Baron’s critics question how vigorously Coggins’ troops pursued Baron & Budd without support from the top, and whether Baron’s massive fund raising for the Democrats, which stepped up in early 1998, might have influenced Coggins’ superiors in Washington as well. “In my humble opinion,” says one lawyer who provided information to the FBI, “that investigation was a joke.”

All this experience sure is useful right now, eh? Don’t know how well he’ll do with the I.R.S. though.

Buy Danish on August 8, 2008 at 10:41 PM

Let’s not forget that Andrew Young, who claims to be the love child’s father, is also married with 4 children. Young and his wife and children relocated to Santa Barbara (as did Reille Hunter).

That kindhearted Mr. Baron must be giving out beaucoups bucks to support Andrew Young, his wife Cheri, their 4 children, Rielle Hunter, and the “love child” (not to mention Bob McGovern who is probably getting some hush money too).

Who knew that a man who bankrupted hundreds of people through his phony asbestos litigation could have such a generous side.

Buy Danish on August 9, 2008 at 9:12 AM