Headlines

NBC

Report: Koch Industries made secret sale to Iran

Koch Industries, the company controlled by GOP mega-donors Charles and David Koch, sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran in an end-run around a trade ban and cheated the government out of nearly 2 million barrels of oil from federal lands, according to a blockbuster report in the November issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine.

The company has also been involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East, the Bloomberg report says.

It says internal company documents show the company made petrochemical equipment sales to Iran through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. The company also repeatedly ran afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada.

Read the Article

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Trackback URL

Comments

Working hard. Fast and Furious? What’s that?

a capella on October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM

tingles feeling the thrill now…

cmsinaz on October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM

Someone is orgasmic.

“mega-donors” “secret sale” “end-run” “cheated” “blockbuster report”

That’s just the first paragraph.

So sad.

faraway on October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM

a capella on October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM

EXACTAMUNDO

fast & furious…yawn
solyndra…..yawn
perception of gop scandal…..24/7 media play by play

cmsinaz on October 3, 2011 at 3:39 PM

They just lost my vote in the next election!

/

mankai on October 3, 2011 at 3:39 PM

Well, they HAD to expect that they would be searched with an Electron Microscope for anything that could be used against them …….for supporting conservatives.

LegendHasIt on October 3, 2011 at 3:39 PM

I betcha they used that rare wood from India to make that equipment too.

mankai on October 3, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Report: Obama made no secret of selling Green Revolution downriver to Iran.

Christien on October 3, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Oh no. We all know they were bankrolling the Tea Party, so that’ll vanish immediately. And they also apparently own the Republican Party(or at least that’s what MSDNC would have you believe), so you can kiss 2012 goodbye.

BTW, I find it ironic that this report comes from NBC considering GE has been doing business with Iran for years.

Doughboy on October 3, 2011 at 3:45 PM

Perhaps there were no preconditions on the sale.

Would that be okay then?

RedNewEnglander on October 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM

Report: Obama made not-so-secret sale of Green noituloveR to Iran regime.

Christien on October 3, 2011 at 3:51 PM

They also have rocks with racist words in front of their office. Or not. Who cares, really. The allegation sounds good.

lorien1973 on October 3, 2011 at 3:51 PM

Is this the hit piece I read was coming? Boring.

Dash on October 3, 2011 at 3:53 PM

Amazing how certain media save the infamous alien anal probe for only GOP-associated folks.

Ask Cartman.

fred5678 on October 3, 2011 at 4:00 PM

I (NRO’s Daniel Foster at “The Corner”) reached out to the Koch Industries and got this statement from general counsel Mark Holden:

“The Bloomberg story is deeply dishonest and in our view intentionally misleading. The improper payments were dealt with by the company as soon as we learned of them. The employees involved are no longer with the company as a result. Ms. Egorovav [the ethics officer] filed a suit against the company alleging wrongful termination. The French court ruled in the company’s favor, determining that she was treated fairly and ordering her to pay the costs of the matter. She is appealing. Contrary to Bloomberg and Egorova’s statements, the court in Ms. Egorova’s case was aware of the issue concerning improper payments as that was fully disclosed by the company during the proceeding. Regarding the sales at issue to Iran, the foreign subsidiary in question had protocols in place that were consistent with US law, still several years ago Koch voluntarily put in place a policy halting all dealings with Iran that is more restrictive than US law.”

onlineanalyst on October 3, 2011 at 4:03 PM

Alinksy.

mankai on October 3, 2011 at 4:05 PM

Doesn’t anyone else read Powerline? ?

They had a rebuttal for this 3 days before it was released…they’re not real journalists – they just play them on the internet-
and do a better job

marks on October 3, 2011 at 4:13 PM

Report: MSNBC, Bloomberg made secret sale to Iran

Really though. Keep repeating the word “Koch.” Eventually, someone will care.

HitNRun on October 3, 2011 at 4:20 PM

“its not illegal when people I like do it” – Most of HA

mythicknight on October 3, 2011 at 4:30 PM

Don’t feed the trolls.

Ward Cleaver on October 3, 2011 at 4:48 PM

“its not illegal when people I like do it” – Most of HA

mythicknight on October 3, 2011 at 4:30 PM

“It’s surely illegal (and true) when media that hate the people I hate report it” – Most of the HA trolls.

Hannibal Smith on October 3, 2011 at 4:56 PM

Time for some more lame prank phonecalls impersonating a Koch brother…

Scrappy on October 3, 2011 at 4:59 PM

“its not illegal when people I like do it” – Most of HA

mythicknight on October 3, 2011 at 4:30 PM

If they did something illegal prosecute them.

But then maybe it’s more like “It’s illegal because someone I don’t like did it” – HA troll.

Scrappy on October 3, 2011 at 5:01 PM

LOL Powerline preemptively shot that canard down on Saturday. You can look it up.

Lonetown on October 3, 2011 at 5:16 PM

mythicknight on October 3, 2011 at 4:30 PM

Trials are only for mass-murdering terrorists.

The rest of you are just guilty for being regular ol’ Americans.

/

mankai on October 3, 2011 at 5:42 PM