Mitt Romney's National Co-Chair and Former Obama White House Chief of Staff's Brother Could Cost Michigan Millions

Raleigh’s state of the art studio in Pontiac, which opened only ten months ago, defaulted on its $630,000 bond payment on $18 million in state issued bonds that were part of the financing for the $80 million complex.

In an email to The Oakland Press, Michigan Department of Treasury spokesman Terry Stanton confirmed the studio was not able to make the $630,000 payment to the bondholders by Feb. 1. That forced the Michigan state employee’s pension fund, which invested in the studio in 2009, to make a $630,000 payment immediately, and put them on the hook for potentially millions more in payments in the future.

"The State of Michigan Retirement System (SMRS) entered into an agreement to guarantee the bonds, under the previous administration," Stanton wrote. Raleigh had made two previous payments in February and August of last year, but has not made required monthly escrow set-aside payments since October, according to an article that appeared in the Detroit News last month.

The impact of the default on the facility in Pontiac, Michigan is still unclear but it is not expected to affect other properties operated by Raleigh Studios – which bills itself as largest independent studio operator in the United States – located in Hollywood, Manhattan Beach, Playa Vista, Baton Rouge, Atlanta and Budapest.

The facility was the brainchild of Chairman and CEO Linden Nelson and investors Taubman Company founder A. Alfred Taubman, Walbridge CEO and Mitt Romney for President National Co-Chair John Rakolta Jr. and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Co-CEO Ari Emanuel, whose brother is Rahm Emanual the Former Obama White House Chief of Staff and current Mayor of Chicago.

 "It is uncertain whether the SMRS will have to make any future payments, as the company's ability to fulfill its responsibility for the bond payments depends on the future use/leasing of the facility."

Rabbit Hole Runs Deep with Randy Richardville, Bob Ficano, and John Rakolta

This rabbit hole runs much deeper than most realize! John Rakolta is one of the "gang of four" wealthy and politically connected businessmen concoct an elaborate scheme, using their checkbooks and relationships, to secure a taxpayer-funded movie studio for their own personal financial gain.

Also allegedly involved are Alfred Taubman, Linden Nelson CEO of Raleigh Michigan Studios, and Ari Emanuel, who just happens to be the brother of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who introduced his brother to Linden Nelson at political events. Since the movie credits and government funding for the studio were a product of an agreement between Governor Granholm and Rahm Emanuel -- both of whom would soon occupy different roles -- the deal had to include a “poison pill” such that any future governor would think twice about getting rid of the film credits and studio funding. The "poison pill" just happens to be Michigan's own Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville.

This is where it gets interesting. Richardville has been lobbied very hard by Nelson, Rakolta and the other partners. Richardville attended the Emmy’s on a trip arranged by Linden Nelson. He also went to a Red Wings game with Nelson in March. While the majority of Republican legislators oppose further funding of the film credits and are outraged by the way the studio was funded with taxpayer money, Richardville is susceptible to “wooing” and is behind the scenes trying to help Nelson and the Gang of Four. He accomplished this by deceiving his colleges on this issue of film producer subsidies and introducing legislation which passed. The film studio folks have hired a slew of lobbyists to cut a deal with Senator Richardville. John Rakolta is paying Scott Romney and the Honigman law firm substantial money to lobby Governor Snyder and the Republican State Senate.

This is the Republican strategy to keep this Democratic deal alive. Interesting information on John Rakolta Jr. is the CEO of Walbridge (formely known as Walbridge Aldinger). He was also one of the National Finance Chairs for Mitt Romney's 2008 Presidential Campaign. Rakolta's wife Terry Rakolta is the sister of Mitt's former sister-in-law Ronna Romney. He was offered the opportunity to be part of a consortium of five Detroit-area businessmen to provide a loan to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to convince him to resign so that the scandals he had created would end, but Rakolta declined before it actually happened, so the other four went on with it alone.

Besides his work for the Romney campaign in 2008, Rakolta was a major fundraiser for the Bush campaign in 2004. Most recently he was State Finance Chair for Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan. Rakolta's daughter Lauren Rakolta was also a major figure in Mitt Romney's campaign and previously had worked for Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts. She is currently the finance director for Rick Snyder's campaign to be governor of Michigan.