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.

Mitt Romney's National Co-Chair John Rakolta in Cross Hairs Of FBI Corruption Probe

This story is a bomb shell and great investigative work by Charlie Le Duff of Fox2 News Detroit. The link below has more to the story and video shown on the 10pm and 11pm newscast. Here is a snippet of the story as written by Charile LeDuff:

  Mitt’s presidential ambitions may meet their Waterloo in the Big Mitten and if they do, Mitt might have Bob to thank.
That’s because Romney and Bob Ficano, the Wayne County executive who is caught in the crosshairs of an FBI corruption probe, have a certain friend in common -- John Rakolta.

Will Michigan be Mitt Romney's Waterloo?: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Rakolta is a prominent Detroit developer whose company Walbridge won a $300 million contract last summer to build the new Wayne County jail.

In turns out Rakolta is Romney’s co-national finance chairman.

The Rakolta connection couldn’t come at a worse time for Romney, whose commanding lead in his boyhood state of Michigan has shriveled to a statistical tie with Rick Santorum.

The feds are investigating a pattern of pay-to-play in the jail deal and have subpoenaed the county’s records in connection with Walbridge. As it happens, Rakolta has been a contributor to the Democrat Ficano, a member of Ficano’s finance host committee, and a $25,000 contributor to a non-profit business group know as Edge Opportunities that paid Turkia Mullin to lobby the county development czar.

Who was the county development czar in charge of the jail project? Turkia Mullin. She is also a focus of the federal investigation.

We caught Romney on the stump Thursday and asked him about his close friend Rakolta, who remains on his campaign.


“My understanding is he’s helping in the investigation, not a target of it. So there’s no culpability on his side so far as I’m aware,” Romney said. “He’s helping in an investigation as one of the witnesses against potential wrongdoing as far as I understand.”

Well, not exactly.

Rakolta, who for some reason was out of town when Romney appeared in Michigan, sent me this statement:

“The federal government has not contacted Walbridge or me regarding its ongoing investigation of Wayne County, nor have we received any subpoenas.”

Now I went to public school, but it seems to me the two statements just don’t add up.

Is Rakolta a witness? Or a suspect?

Fox 2 legal analyst Charlie Langton says it is common operating procedure that the FBI does not contact subjects of its investigations.

“It appears that the feds are seriously looking at Rakolta as a player in the cozy relationships between county contractors and Bob Ficano.”

It is important to say Rakolta has not been charged with any crime. Nor has Ficano. But the first charges in the corruption scandal came down this week. One of Ficano’s inner circle was charged with extortion of a contractor and obstruction of justice.

When that shoe dropped, Bob came out of his bunker on the 31st floor of the Guardian Building to offer his ham-handed fury.
The fact that Rakolta remains on the Romney campaign speaks to Mitt’s judgment. Walbridge has also been banned for three years from contracts with the Detroit water department because the company is named in indictments against former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that allege bid-rigging. Walbridge is appealing the ban. If this presidential election can be boiled down to anything it is this: America is in deep trouble. And we all know it is going to take a healthy dose of government involvement to dig us out. But Americans --whether they be Tea Partiers, occupiers or independents -- have a serious disdain for politicians. And Bob Ficano and his gang at the Guardian are increasingly viewed by the electorate and political class as a colony of lepers. Keeping a fundraiser hanging around with the stink of Wayne County smeared on him will do little to inspire the voters on the fence. Bet you 10 grand.


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