Jeb Bush Tied To Rum Lobby In Missing Emails

Jeb Bush by Gage Skidmore 4

Oh the hypocrisy as Jeb “I released all my emails” Bush is tied to the Rum Lobby in a collection of missing emails which were recently discovered.

Correct The Record, a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks, followed up on Thursday’s CNN report revealing the substance of a series of emails in which Bush weighed in on a dispute between Bacardi and Cuba over the rights to the ‘Havana Club’ rum label.

Despite Jeb Bush’s factually deficient, repeated claims that he released all of his emails, CNN reported today [Thursday] that new emails have surfaced showing the former Florida governor’s sordid history with the rum lobby—emails that were noticeably missing from his already released email records.
 
The gap in his emails not only highlights the hypocrisy of Jeb Bush’s wrongheaded attacks against Hillary Clinton, but reveal several unanswered questions about the Bush’s close ties to lobbyists.

Correct The Record went on to note a few quick facts about Bush’s transparency – or lack thereof:

  • Jeb said he received 550,000 emails on his private account during his eight years as governor.
  • Jeb has only released 250,000 of these emails.
  • Jeb was required to do this by Florida sunshine law.
  • It took Jeb nearly eight years after his time in office to release these emails (a potential criminal offense).

Correct The Record went on to list a massive amount of incrimenating background on Bush and his missing emails. We will list a few here, but you should go and checkout the full Correct The Record report here.

Jeb Bush failed to release e-mails related to official government business

Jeb Bush’s e-mail release did not include correspondence in which he personally weighed in on a trade dispute between Bacardi and Cuba. “But a 2002 trade battle between Bacardi and Cuba over the rights to the ‘Havana Club’ label shows Bush’s transparency has its limits and shows some details are missing from the Bush email repository. A string of emails from Bush personally weighing in on the Bacardi fight when he was governor of Florida were not among any of the releases. Their existence is only known because a Florida investigative reporter obtained them years ago.” [CNN, 10/01/15]
 
Jeb Bush’s e-mail dump excluded correspondence with a top George W. Bush appointee at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “Bush emails obtained from the state in the following months show his top Tallahassee and Washington staff working consistently on the issue, including a renewed push in April 2002 and again, a few months later, when Bush sent a letter to James Rogan, then-director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Rogan, a former California congressman who helped lead the Clinton impeachment proceedings, was appointed to the position by Bush’s brother, President George W. Bush. The letter was not included in the emails released by Bush, but Christensen posted a copy he obtained.” [CNN, 10/01/15]

Jeb Bush owned a private email server and hand selected emails to disclose

Jeb Bush conducted all his communication on his private [email protected] account and hand selected which emails to turn over to the state archive. “The former governor conducted all his communication on his private [email protected] account and turned over the hand-selected batch to the state archives when he left office. Absent from the stash are emails the governor deemed not relevant to the public record: those relating to politics, fundraising and personal matters while he was governor. Compared to Scott, however, who rarely communicates by email, the contrast is stark.’ [Tampa Bay Times, 1/3/15]
 
Jeb Bush released his private emails from the state archive, but the files were “not complete.” “The files released from the state archive resulted in a stream of positive national press for the former governor — ‘Jeb Bush’s emails depict a hands-on governor,’ the Washington Post proclaimed. ‘Jeb answered immigrant pleas,’’ the Hill wrote. Polls now show that if Bush announces, he will be considered the front-runner. The Bush files, though enormous, are not complete, however.” [Tampa Bay Times, 1/3/15]

Jeb Bush released emails that exposed Social Security numbers

Emails released by Jeb Bush included names, emails, and Social Security number of many Florida residents “leaving them vulnerable to identity thieves.” “A trove of 250,000 emails released by prospective 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush includes the sensitive personal information of several Florida residents, leaving them vulnerable to identity thieves. A scan of the email dump by technology blogs The Verge and Gizmodo revealed names, emails and in some cases, Social Security numbers of Bush’s correspondents. Many appear to be normal Florida residents unaware their messages to the then-governor would eventually become public.” [The Hill, 2/10/15]
 
Jeb Bush’s email release was an “indiscriminate data dump being made for political reasons” and showed “a serious ignorance of the volume of sensitive information in the records and carelessness about their disclosure.” “Many posts were critical of Bush, who is expected to be a major contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. ‘Even if most of these emails are subject to Sunshine Law disclosure, a public request for specific information is not the same as a huge, indiscriminate data dump being made for political reasons,’ wrote T.C. Sottek with The Verge, which first reported the presence of Social Security numbers in the trove. ‘At minimum, it shows a serious ignorance of the volume of sensitive information in the records and a carelessness about their disclosure — not a good look for someone who may want to sit in the White House,’ Sottek wrote.” [The Hill, 2/10/15]

Jeb Bush’s server housed sensitive information

Jeb Bush discussed “security and military issues such as troop deployments to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants” using email housed on his private server. “Jeb Bush used his private e-mail account as Florida governor to discuss security and military issues such as troop deployments to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants, according to a review of publicly released records. The e-mails include two series of exchanges involving details of Florida National Guard troop deployments after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the review by The Washington Post found. Aides to Bush said Saturday that none of the e-mails contained sensitive or classified information, and that many of the events mentioned in them were documented in press accounts, either contemporaneously or later. But security experts say private e-mail systems such as the one used by Bush are more vulnerable to hackers, and that details such as troop movements could be exploited by enemies.” [Washington Post, 3/14/15]
 
Jeb Bush, within two months of 9/11, “ordered the National Guard to pull its troops from protecting nuclear power plants in Florida, simply because the private corporations that operated the plants didn’t want the protection.” “‘In November 2001, Bush and an aide to then-Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan exchanged messages about the deployment of National Guard troops to a nuclear power plant in Crystal River, Fla. The aide wrote Bush that a state lawmaker had called to say she thought “it is imperative that the Crystal River nuclear facility have National Guard security.” Bush wrote back: “Florida power does not want it. We are reducing or getting rid of guard protection in the other plants.”‘ That last line, to me, is the real bombshell — that within two months of 9/11, Bush ordered the National Guard to pull its troops from protecting nuclear power plants in Florida, simply because the private corporations that operated the plants didn’t want the protection. I wonder if the people who lived near the plants wanted the protection.” [Salon, 8/14/15]

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Be sure to checkout the full Correct The Record report here.

Samuel Warde
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