By Jane MAYER: "The Meaning of a Koch Brother's Retirement"

[UTUSN]

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https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-meaning-of-a-koch-brothers-retirement

The Meaning of a Koch Brother’s Retirement

The family’s business and political operations will be down one billionaire but have more political clout than ever.
By Jane Mayer

The retirement of David Koch from Koch Industries will make it easier to see more clearly what has been true from the start: Charles and David Koch, who came to be known as “the Koch brothers,” were equals in bloodlines and in wealth, but Charles has always been the brains behind the brothers’ vast corporate and political operations. Those who know the brothers well predict that David’s retirement will have scant impact, particularly in the political realm, where the Kochs exert enormous influence. ....

Charles also appears to have dominated David’s decision to retire. According to two well-informed individuals close to the family, David, who has been in declining health for several years, had resisted resigning, but Charles forced him out. A business associate who declined to be identified, in order not to jeopardize his ties to the family, told me, “Charles pushed David out. It was done with a wink, and a nod, and a nudge.” A second longtime family associate confirmed this, saying, “Charles had been pushing him out for quite some time. David kept resisting. It was bad. Charles took control.” ....

... It was Charles Koch, for instance, who came up with the idea in 2003 of pooling political donations with like-minded wealthy conservatives, creating a huge, centrally controlled war chest for what is, in essence, a conservative millionaires’ movement. There are now some seven hundred members of this exclusive club, which meets twice a year at Charles’s invitation and calls itself the Seminar Network. ... ....

The election of Donald Trump, the single Republican Presidential candidate whom they had openly opposed, seemed to some to sideline the brothers. Charles had memorably described the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton as like one between “cancer or a heart attack.” But while the Kochs didn’t get the candidate they wanted, under Trump they have nonetheless gotten many of the policies they wanted. Political allies, many of whom have have been subsidized by the Kochs in one way or another in the past, now fill numerous key Trump Cabinet and Administrative posts. ....

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[Mc Mike]

1. Ms. Mayer's Dark Money is excellent.

Maybe doesn't make the connections to the birch society as clear as could be, but full of good info.

[UTUSN]

2. She's one of the excellent ones, thanks.

[Mc Mike]

3. It was a real eye-opener, watching the Kochs run their operations against her.