Blue Team President Joe Biden is back at the Nantucket compound of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein for Thanksgiving. This trip is a staple of Biden's time as President and Vice President. Mr. Rubenstein is a politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU).
Red Team President elect and former President Donald Trump is pondering which private equity underwriter to put in charge of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins or Brian Brooks.
Frontrunner Paul Atkins has his own consulting firm that caters to PEUs and Cryptobros. He also sits on the board a private equity fund that changed names multiple times as well as the board of a private credit and direct lending fund. All are under the auspices of Cliffwater.
Brian Brooks is founder and CEO of Meridian Capital Group and advisor to Valor Capital Group, both PEUs. He has an extensive background with firms that at some point got on the wrong side of regulators, Fannie Mae, OneWest Bank, Binance and Coinbase. That does not mean the bad behavior occurred under Brooks watch. Mr. Brooks could be a cleanup guy. Senate hearings may or may not shed light, depending on who Trump II picks.
Polticians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one. It's the Red Team's turn to steer Uncle Sam's wallet to their friends, which now include TechGods and CryptoBros. Let the conflicts of interest be FLAUNTED!
