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Convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff had a surprising victim in right wing circles in Washington, DC: the Hudson Institute, a think-tank closely allied with the neoconservative cause, according to sources and documents. The previously undisclosed loss by Hudson shows that the economic turmoil and white-collar fraud is apparently taking its toll among the neocons, who have already been somewhat marginalized.
Though bilked by Madoff, the Hudson Institute actually works with another convicted felon: former Cheney staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby was brought on board as an "adviser" to Hudson shortly after his departure from Cheney's service and his 2005 indictment in the Valerie Plame case. Libby, whose sentence was commuted by President Bush, still has an office at The Hudson Institute's Washington, DC, headquarters at 15th Street, NW.
Just last September the Hudson Institute also hired Douglas Feith, the neoconservative former Pentagon official who was so supportive of notorious Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi in the run-up to the Iraqi war. It was Feith whom General Tommy Franks famously referred to as "the dumbest... on the planet." Another Hudson fellow is a writer named Nibras Kazimi, a former aide to Chalabi.
But while Hudson's board makes provocative hiring decisions, its investment choices may have been far worse. A source told me Hudson invested millions with Madoff. The 162 page list of Madoff's victims released in February includes Hudson, but not the details, and Hudson didn't respond to requests for information.
The Hudson Institute's 2007 tax filing with the IRS, however, shows a $2 million investment in an unnamed "hedge fund." The group's total assets that year are listed as $14 million. If the "hedge fund" is in fact the Madoff investment, that makes the loss a hefty hit for the think tank, at a tough time.
The Hudson Institute was founded in 1961 by Cold War arms strategist Herman Kahn, said to be the inventor of the doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction" or MAD. He often considered the model for the title character in the Peter Sellers movie "Dr. Strangelove."
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It's too bad Mr. Roston who wrote this piece about the Hudson Institute neglected to speak to people at the institute. Had he done so, he might have discovered that extraordinary board members replenished the modest sums lost to the hateful Mr. Madoff. But, of course, why should facts stand in the way of a contentious story.
Well, that right there oughtta get his sentence reduced by half.
More "tanking" than "thinking" there, eh?
The funniest thing about Bernie Madoff, is how he knew who to rip off.
He only ripped off people he knew would not take him out -- imagine if his investors included Suge Knight, Jay-Z or Damon Dash.
He would have been eliminated the same day the charges were filed.
you know i wonder about that too? but did not the guy who testified a few weeks ago say he belived madoff was involved the russian mafia?
Priceless. Between their foolish investment and the Texas legislator who had to ask what Medicaid was after being in office for about 14 years, I now see why Bush was so incompetent, it's a disease called "ignorance" which is apparently viral among Repubs.
couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people ha ha
Scooter Libby "works?" That should be an oxymoron! Libby should not be allowed to work. Millions of people are out of work, and this felon is working and earning a good living, when he should have received the death penalty for having committed traitorous acts to his country!!! The Rosenbergs died for less in the 1950's!!!!!! This is the state of the United States under the Republican Administration of George W. Bush, and is why Barack Obama won the election in November, 2008!!! Scooter Libby should be hiding his head in shame, and anyone who gave him a job is no better than the felon that Libby is, and the felon that Bush and Cheney should be!!!!!!!
I totally agree with you .. plus Douglas Feith... he is the one who came up the connection of Saddam and 9/11... another traitor.. that fiasco is still costing us ten billion dollars a month and worse still the lives of our young soldiers..
Well, nice to know that he did ONE good thing.
"You can't cheat an honest man." WC Fields.
Not only is that conventional wisdom but the name of an entire movie.
If it's too good to be true, then it's too good to be true. A "think tank" should know this folk wisdom.
Ahhhh - Let us pause for a moment of Zen....
"Oh no, he DIDN't !"
What were these Mighty Thinkers thinking about, while Bernie was ripping them off.
These so called brilliant people know what everybody should be doing, but did not see
not so brilliant Bernie coming.
These Snake Oil Sellers are the worst.
Great news to begin the week with! Ha ha, you've been ponzied!
The Hudson Institute was founded in 1961 by Cold War arms strategist Herman Kahn, said to be the inventor of the doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction" or MAD. He often considered the model for the title character in the Peter Sellers movie "Dr. Strangelov
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
Greatest movie ever.
That's the one line I'll always remember from that movie. Too perfect.
I think the beginning of the movie showed 2 planes refueling midair in a suggestive way while the music playing was 'Try a Little Tenderness'.
Poetic Justice
Oh thank you lord jesus!
Nothing more satisfying then seeing the luny right wing funders lose millions.
Remember the PAC that was trying to smear Obama, that was headed by Ari Fleisher, they went belly up from another ponzi scheme.
That is delicious!
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