The Intercept has obtained audio of a Zoom call between Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and billionaire donors in which he openly schemes against members of his own party whom he considers “far left”:
The call included several billionaire investors and corporate executives, among them Louis Bacon, chief executive of Moore Capital Management; Kenneth D. Tuchman, founder of global outsourcing company TeleTech; and Howard Marks, the head of Oaktree Capital, one of the largest private equity firms in the country.
The Zoom participant log included a dial-in from Tudor Investment Corporation, the hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones. Also present was a roster of heavy-hitting political influencers, including Republican consultant Ron Christie and (former Sen. Joe) Lieberman, who serves as a representative of No Labels and now advises corporate interests. The meeting was led by Nancy Jacobson, the co-founder of No Labels…
Manchin told the assembled donors that he needed help flipping a handful of Republicans from no to yes on the January 6 commission in order to strip the “far left” of their best argument against the filibuster.
Macnhin suggested the wealthy donors give Sen. Roy Blount (R-MO) future financial opportunities when he retires in exchange for his vote:
When it came to Sen. Roy Blunt, a moderate Missouri Republican who voted no on the commission, Manchin offered a creative solution. “Roy Blunt is a great, just a good friend of mine, a great guy,” Manchin said. “Roy is retiring. If some of you all who might be working with Roy in his next life could tell him, that’d be nice and it’d help our country. That would be very good to get him to change his vote. And we’re going to have another vote on this thing. That’ll give me one more shot at it.”
Manchin also expressed his opposition to President Joe Biden’s national infrastructure bill because he doesn’t want the government building charging stations:
Lynn Schenk, a former Democratic lawmaker from the San Diego area, spoke up on the call, thanking the West Virginia senator for his remarks in opposition to direct federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations.
(Sources: The Intercept, Open Secrets, Photo Credit: MSNBC/YouTube)