Being Bi-partisan: offering Thom a helping hand | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton keeps a close eye on Speaker Thom in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    We've already raised questions about Speaker Thom, his movie contributions, the beer distributor bucks, and his ties to a certain well-connected Massachusetts law firm. We found a few more areas of concern about The Speaker's campaign finance report. We thought we'd be kind  -  like we were with The Sock Puppet  -  and help straighten a few things out.

    It is amazing how much money seemed to come into the Tillis campaign on 9/30  -  the last day of the campaign reporting period. Robert Rosania and Ruth Rosania of New York City each gave Tillis $5200  -  a total of $10,400  -  on that day. Mr. Rosania is IDed on the campaign report as a "real estate professional" with something called Maxiumus. Mrs.Rosania is IDed as being employed in the "Rosania household" as a "housecare professional." A Google search actually IDs Mr. Rosania as a wealthy New York socialite who owns Stellar Management  -  "a premier owner and operator of commercial real-estate. Stellar owns more than 20,000 residential units and 2 million square feet of office space across the country." It's curious, though. Rosania and his wife are donating to Thom Tillis  -  who bills himself as "North Carolina's conservative voice". But, in 2009, Rosania gave $4800 to New York senator Chuck Schumer  -  who is anything but conservative.

    Joseph O'Neil, IDed on the Tillis report as an attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Lavin, O'Neil, Ricci, Cedrone, & DiSipi, gave $1000 on 9/29. A Google search found that O'Neil is the attorney for GlaxoSmithKline, which has a sizable investment in our state's RTP area. (Michael Towers, a VP with GSK from Philadelphia, gave $2600 to Tillis on 9/19.)

    Patrick Ronan, of Winnetka, Illinois, is IDed on the Tillis campaign report as an "attorney" with Greenleaf Health, LLC. The report says he gave Tillis $5200 on 9/29, as did his wife Kimberly on the same day. But if you check out Greenleaf's web site, the company sure looks a lot like a "government relations" or "lobbying" shop.

    Ellen Walter, listed by the Tillis campaign as an Alexandria, VA "homemaker", gave $1000 to Tillis in September. She just happens to be married to Jeff Walter, a principal in the DC-area based Walter Group  -  a lobbying firm. Check out the list of clients for The Walter Group. Last on the list? Time Warner.

    Speaking of lobbyists  -  Geraldine Brubaker of Asheboro is listed on the Tillis report as having donated $2600 to the campaign on 9/30. She is listed simply as a "nurse" with "Randolph County." But readers should be aware that she is married to long-time legislator, former speaker, and long-time Tillis ally turned lobbyist Harold Brubaker.

    RJ Reynolds got in on the action, too. On September 16, David Powers  -  a lobbyist for RJR's parent company RAI  -  gave two checks to Tillis for $2600. On the same day, Powers' wife Shreita, IDed as a Forsythe County teacher, also gave Tillis two checks for $2600. Hundall Christopher is IDed on the Tillis report as being "retired." That's true. But Christopher  -  a longtime major figure with RJR  -  gave Tillis $5000 on September 16.