David C. Farmer vs. Harmon - Witness Ron Burkle

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

RON BURKLE

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Ronald W. Burkle (b. November 12, 1952 in Pomona, California) is a supermarket billionaire from Beverly Hills, with a personal wealth of over US$2.1 billion. He founded The Yucaipa Companies, a Los Angeles based private equity firm, in 1986. He was once a bag boy and is now recognized as one of the pre-eminent investors in the retail, manufacturing and distribution industries. Burkle's investment group, The Yucaipa Companies, has recently worked with The Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America to explore alternatives to Rupert Murdoch's buyout of Dow Jones & Company by his News Corporation.

Burkle has served as Chairman of the Board and controlling shareholder of numerous companies including Alliance Entertainment, Golden State Foods, Dominick's, Fred Meyer, Ralphs and Food4Less. He is currently a member of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, KB Home and Yahoo! He is also part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins major league hockey team of the National Hockey League, although his exact share of the team is unknown.

Burkle is a well-known Democratic supporter and fundraiser who has raised over $1,000,000 for the Hilary Clinton presidential campaign. He has supported California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and employed former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, both of whom are former CALPERS board members but has also made contributions to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Robert Novak reported in June, 2007 that 98% of Burkle's $1.5 million political contributions to date have gone to Democrats. Burkle is a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, who calls Burkle's Boeing 757 private jet "Ron Air." Clinton is employed by Burkle's investment firm, The Yucaipa Companies. Burkle co-hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton at his Green Acres Mansion. Burkle and Steve Rattner helped finance Al Gore's cable Current TV network. October 2007 news reports suggest that Burkle has started dating actress Kate Hudson, following the breakup of her short-lived relationship with actor Dax Shepard. Reportedly, Shepard learned of the breakup through a phone call from a friend.

As of May 2007, real estate developer Raffaello Follieri who is the boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway was being sued by billionaire Ron Burkle for $55 million dollars which Burkle alleges Follieri spent on a private jet, care for their pet Labrador, and shopping sprees for Anne. The money was supposed to be allocated into a land development project.

It has been suggested that Tony Blair may take up a seat on the board of one of Burkle's companies when he stands down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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September 1, 2006

From the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:

The Clinton-Burkle Connection

Bill and Hillary Clinton, who made influence peddling into an art form, are apparently at it again.

The Clintons have developed a profitable and compromising connection with billionaire Ron Burkle. In the past, Burkle has contributed large amounts of cash to the Clintons’ campaigns, their legal defense fund, and to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Most recently, on April 21, 2006, he hosted a fundraiser for Hillary’s Senate reelection campaign at his Green Acres (Beverly Hills) mansion.

But the financial connections do not stop there.

Bill Clinton is a senior advisor to Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies. Hillary has is not legally required to provide the full details of her husband’s financial arrangement with Yucaipa, claiming on her 2003 and 2004 Senate financial disclosures that Bill’s only Yucaipa income is “more than $1,000” in guaranteed payments. She could tell more, but you can bet she won’t.

According to former Clinton campaign advisor Dick Morris, however, Clinton “stands to clear tens of millions of dollar – with virtually no risk – from his Yucaipa work.” Off the record, he is also working on a fund that “invests in overseas ventures, for which he receives regular payments and would draw one-third of the profits when the fund is dissolved at least five years from now.” In one news report, Burkle estimated that he spends 500 hours per year with the former president – about 10 hours per week on average – a very small amount of time for a very large amount of undocumented income. (I know that Yucaipa does business with public pension funds in the State of California. Nice to know that an admitted perjurer can help direct the investment of public pension funds, isn’t it?)

Why is all of this important? Because Hillary Clinton presumably shares a bank account with her husband and payments to him are, in effect, payments to her as well. And since Hillary Clinton is in a position to vote on legislation that impacts Burkle’s massive empire, there is great potential for a conflict of interest. Burkle will no doubt expect something in return for the millions he funnels into the Clintons’ bank account – something more than what amounts to a few hours of Bill Clinton’s time each week.

The situation becomes even dicier should Hillary make her much-anticipated run for the White House in 2008. Burkle is reportedly working on a deal to purchase a string of American daily newspapers, including San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and St. Paul Pioneer Press. What kind of press coverage do you suppose he’ll give to his business partner’s political campaign?...

Thomas Fitton

President

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April 11, 2002

Jobless no longer!
Bill Clinton has a steady job!

By Vasily Bubnov, Pravda

Finally, the ex-president of the USA has a steady job.

Now, Bill Clinton is a leading consultant with investment companies Yucaipa American Fund and Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund, owned by Ron Burkle, a friend of Bill Clinton. Ron Burkle made his fortune on a network of grocery supermarkets.

The RosBusinessConsulting news agency reports that the ex-president will be in charge of meetings and talks with political leaders and presidents of companies for further investing.

Mr. Burkle says, “I am proud that Bill Clinton will be a consultant with our company.”

No information about the salary of the new employee was published, but it was said his salary will depend on the company’s financial showings. Still, the sum is sure to be large.

On the whole, it is not a sensation that the ex-president will be working as a consultant. The majority of his predecessors preferred to earn their living by consulting for different companies. Such people with their wonderful connections in politics and business are really useful for companies.

Bill Clinton had no regular work for two years already. He delivered lectures and wrote memoirs that brought large and easy earnings. The ex-president needed money to cover his debts to the attorneys who worked for Mr. Clinton during his presidency.

So, good luck with your new job, Mr. Ex-President!

Are any trainees coming to the office as well?

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://pravda.ru/main/2002/04/11/39605.html

April 14, 2002

Jesse lands sweet deal for buddy Bill

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

BEST OF FRIENDS.

Looks as though the Rev. Jesse Jackson has helped his good buddy, former President Bill Clinton, land a cushy job with a California investment firm.

The Associated Press reported last week that Clinton will serve as counsel to the Yucaipa American Fund and the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund, both headed by billionaire former supermarket magnate Ron Burkle. He’s a good friend of Jackson’s and a significant campaign contributor to the Democratic National Committee.

Burkle has helped out Jackson in the past. In 1998, Burkle, then CEO of Ralph’s Food Stores, helped two of Jackson’s sons land a lucrative Budweiser beer distributorship in Chicago.

In 1997, Clinton, Jackson and Burkle appeared in Pittsburgh for the AFL-CIO annual convention. A year later, Jackson and Burkle were part of a large entourage that accompanied Clinton on a trip to Africa.

The Yucaipa American Fund was formed in February by Burkle’s company. It is funded primarily from investments by the California Public Employees Retirement System.

Curiously enough, Burkle has been a significant campaign contributor to both California Gov. Gray Davis and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who just happens to be a trustee of the pension system.

Probably just a coincidence....

For more poop on Bill Clinton, GO TO > > > Hail to the Chief!

May 26, 2002

CalPERS invested $700 million
with Davis donor

Billionaire also made contributions to pension board members

Lance Williams, San Francisco Chronicle

The California Public Employees Pension System steered $700 million in investment capital to a wealthy financier who has donated more than $600,000 to Gov. Gray Davis and thousands more to officials who serve on the CalPERS board, according to state records.

According to the records, in the past year the CalPERS board has twice voted to make multimillion-dollar cash infusions in venture capital funds controlled by billionaire financier and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle of Los Angeles.

He is a heavy-hitting political donor with close ties to Davis and other top Democrats, including CalPERS board members San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and state Treasurer Phil Angelides.

Since 1998, Burkle has donated $609,000 to Davis' gubernatorial campaigns, and last year his Golden States Foods firm hired Davis' wife to serve on its board of directors.

The governor controls four appointments to the 13-member CalPERS board, but a spokesman said Davis plays no role in CalPERS investment decisions.

A CalPERS spokeswoman said the investments in Burkle's concerns were thoroughly vetted and made on the merits. Brown and Angelides acted legally in voting for the Burkle investments, said the spokeswoman, Patricia Macht.

But James Knox, chairman of the reform group California Common Cause, said the affair was troubling on clean-government grounds.

He contended that Brown and Angelides should have recused themselves rather than vote on the Burkle investments because they had obtained donations from him. And Knox said the scenario of a major donor seeking investment funds from CalPERS was "a concern because it puts the governor's appointees in a position where they can show favor to a major campaign contributor."

Charlie Oates, who publishes an independent newsletter for CalPERS pensioners, said the board should pursue more conventional investments and steer clear of investments involving their political benefactors.

"It's a public pension trust fund for the benefit of the members of the system and not for the benefit of the politicians," he said. "As trustees, they should be more concerned with running the trust and taking care of the beneficiaries."

Roger Salazar, Davis' spokesman, said the criticism was unfair....

Burkle is a self-made billionaire who rose from grocery store clerk to owner of the Ralph's/Food 4 Less chain. Today he lives in Greenacres, a Beverly Hills estate once owned by silent film star Harold Lloyd, and is CEO of the Yucaipa Companies investment concern.

Burkle is a longtime Democratic activist, and since 1998 he has donated $1.9 million to Democratic candidates and causes in California, state records show. Davis is his single biggest beneficiary.

According to Yucaipa spokesman Ari Swiller, the financier's friendship with Davis goes back 20 years, to the days when Burkle was a supermarket owner and Davis was an assemblyman pushing the idea of putting photos of abducted children on milk cartons....

They share other connections as well. Swiller, Yucaipa's spokesman, also serves as Davis' campaign treasurer. Davis' wife, Sharon, helped run Burkle's charitable foundation in the 1990s, and last year she went on the board of Golden State Foods, a Yucaipa-owned firm.

Burkle also has a long-standing connection to Mayor Brown, whom Davis appointed to the CalPERS board. From 1993 through 1995, while Brown was speaker of the Assembly, he moonlighted as a lawyer for Burkle's Food 4 Less chain, earning more than $30,000, state records show. Burkle's companies also donated $59,000 to his legislative campaigns.

After Brown became mayor of San Francisco, Burkle donated $100,000 to help underwrite the 1997 U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in San Francisco.

The billionaire also became involved in efforts to redevelop Treasure Island in San Francisco. In 1999, a firm backed by Burkle and headed by Darius Anderson, a Sacramento lobbyist who has worked as a fund-raiser for both the governor and Brown, was chosen by the mayor's office to develop a marina at Treasure Island...

CalPERS records show that Burkle's Yucaipa Corporate Initiative Fund obtained $200 million in investment capital via what the pension fund styled its "California initiative."

That strategy, announced in June 2000, is intended to boost economic development by pumping funds into what it called "underserved" areas, including rural and inner-city areas.

CalPERS consultants and staff reviewed more than 60 investment proposals, and finally recommended 11 investment firms, the records show.

In May 2001, the board unanimously approved the plan. Yucaipa's $200 million share was quadruple what any of the other firms obtained, the records show.

While the matter was pending, state records show Burkle hosted a fund- raiser for Davis and donated $20,000 to his campaign. He also donated $25,000 to Angelides, and made a series of other political donations, including $100, 000 to the state Democratic Party.

After Yucaipa obtained the $200 million investment, the firm pitched CalPERS on backing the Yucaipa America Fund, an investment fund that proposed to tap labor union pension funds for a venture capital fund....

In November, at a closed meeting, the CalPERS board voted to commit $500 million to the fund.

While that matter was pending, state records show Burkle hosted two more fund-raisers for Davis and donated $50,000 to his campaign. Less than three weeks after the vote, Burkle also hosted a fund-raiser for Angelides.

Macht said that in both Burkle investments the CalPERS staff had negotiated excellent terms to protect pensioners' investment and maximize return. No one in the governor's office ever contacted CalPERS staff about either matter, she said.

The $150 billion CalPERS pension fund is run by a 13-member board of state officials and representatives of pensioners and other interested groups.

Controversy over political donations has occasionally roiled CalPERS. In 1998, CalPERS voted to bar board members from obtaining political donations from firms that sought or were doing business with the pension fund.

The action came after the Los Angeles Times reported that state Controller Kathleen Connell and then-state Treasurer Matt Fong had obtained $400,000 in political donations from CalPERS contractors. Connell denied wrongdoing and successfully sued to overturn the ban, which is no longer in effect.

Earlier this month, the co-founder of a vineyard development firm that had recently obtained a $100 million investment from CalPERS hosted a $2,500-per- head political fund-raiser for Davis in San Francisco.

Backers of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon accused Davis of using CalPERS to raise funds for his re-election drive, but Davis and Richard Wollack, co-CEO of Premier Pacific Vineyards, said there was no connection between the investment and the fund-raiser...

For more poop on CalPERS, GO TO > > > A Connecticut Yankee in King Kamehameha’s Court; The Great Nest Egg Robberies

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Ron Burkle is expected to testify regarding his business, professional and personal relationships with Joshua Gotbaum, Matsuo Takabuki; The Bureau of Indian Affairs; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Robert Rubin; Colonel Russell Hermann; V.K. Durham; Goldman Sachs; Chubb Group; James Baker III; William S. Simon; Admiral Thomas Fargo; Trex Enterprises; Northrop Grumman; Noshir Gowadia; The Carlyle Group; The Nature Conservancy; Norman Mineta; Dan Akaka; Ted Stevens; Ed Case; Suzanne Case; Steve Case; Chris Yuen; Linda Lingle; Benjamin Cayetano; John Waihee III; John Waihee IV; George Ariyoshi; Gary Rodrigues; Judge Barry Kurren; Faye Kurren; Tesoro Hawaii; Matson Navigation; John Garibaldi; Hawaii Superferry; Linda Chu Takayama; Zephyr Insurance; Hawaiian Airlines; Kamehameha Schools; William S. Richardson; Hamilton McCubbin; Dee Jay Mailer; Robert Kihune; USS Missouri Association; Earl Anzai; Lyn Anzai; Judge Kevin Chang; Judge David Ezra; Donna Tanoue; Sukamto Sia; Dianne Plotts; Henry Peters; James Riady; Panin Group; Guido Giacometti; Bank of Hawaii; Sumitomo Corp; Marisco, Ltd.; Maui Planning Commission; Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources; Aloha Airlines; Colbert Matsumoto; Stanford Carr; Judith Neustadter Fuqua; Bill Mills; Wayne Minami; Jean Rolles, Outrigger Hotels; Eric Yeaman; Peter Baldwin; David C. Cole; Walter A. Dods, Stanley Hong; Jeffrey Watanabe; Allen Hunter; Trex Enterprises; Lawrence M. Johnson; Summit Communications; Robert Kihune; Clayton Hee; Gilbert Tam; Sandwich Isles Communications;Dept. of Hawaiian Homelands; James Ahloy; Aloha Petroleum; University of Hawaii; University of Hawaii Foundation; Kazu Hayashida, Rockne Freitas, James Nicholson, Duke Cunningham, Nichols Bros Boat Builders, American Classic Cruises, Brent Wilkes, ADCS, Inc. General Dynamics, Admiral William Crowe, Yucaipa American Fund, Dan Inouye, Paul Alston, Gene & Nora Lum, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and others to be named upon discovery.