Neil King and Greg Hitt are suggesting that Eller & Co., a regional Florida port terminal operator, triggered the Doha Ports World controversy on behalf of one of its subsidiaries, which was embroiled in a legal controversy with P&O. ("Small Florida Firm Sowed Seed of Port Dispute," Wall Street Journal, Feb 28, page A3)
P&O operates terminals in Miami with its partner Continental Stevedoring & Terminals Inc. Continental is owned by Eller & Co.
In 2005, the partners were falling out over "allegations that P&O were trying to increase control over Continental's portion of the port operations." Eller and Continental thought that the Dubai Ports World takeover of P&O "endangered" their "operations in Miami." They also saw national security implications. Continental sued P&O to prevent the sale on February 17.
In addition to exploring legal options, Eller began to lobby in D.C.
...Washington lobbyist Joe Muldoon said he decided to lead the effort because one Eller executive "is an old friend of my family." Mr. Muldoon said he spent most of January researching the issue, and began making visits to Capitol Hill at the end of that month. "I just wanted to educate folks," he said, and to warn lawmakers that this was a deal that "might just slip through the cracks."
Eller representatives also tried, without success, to provide input to the CFIUS process:
Mr. Kreitzer, of the law firm of Bilzin Sumberg, said he attempted to express concerns about the deal in early February with the U.S. Treasury Department, which heads the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Because the agency operates secretly, he got nowhere there. Then he and other Eller representatives took their concerns to Congress.
Among other key Congressman and Senators, Eller lobbied NY Senators Schumer and Clinton and NJ Congressman Bob Menendez. "All three represent the Port of New York, which would be covered by the deal."
Eller "was really the canary in the mineshaft for many people on the Hill and in the media," said Schumer spokesman Israel Klein.
Noel Sheppard of the conservative NewsBusters blog posts on a report of a February 11 AP story on the P&O acquisition by Ted Bridis: Salon’s Walter Shapiro Attributes Port Media Frenzy to the Associated Press (Feb 26).
Senator Schumer had a press conference on the issue at least as early as February 13. Here's some coverage the next day by the blog California Conservative : U.S. Port Security: Should The Fox Guard The Hen House? . This was a nice early post. Conservative provided useful coverage of the P&O website and the range of its port management and stevedoring activities.
Jim VandeHei and Paul Blustein point to the roles of Schumer, and radio commentator Michael Savage, in getting the DPW controversy going ("Bush's Respone to the Ports Deal Faulted as Tardy", Washington Post, Feb 26)
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, an outspoken liberal Democrat from New York, two weeks ago began publicly denouncing a deal to let a Middle Eastern firm take over terminal operations at six U.S. seaports. From the other end of the political spectrum, even more outspoken conservative radio host Michael Savage was doing the same -- and recruiting Republican lawmakers to his cause...
It was on Feb. 13 that the Dubai Ports World deal -- after simmering unnoticed for months in the federal bureaucracy and the transportation trade press -- started to boil, as a result of Savage's blustery on-air alarms and an event by Schumer at the New York harbor with families who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001.
...the furor began to erupt over the weekend of Feb. 11-12...
Schumer said he sensed the public would be outraged if they knew about the deal and heard bipartisan objections. His Feb. 13 press event was sparsely attended because New York was consumed by a snowstorm and Washington by the Cheney accident. But two days later, after a flurry of private discussions between Schumer and key Republicans, Foley and Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) were pressing Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and Chertoff in public hearings for details on the deal.
I could tell you things about Eller & Co that would make your hair curl. Worked there for 12 years
Posted by: JKL | June 08, 2006 at 10:27 AM