Ski Moguls

While the old elephant's graveyard may be a myth made popular in the Tarzan movies, the elephant's ski junket is not. The big tuskers have long been known to congregate at a tony ski resort in Utah.

One documented sighting is of Jeb Hensarling, Republican chair of the powerful US House Financial Services Committee. Last year (according to ProPublica) Hensarling held a ...

fundraiser at the St. Regis Deer Valley, the "Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts" known for its "white-glove service" and for its restaurant by superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. There's no evidence the fundraiser broke any campaign finance rules. But a ski getaway with Hensarling, whose committee oversees both Wall Street and its regulators, is an invaluable opportunity for industry lobbyists.
House Finance Chair Hensarling Goes on Ski Vacation with Wall Street

If the Hotel St. Regis in Deer Valley sounds familiar, that's because it is an expenditure filed with the FEC by Peter Roskam's leadership PAC -- and this blog noticed that ...

Q the Eye/05.01.14

Lake County Congressman Peter Roskam's PAC paid for airfare, lodging, meals, and more at the five-star ski resort in early March of this year.

And not just this year. Roskam's PAC expensed trips to the Hotel St. Regis in 2011 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) July 31 2011 Mid-Year Report

And in 2012 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) Apr 20 2012 Monthly Report

As well as 2013 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) 2013 30-Day POST-Election Special Report

And the aforementioned 2014 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) 2014 30-Day POST-Election Special Report

What sort of powerful attraction does this little, remote resort hold over these Republican heavyweights? Someone once asked Willie Sutton why he liked to ski there in Utah. "Because that's where the money is", was his answer.

Nuff said!