Walker Connection to Koch Industries
Walker devoted 20 minutes to Koch call. Why?
Billionaires back conservative causes, issues
By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 23, 2011 |
When a prankster called pretending to be billionaire David Koch, Gov. Scott Walker took 20 minutes out of his packed schedule to provide an unguarded briefing on the political stand-off in Madison.
No wonder: Koch is one of the biggest financial backers of conservative causes in the country, including Walker’s campaign for governor.
David Koch (pronounced “coke”), the man impersonated in the phone call to Walker, and his brother Charles control Koch Industries Inc., a privately held company with estimated revenue of $100 billion a year.
Last year, Koch Industries’ political action committee contributed $43,000 to Walker, the largest donation the Republican candidate received from a corporate committee, and the group’s largest gift in Wisconsin.
In addition, David Koch, executive vice president of the company, wrote a check for $1 million to the Republican