Fred Zeidman and the Republican Jewish Coalition
Posted by Muriel Kane
There's been a fair amount of attention paid to the Republican Jewish Coalition lately as a result of their sponsorship of an ad swiftboating Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria. Most of the analysis I've seen has focused on links between the RJC and the Bush administration -- most notably Sam Fox, recently recess-appointed by Bush as ambassador to Belgium, who headed the RJC until just a few months ago. The current RJC leadership also includes such GOP stalwarts as Ari Fleisher, Ken Mehlman, and the ever-slimy Mel Sembler.
However, when I checked through my notes and files, I found that the largest number of mentions of the RJC involved a less well-known member of the board of directors named Fred Zeidman.
I first became aware of Zeidman as Jack Abramoff's immediate successor at the lobbying firm of Greenberg, Traurig, in large part because there seemed to be something odd about his position there. He was just too high-profile a figure for the job.
For example, here's Greenberg, Traurig's official press release when Zeidman joined the firm in 2004:
Greenberg Traurig LLP announced today that Fred Zeidman has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a Senior Director of Governmental Affairs, where he will become a lobbyist on behalf of firm clients. Mr. Zeidman is active in many state and national Republican and Jewish organizations, was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council which oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the nation’s institution dedicated to Holocaust remembrance and education, is Chairman of the Board of Directors and former CEO of Seitel Inc. and former CEO and President of InterSystems, Inc., and was the founder of the Houston Venture Capital Association. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Mr. Zeidman served as a Managing Partner of WoodRock & Company. . . .
Mr. Zeidman is very active in community and political affairs in Texas and nationwide. He holds leadership positions in the Anti-Defamation League (Southwest Region), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), the Republican Jewish Coalition, the Texas Inter-Faith Housing Corp., and the Houston Jewish Community Foundation. He is also Texas Chairman of the State of Israel Bonds and a member of the Board of Development Corporation of Israel. He formerly served as co-chairman of the finance committee of the Republican Party of Harris County, Texas, and formerly served on the finance committee of the Republican Party of Texas, and is a Ranger for the Bush Campaign. Mr. Zeidman previously served as Vice Chairman, Board of Regents at Texas Southern University. In addition, Mr. Zeidman was vice-chairman of the Dole/Kemp presidential campaign in Harris County and has been a key Jewish advisor to Republican congressional and senatorial delegations nationwide.
I never did find out just why Zeidman had stepped into Abramoff's shoes at Greenberg, Traurig -- but my best guess was that it was because George W. Bush found it useful to have him there.
Zeidman is referred to over and over in online articles as someone extremely close to Bush. For example, there's this from February 2002:
He may not be an expert on the Holocaust, but friends and associates say Fred Zeidman — a Houston businessman and, more importantly, a longtime friend of President George W. Bush — is a bridge builder. . . .
Zeidman, 55, refused to discuss the appointment before the White House makes it official. Friends and associates say he has known Bush for 14 years, and that he has served on various state panels at the ex-governor’s request — including the board of a troubled traditionally African-American college in the state.
He also served as an intermediary between then-Gov. Bush and angry Jewish leaders in 2000 when Bush, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, reportedly implied that only Christians can go to heaven.
Or this from January 2004:
Every couple of weeks since last fall, three elite fundraisers for President Bush have been making a pilgrimage from their homes across the country to the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va. Sheldon Kamins of Maryland, Michael Lebovitz of Tennessee, and Fred Zeidman of Texas have been meeting at the headquarters to plot strategy, talk fundraising tactics, and check in with Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman. Like some 150 other "Rangers," the three men have each raised more than $200,000 for the president's re-election campaign. But the three are also on a mission that sets them apart from many other Rangers.
A similar approach seems to have paid off with the Republican Jewish Coalition's board, of which Zeidman is a member. The coalition boasts 5,000 members nationwide, and its 40-member board is packed with wealthy business executives and politicos who have chaired several major fundraisers for the Bush campaign. The coalition's board includes at least six Bush Rangers. According to fundraising sources, Sam Fox, the chairman of the RJC, and coalition board members Ned Siegel of Florida and Elliott Broidy of Los Angeles have each raised close to $500,000 for Bush-Cheney '04.
Or this from November 2004:
A close, old friend of President Bush, Houston venture capitalist Fred Zeidman worked his heart out to re-elect his fellow Texan. After raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the campaign, Zeidman, 57, virtually took up residence in Florida at the end in an effort to help turn out the Jewish vote. Zeidman, who recently started a new gig at Greenberg Traurig, Washington's foremost lobbying shop, serves as chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
But there's more to Zeidman than just his Bush connections. For example, there's a Texas Observer article from 2005 where he's mentioned as one of a group of Texas powerbrokers with close ties to Tom DeLay. (Bob Perry, who bankrolled the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, is also mentioned.) And a Texans for Public Justice writeup notes that Zeidman "and fellow Republican Jewish Coalition Pioneers Sam Fox and Ned Siegel accompanied House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on his 2003 trip to Israel."
That would have been the trip on which DeLay presented himself to the Israelis as having opinions well to the right of Likud when it came to the Palestinians and the West Bank. I find it interesting that Zeidman and Fox were both along for the journey.
So I still can't put my finger on just what Fred Zeidman is all about, but there is clearly something going on in this sliming of Pelosi that is not simply about the goals and policies of the Republican Party -- and which seemingly involves a faction that is more extreme, more hellbent on further war in the Middle East, than even the great majority of Israelis themselves.
Clifford May, who has been so central to the push for war with Iran, was formerly a vice chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition as well. The question of who would want a war that by any objective terms is totally insane may come down to this one particular small group of people. |
