This ex-Bush Administration Commerce Department assistant secretary suspended Bush Pioneer fundraising to comply with a federal probe into his ties to ex-Connecticut treasurer Paul Silvester. Silvester was convicted in ’99 of taking kickbacks from the private money managers to whom he awarded contracts to invest state pension funds. Four other Pioneers were large donors to Silvester’s campaign (Herbert Collins, Thomas Foley, Maurice Greenberg and Peter Terpeluk, Jr.). Berman snagged a $500,000 “finder’s fee” for helping Pioneer Greenberg’s AIG Capital Partners land a contract to invest $100 million of these pension funds. Berman hired Silvester to work with his lobby firm (which was then Park Strategies) after Silvester lost a ‘98 re-election bid (see also Pioneer Christopher Burnham, another ex-Connecticut Treasurer who left office under an ethical cloud). Berman has lobbied for two other firms that won major investment contracts from Silvester. These firms are PaineWebber and the Carlyle Group.  The Carlyle Group was started by top officials in the Bush seniors’ administration (who reportedly gifted the former president an equity stake in this firm). Another Berman lobby client is the plaintiff firm Scruggs Millette Lawson Bozeman & Dent, which made a fortune leading state lawsuits against the tobacco industry. Finally, Berman lobbies for Flo-Sun, the Everglades sugar company owned by the “First Family of Corporate Welfare.” The Fanjul family has such extraordinary political access that President Clinton took a call from Alfonso Fanjul while being serviced by Monica Lewinsky.