Riordan, R

Institutionalized access

Freeman's friends say personal loyalty drives his fundraising.

"What makes him a great friend of the president is he's never asked him for favors," said California Education Secretary Richard J. Riordan, Freeman's onetime business partner. Riordan hosted a $400,000 Bush fundraiser in 1999, and Freeman is credited with winning Bush's backing for Riordan's unsuccessful 2002 gubernatorial run.

After all, "he's got his job; he's got his mistress; he's got his airplane," Riordan said, adding: "Just kidding."

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<span style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; display: inline !important; float: none;"> Former Los Angeles Mayor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Riordan" title="Richard Riordan" class="mw-redirect" style=" font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Richard Riordan</a><span style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; display: inline !important; float: none;">, another moderate Republican, has said he would enter the race if Schwarzenegger did not, and polls have shown Riordan would be a stronger candidate than the actor.

<font color="#ff0000" style=" font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.190340042114258px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">On May 17, 2001, future Republican governor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger" title="Arnold Schwarzenegger" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> and former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Los Angeles</a> Mayor Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Riordan" title="Richard Riordan" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Richard Riordan</a> met with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron" title="Enron" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Enron</a> CEO<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay" title="Kenneth Lay" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Kenneth Lay</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peninsula_Hotels" title="The Peninsula Hotels" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills" title="Beverly Hills" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Beverly Hills</a>.<span style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.190340042114258px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none;"> The meeting was convened for Enron to present its "Comprehensive Solution for California," which called for an end to federal and state investigations into Enron's role in the California energy crisis.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#cite_note-30" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[30]</a><sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#cite_note-31" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[31]</a><sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#cite_note-32" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[32]</a><br style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" />

who had already spent some of his car-alarm fortune to warm up a

gubernatorial campaign.