"One of Wall Street’s most controversial traders — a hedge fund kingpin whose firm paid a $1.8
billion fine three years ago after pleading guilty to violating insider-trading laws — is the main financier behind a pro-Chris Christie super-PAC attack ad deriding a GOP rival for his ties to Wall Street.
The attack ad on Christie rival John Kasich, skewering the Ohio governor for once being a “Wall Street banker,” blanketed the airwaves in New Hampshire this morning. It’s part of a $6.9 million ad buy by America Leads, the main super-PAC backing Christie’s candidacy.
“As a banker at Lehman Brothers — a Wall Street bank that failed — Kasich made millions while taxpayers were forced to bail out Wall Street,” the ad proclaims. “John Kasich. Washington insider. Wall Street banker.”
But while the super-PAC ad seeks to capitalize on voter resentment over Wall Street, it may strike some voters as super-rich with irony. The principal bankroller of America Leads is Steven A. Cohen, the Greenwich, Conn., billionaire trader who, together with his wife, has given $4 million to the super-PAC, accounting for nearly one fourth of its $16.1 million haul to date, according to campaign finance reports filed just last week.
John Weaver, Kasich’s chief campaign strategist, said he was unaware of Cohen’s role in backing America Leads until it was pointed out to him Tuesday morning by a Yahoo News reporter seeking comment from the Kasich camp.
Weaver didn’t hesitate to respond. “This is the kind of hypocrisy that has caught up with Chris Christie here in New Hampshire,” he said." yahoo
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