Who Loves Ya, Nate?
REES, MATTHEW
Who Loves Ya, Nate? by Matthew Rees March 21,1997 Dear Gail and Peter, I am sure you know how I must feel about the recent press that we have received. Although there were no implied suggestions...
...He's the Maryland real-estate mogul and Democratic party fund-raiser who stands accused of trying to muzzle Kathleen Willey after Newsweek reported her claim of having been groped by Bill Clinton...
...In a deposition given to Senate investigators, Landow acknowledged having "suggested" the terms of a contract, but denied making any threats...
...In 1996, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes of Oklahoma had contributed $107,000 to the Democratic National Committee in hopes of winning back 7,500 acres of federally owned land...
...Landow also called Copperthite, telling him, according to Cop-perthite, "You know nothing about my contract with the tribes and nothing about Peter Knight's contract...
...And they've done their best to make clear that he's no insider...
...When Landow was told of this, he began yelling profanities at the Indians, insisting that if they did not agree to his terms then and there, he would make sure they never got the land...
...Landow denies any wrongdoing with regard to the Indians, just as he does the allegations that he tried to silence Willey...
...You all are the greatest...
...When reporters have questioned him, he has shouted obscenities at them...
...Landow is also routinely identified as a major financial backer of Gore's presidential run in 1988, but a Gore associate recalls that "Nate had a reputation as a big promiser, a big talker, but as someone who couldn't deliver...
...Landow was so concerned he went to the Post's printing plant the night before he thought the article was coming out, to pick up an early copy...
...The front-page Post article that spelled out the shakedown in great detail killed any work between Landow and the tribe...
...According to press reports, Landow lent Mon-dale his private jet and raised over $2 million for the former vice president...
...During the last ten years," Landow wrote, I have made every effort to be supportive without causing any heartache...
...His adversaries included the Democratic governor, William Donald schaefer, as well as national chairman Ron Brown...
...Landow's involvement with Willey includes his chartering a plane last November to fly her to his estate on Maryland's Eastern shore...
...Later, he said Landow "is one of many Democratic-party financial contributors...
...Fred Thompson's committee report on fund-raising abuses, tribe members had not yet passed a resolution approving the Landow/Knight arrangement, and the tribal chairman couldn't attend the meeting...
...He's well known to many in the party...
...The tribal representatives found these figures excessive—the average annual income among Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians is about $6,000, and the DNC contribution had depleted their welfare fund—but they figured it was a worthwhile investment if it meant that their quest for the land would succeed (the land includes an estimated $500 million in oil and gas reserves...
...The "Gail and Peter" are Peter Knight, the Clinton/Gore '96 campaign manager, and his wife...
...In July 1992, Landow abruptly resigned as party chairman and devoted himself to fund-raising for the Clinton/Gore ticket...
...Nor have I ever worked with anyone of your level of integrity and intelligence...
...Tvo years later, with his friends in high places and his prodigious fund-raising for the Democrats, he had all but secured himself an ambassadorial appointment to the Netherlands...
...He's a former state-party chairman...
...According to Sen...
...Landow's goal in undertaking such a mission would have been less to help Clinton—Landow and the president are said to care little for each other—than to ingratiate himself with Gore and Knight...
...In a thank-you note, Gore wrote, "Thanks...
...So, the Willey controversy has turned Nathan Landow—who desperately wants to be an insider— into an outcast...
...The letter closed with, "I will do everything I can to help you and your Tribes successfully conclude your goals...
...I have never believed in or admired and respected any political leader as I do Al...
...Willey says that, during her two-day stay there, Landow urged her not to say anything about her encounter with Clinton...
...It looks like I didn't quite make it through the eleventh...
...One document in Gore's handwriting showed that, when he called Landow in late 1995 to ask for a $25,000 donation, Landow replied, "You'll have it in hand in one hour...
...Landow is thus the type every presidential aspirant wants to have on his side...
...When Carter lost in 1980, Landow immediately contacted Walter Mondale, to offer his services for 1984...
...Love ya, Nate The "Nate" in this letter is Nathan Landow...
...Landow sent the letter shortly after the press reported his efforts to shake down an Indian tribe looking for help in Washington, and to arrange a cozy real-estate deal for one-time Clinton crony Webster Hubbell...
...A Washington investor who knows Landow believes Landow is capable of this: "It would not be atypical for Nate to insert himself into [the Willey affair] or for him to tell Willey things as if he were acting at the behest of the White House, when in fact he had no such authority...
...Matthew Rees is a staff writer for THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...Again, my deepest and most sincere apologies...
...Instead of tearing up the contracts, they made them available to the FBI and the Justice Department...
...Landow then phoned the tribal chairman, who says that Landow instructed him to tear up the proposed contracts...
...But when they met with Landow in February 1997, the deal turned sour...
...When no action ensued, the Indians turned to a Washington-based Democratic operative, Mike Copperthite, who in turn took them to Landow...
...And with Landow repeatedly touting Knight's and his own close connections to the Clinton administration—he boasted of smoking Cuban cigars at the White House on inauguration night and being shooed outside by Hillary—the tribes assumed they'd have little trouble prevailing...
...Landow claimed not to have known of Nesline's reputation and even traveled to the Post's editorial headquarters to plead with the paper not to publish the story...
...I hope I will get the opportunity to make it up to you both...
...Similarly, Gore's office is distributing a terse one-sentence statement: "Mr...
...If you don't do this deal," he said, "I will f— you...
...In 1989, Landow became chairman of Maryland's Democratic party...
...Landow, 65, had made millions in real estate by the time he popped onto the political scene in 1976 to aid Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign...
...He told Copperthite he wanted the two of them to get their stories straight, and that once they'd weathered this storm, they would become "part of the happy Gore family...
...Although there were no implied suggestions of legal wrong-doing, the perception was pretty bad...
...Copperthite and the Indians had, by this time, soured on Landow...
...The letter is relevant to the Willey case in that it illustrates the lengths to which Landow will go to impress his favorite politicians...
...But shortly thereafter, Landow got a call from Susan Schmidt of the Washington Post asking about his work with the Indians...
...These noncommittal words send an unmistakable signal: Landow has worn out his welcome at the White House...
...The donation got them a meeting with President Clinton in June 1996, and they emerged believing that he would support their efforts...
...But then a Washington Post expose linked him to a well-known underworld figure, Joe Nesline, with whom he was cooking up a real-estate deal...
...Will Knight and Gore indeed "find a way" for Landow...
...Landow's cut in the deal was to be 10 percent of any settlement price for development of the land and 10 percent of any revenues earned from the land's oil and gas...
...Intimidated, the tribe drafted a contract, and Lan-dow later sent them a letter accompanied by a revised contract...
...Landow's reputation as a Gore loyalist is well established, and it was underscored by materials turned over by Gore in connection with the White House fund-raising controversy...
...He shouldn't wait up nights...
...The purpose of the letter was to make amends with Knight, one of the most powerful people in the Clinton/Gore orbit...
...Copperthite also says Landow told him to tell Schmidt that, while DNC officials may have suggested that contributions could help the tribe get its land back, Landow himself had done no such thing...
...After twice meeting in Washington with tribal representatives, Landow began talking to the tribes' attorney about fees...
...The day the article appeared, Landow called Copperthite and tried to set up a meeting the next morning...
...Copperthite says he understood this to mean that, if he played ball with Landow, he'd have a job in the Gore administration...
...But the Indian episode stands as a reminder of Landow's liabilities...
...But by virtue of his ties to Gore and the fact that his daughter was a White House colleague of Willey's and is married to Michael Cardozo, the one-time head of Clinton's legal-defense fund, administration officials have had to answer questions about Landow...
...But, I hope that during the next four, you and Al will find a way for me to continue on the path of my obvious goals for you both...
...One hour is a record...
...But according to the Washington Post, his "domineering style alienated large sectors of the state party...
...My deep concern lies with any embarrassment or difficulties these two issues might have caused you and the Vice President, and that bothers me more than anything else about it...
...When Mike McCurry, Clinton's spokesman, was asked on March 17 about the president's relationship with Landow, his initial reply was, "I can't answer that...
...Landow is a longtime supporter and friend of the Vice President, as well as other Democrats...
...But the evidence contained in the article was damning, and Landow never got his nomination...
...Landow had brought Knight into the negotiations and told the tribe that Knight could represent them for a $100,000 payment up front, followed by a $10,000-a-month retainer...
...But if last year's letter to Peter Knight is any guide, don't expect Landow to go gentle into his White House exile...
Vol. 3 • March 1998 • No. 28
