Banana Republican: Carl H. Lindner (#4)

Carl H. Lindner, 76, Cincinnati, Ohio. Donated $337,500 since 1993. Party: Mostly D. He gave one $250,000 soft-money gift to the Democrats, and $42,000 in party donations to the GOP. He also gave $31,000 to 31 candidates, nearly all of them Republican.

View Lindner's itemized contributions according to the MoJo 400 searchable database.

By L.J. Davis

Carl Lindner, the tan eminence of American finance (Lindner always wears tan), is chair and CEO of Chiquita Brands International Inc. This may help explain why Sen. Bob Dole, a major recipient of Lindner contributions (and frequent flier on Lindner company jets), has been a vocal critic of trade agreements that cut Chiquita out of the foreign banana market.

Dole's friendship may also give Lindner political cover. Chiquita Brands, among others, faces a lawsuit alleging that its use of the pesticide DBCP caused sterility in 16,000 foreign farmworkers.

More well-known than Lindner himself are two of his proteges, Charles Keating, of S&L fame, and Michael Milken, the former junk bond king. Keating, whose law firm did work for Lindner's conglomerate, American Financial Corp., became vice president of AFC in 1972. A few years later, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Keating and Lindner with defrauding stockholders. (Other Keating associates on the list include #270 Ben Barnes and #344 Don Crocker.)

Lindner, described in James B. Stewart's Den of Thieves as a "father figure" to Michael Milken, was also the single largest purchaser of Milken's junk bonds. (Others on the list with Milken ties include #21 Peter May, #237 Nicholas Forstmann, #305 Leon Black, #353 Henry Kravis, and #373 Steve Wynn.)

Lindner, thought a conservative by temperament (he was a member of the anti-porn group largely responsible for Cincinnati's Mapplethorpe dustup), give money to whoever in in power. Despite his relationship with Dole, he was President Clinton's largest single contributor as of July 1994. But shortly after Republicans took the House in November 1994, Lindner sent a check for $55,000 to Speaker Newt Gingrich's GOPAC.

What would Lindner ultimately like in return for his generosity? For the SEC and Congress to stop looking into his sleazy deals and leave him alone.

Who is donor #5?