Entangled Developer LuAnn Bennett Earned Millions from Government, Wal-Mart
In Northern Virginia, a high-profile, high-dollar Congressional race is being waged between Congresswoman Barbara Comstock and her challenger LuAnn Bennett. The Tenth District, which supported Mitt Romney by only 1.1% in 2012, has been widely billed as a “Top Ten” Congressional race among the nation’s 435 House contests.
In such a close race, the recruitment and nomination of a solid, clean, and well-vetted candidate is of paramount importance, as without a substantial partisan advantage, a low-quality or ethically-challenged candidate can easily lose a race by alienating independent, swing voters, and wasting millions of dollars of campaign funds in the process.
That nightmare could very well unfold for Tenth District Democrats, whose nomination of the deeply-flawed, politically-entangled real estate developer LuAnn Bennett – who moved to Virginia from Washington, D. C. to run for Congress – threatens to hobble their campaign to defeat Comstock from its outset.
As Bearing Drift has and will document in this and future articles, LuAnn Bennett’s extensive conflicts of interest – including financial entanglements with federal agencies – render her unable to honestly and impartially discharge the duties of a member of Congress, free of the special interest influences which voters have grown to hate.
LuAnn Bennett is the President of the Bennett Group, a Washington, D. C. real estate development firm she founded with her late husband. Like many influential D. C. developers, LuAnn’s business interests intersect with the federal government.
The Bennett Group even advertises more than two decades of entanglement with the federal government on their website, which states:
“Why choose Bennett Group?”
[…]
“Federal leasing experience. For more than 20 years, Bennett Group has been involved in federal leasing, property management and alterations for GSA [General Services Administration] tenants.”
The General Services Administration is a federal agency responsible for providing a variety of administrative services – including office space – to various federal entities.
Bennett’s two decades of leasing, property management, and alterations for federal agencies raises serious ethical concerns over her ability to serve impartially.
As a member of Congress, she would be in a position to directly influence the amounts federal agencies may spend, and how they may spend it – such as on appropriations governing their office space. Worse yet, outside special interests may attempt to curry favor with LuAnn by giving the Bennett Group favorable terms on real estate deals – much like how many political scandals have unfolded in years past, where lobbyists have bought property from a politician or family member for substantially more than it is worth.
Bennett owes the voters of the Tenth District a detailed explanation of how she plans to insulate herself as a member of Congress from various financial entanglements and conflicts of interest for the benefit of herself or other family members involved with the Bennett Group.
In an era of declining faith in government, Bennett must do better than a simple, “Trust Me!”
The number of entangled deals and conflicts of interest involving Bennett could fill a book.
For today, Bearing Drift will start by documenting one of LuAnn Bennett’s entangled real estate deals existing at the intersection of business and politics – a deal in which she raked in millions from taxpayers while at the same time hypocritically opposing the Democratic agenda which she claims to represent.
National Democrats remain busy working with labor unions and progressive organizations in pushing for a hike in the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, despite bipartisan caution from economists warning a rapid hike of such magnitude would price many entry-level positions out of the workforce as employers look towards increased automation in business operations.
LuAnn Bennett has endorsed the idea of a hike in the federal minimum wage, repeatedly espousing that position on the campaign trail, and even adding her name to a DCCC “Raise the Wage!” petition alongside far-left Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).
Yet, despite her lofty policy positions, Bennett’s record doesn’t match her rhetoric. When her own personal income was at stake, Bennett broke with Democrats and progressive organizations in bringing Wal-Mart to Washington, D. C., despite the retailer being the top target for progressives and Democrats seeking a hike in the minimum wage.
Bennett’s hypocrisy is off the charts. While she claims solidarity with those campaigning against Wal-Mart, she was perfectly content to build one in D. C. when she stood to rake in millions.
The Wal-Mart store, located at 99 H Street NW, was developed by the Bennett Group in conjunction with JBG Companies as part of their operations within the area.
Building a Wal-Mart in D. C. is no easy task, given longstanding opposition within the district against both big-box retailers as well as Wal-Mart’s employee compensation structure.
To grease this deal through, developers needed a politically-connected fixer, which they found in Washington lawyer and super-lobbyist David Wilmot, who not only represented Wal-Mart’s interests in the district, but also had a personal financial interest in the neighboring parcel at 801 New Jersey Avenue – alongside the Bennett Group, according to an investigative report by the Washington Times.
By cutting sweetheart deals, manipulating the bureaucratic system, and brokering political influence, LuAnn Bennett has enriched herself at the expense of taxpayers and other businesses who don’t maintain the same depth of political connections.
The Bennett Group originally received control of the site in 1990 as part of a deal cut with the city, which called for the construction of a “Minority Educational Foundation” – which was never built – as well as millions in lease payments which weren’t remitted to the city in the subsequent years.
Just three years later, the Bennett Group would begin sub-leasing the site to the Government Printing Office for use as a parking lot. According to government records, the GPO has paid the Bennett Group $5 million since 2001 alone. As of 2010, the Bennett Group was collecting $675,000 per year by leasing this district-owned property back to the federal Government Printing Office.
As reported by the Washington Times:
“According to the deputy mayor’s office, the District since 1990 has collected about $5.5 million in ground rent and a “possessory interest tax” enacted in 2000 as a means of raising revenue on otherwise tax-exempt commercial property.”
“But, according to the GPO, the Bennett Group has received more than $5 million in parking lot rent since 2001 — breaking even before factoring in eight years of tax-free rent from the 1990s. Land records also show that the Bennett Group borrowed $1.5 million against the property in 2007 and paid off a promissory note the next year.”
“In contrast, a review of the ground lease shows that had the Bennett Group performed under its agreement, it would have been required to pay the District more than $41 million by now.”
You read that right: by manipulating the system and partnering with well-connected influence brokers, Bennett was able to get away with paying the city just $5.5 million under an agreement which required paying the district a total of $41 million as of 2011.
The $35.5 million shortfall is a testament to the power of the political influence wielded by well-connected and politically-entangled special interests such as LuAnn Bennett’s development company. While hardworking entrepreneurs struggle to earn an honest buck, Bennett rakes in millions manipulating the system for personal gain, then turning right around and dispensing political favors in the form of campaign contributions.
Among the donors to her Congressional campaign is D. C. super-lobbyist David Wilmot – the Wal-Mart lobbyist, political dealmaker, and business partner of the Bennett Group whose influence was instrumental in helping Bennett secure this sweetheart real estate deal.
According to FEC records, Wilmot was a ground-floor donor to Bennett’s campaign, giving his business partner $1000 back on Dec. 29th, 2015, when the campaign was still in its infancy.
While political aficionados will be shocked, shocked to find influence peddling going on in here, Bearing Drift will continue shining light on the political web of entangled real estate developer LuAnn Bennett, whose massive financial conflicts of interest render her unfit to be elected to Congress as a representative given the power of the purse alongside the trust of the people to spend money in the public’s interest – not her own.
These deep flaws explain why LuAnn Bennett has been running a false and very negative campaign against Comstock from the outset. Most recently, Bennett attempted to attack Comstock with false and exaggerated statistics which had received a “mostly false” rating from Politifact Virginia and two Pinocchios from the Washington Post.
Before that, Bennett and her allies absurdly attempted to smear Comstock as “anti-woman.” Shortly thereafter, Bennett attempted to paint Comstock as an opponent of transportation funding, even though she bucked her party to oppose cuts to Metro while calling out the system’s “culture of incompetence” which she said was endangering riders and degrading the quality of service. When those false attacks failed to stick to the outspoken proponent of Metro funding, Bennett worked with a friendly reporter to falsely link Comstock to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump – even though Comstock led Virginia’s delegation in opposing Trump’s remarks, vocally supported and campaigned for Marco Rubio in Virginia’s presidential primary, gave back Trump’s money without being prompted, and denounced Trump in an interview with the Loudoun Times-Mirror.
Under no set of honest circumstances can voters elect to Congress a politically entangled real estate developer who rakes in millions from government contracts while making millions more gaming the system. The potential for personal enrichment, favor-trading, and corruption are simply too great.
Even if LuAnn Bennett were to isolate herself from the operations of the Bennett Group, could citizens trust that she would in no way financially benefit from development deals boosted by virtue of her potential election to the US House of Representatives?
Even if she turned over full control of her company to her children, how could citizens be sure government monies aren’t steered to a firm which advertises on its website, “For more than 20 years, Bennett Group has been involved in federal leasing, property management and alterations for GSA [General Services Administration] tenants.“
How can citizens be sure federal agencies, lobbyists, or other influence brokers wouldn’t offer sweetheart deals to the Bennett Group as a means of attempting to influence the hypothetical Congresswoman LuAnn Bennett, should she be elected?
As Virginians are well aware, former Governor Bob McDonnell was indicted for less.
