Reply #15: I've been trying to trace Bath's path in the early 1970's

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One big question is where he came from and how he got into the TANG, since he wasn't one of the rich kids. An interview with his former partner, Bill White, quotes Bath as saying, "I come from a poor background, I have no money of my own and this relationship with the Bushes and the Saudis is of paramount importance to me because I derive all of my capital and all of my business capabilities from that relationship."

Somehow, after his TANG days, Bath started moving in prominent Houston business circles, apparently thanks to a man named Jack Trotter. Bath went into partnership with Lan Bentsen, son of Senator Lloyd Bentsen (another of whose sons had been in the same TANG unit as Bush and Bath), and together they sold several large tracts of land to Trotter, who was the trustee for Senator Bentsen's blind trust.

Bath also formed a connection with Sidney Adger, the Houston businessman who had gotten Bush into the TANG by appealing to the speaker of the Texas Legislature. Both Adger and Trotter's names appear as references on a resume of Bath's dating to this period. I haven't been any clear dates for when these things happened, but it has to have been before 1976, when Bath started representing the Saudis.

Another name more loosely associated with Bath at this time is that of Houston real estate developer Walter Mischer -- a "Bush crony," business partner of Jack Trotter, and good friend of Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Mischer has said that he only knew Bath "just to shake hands with him," but there seems to be some question about that.

Several of the members of this circle were involved in the savings and loan scandals of the 80's, including Lan Bentsen. One particularly curious figure is a man named Robert Corson, who was Mischer's son-in-law and also a partner of Sidney Adger's son John (another TANG veteran.) Corson was involved (like many of the others) in land development, S&L fraud, and CIA money-laundering. He was found mysteriously dead in a motel room in 1992 while on his way to testify about the fraud and money-laundering.


I'm still trying to sort all this out -- in particular, I'd like to know more about Jack Trotter and his relationship with Bath. For those who want to pursue it, here are some of the links I've found:

http://www.webcom.com/~pinknoiz/covert/brewton.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/barnes092199.htm
http://www.krigskronikan.com/arkiv/bcci/Time%20Magazine%20-%20b28%20-%20A%20Mysterious%20Mover%20of%20Money%20and%20Planes--Bath%20-%20October%2028,%201991.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a389b6cef4189.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a389b6a173e33.htm
(Yes, it's the Freepers, but it's only a reposting of material from elsewhere, so I think it's legit.)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0208/S00148.htm
http://sanderhicks.com/billwhite.html