Wealthy Detroit bridge-owning family throws $25,000-plate dinner for Boehner

Luke Skywalker · Sep 13, 2015

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The Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest crossings in North America, is owned by Manuel (Matty) Moroun, who has spent millions trying to stop construction of a new, publicly owned bridge.(Photo: Jessica J. Trevino, Detroit Free Press)

WASHINGTON —*With Canada moving ever closer to*building a new publicly owned international crossing in Detroit, the Moroun family, which owns the rival Ambassador Bridge, continues to be politically active, throwing what was billed as a $25,000-a-plate dinner for U.S. House Speaker John Boehner.
The Detroit Free Press recently obtained a copy of a “fact sheet” put out by Boehner’s political team prior to the Aug. 10 event, which listed a $2,500-per-couple reception at the Country Club of Detroit to be followed by a $25,000-per-person dinner at the family residence in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.
The overall target for both events —*as well as a $10,000 gift from the host committee —*was $250,000 for the Boehner for Speaker Committee, a fundraising arm of the speaker’s political apparatus used to fund his leadership PAC, the Ohio GOP and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
But while the Moroun family —*Manuel (Matty) Moroun, his son Matthew and their wives — continue to support federal officeholders, political leaders and presidential aspirants, it’s unclear what effect, if any, it is having on the rival bridge or the family’s attempts to build their own second span.
Because Canada is picking up the entire tab for what will be known as the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and permits from the U.S. Secretary of State and the Coast Guard are already in hand, Congress is expected to have little if anything to do with its progress.
And while Congress still has appropriations authority over the Department of Homeland Security, which says it will pay to equip and staff a customs plaza at the new bridge, the U.S. House and Senate would have to take extreme measures —*over the objections of Michigan’s Republican governor —*to block that.
But if nothing else, the Morouns, who have made their wealth through a network of trucking and logistics companies*and risk losing significant toll*revenue*to the rival public bridge— have shown themselves more than willing to fight to try to protect the 85-year-old Ambassador Bridge. The icon span connects*Detroit and Windsor, Ontario,**one of the busiest crossings in North America, and one of the few that remains under private ownership.
“They’re constantly trying to increase their political influence, which they believe will help them win when issues regarding the bridge come up,” said Tom Shields, a political consultant in Lansing who has represented the coalition of businesses and government agencies in support of the rival, publicly owned bridge.

Manuel (Matty) Moroun*(Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press)

As for the Boehner fund-raiser last month, a spokesman for the Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Co., Mickey Blashfield, did not respond to*a call or*e-mail asking for confirmation and specifics about the event. He also did not clear up which Moroun family member hosted*the speaker —*a detail left off the fact sheet, which also misspelled the family name as "Maroun."
A Republican political aide in Washington confirmed that Boehner was in southeast*Michigan that day to raise funds for congressional Republicans but declined any further comment, saying they do not disclose such specifics.
POLITICAL SPENDERS
Over the years, the Morouns have tried to protect their interests in the courts and at the polls, filing multiple lawsuits —*including a 5-year-old effort still percolating in U.S. District Court in Washington —*and spending millions on contributions to politicians of both party stripes at the state and federal levels.
It’s an effort that seems unlikely to end anytime soon. Already this year, the Morouns and their companies have spent more than $370,000 in political contributions —*including a $300,000 gift to Unintimidated PAC, a Super PAC supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential bid.
The rest went to the National Republican Congressional Committee and to four Michigan Republicans: U.S. Reps. Mike Bishop, of Rochester;*Dave Trott, of Birmingham;*Tim Walberg, of Tipton; and Fred Upton, of St. Joseph. Bishop is seen as an ally of the Morouns going back to his days in the state House.
That overall contribution figure doesn’t include*the Boehner fund-raiser. Figures from that*fund-raiser won’t be known at least until the committee reports to the Federal Election Commission next month.
But even more could be on the way, considering the Morouns have shown themselves to be willing contributors:*They spent upward of $545,000 on federal races in 2011-12 and nearly $300,000 in 2013-14,*much of which went to Republicans*but with some going to Democratic committees as well.
That, too, continues a trend.
In September 2009, for instance, it was former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi coming to Grosse Pointe at the behest of former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick for an event that saw the Morouns and their business colleagues give some $80,000 to congressional Democrats.
The Morouns’ largest political spending, however, likely came in 2012, when their company poured at least $33 million into a state referendum to stop the new publicly owned bridge —*an effort that failed when voters rejected it, 59%-41%.
DELAYING TACTICS
The Morouns’ political spending —*and the politicians who avail themselves of those contributions —*haven’t gone unnoticed.
In 2012, a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), issued a report saying the Morouns’ political efforts —*specifically those of Matty Moroun —*to delay the new bridge had shown “how a single determined billionaire can wield disproportionate influence over the public agenda.”
“It does look like a tactic from the same playbook,” CREW’s executive director, Noah Bookbinder, said last week of the Boehner fund-raiser, adding that it’s a “concern when(ever) you have a powerful interest using money … to influence policy.”
But even Bookbinder acknowledged it’s difficult to know precisely what the Morouns are playing at, if anything, since “it’s not clear there’s an opportunity for Congress to take a significant effort to block” the new bridge from moving forward.
The bridge company’s lobbying reports indicate, however, it is still trying to get a measure written into law precluding any funding for a rival span. It is also still working on efforts to force Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation to sign off on permits for its own second span.
The company’s lobbyists —*who were paid $270,000 total in the first six months of this year — also say in their reports that the bridge company is “pursing transportation management projects at border crossings on U.S.-Mexico Border,” a detail Blashfield didn’t get back to the Free Press to explain.
Contacted about the Morouns’ event, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, Sara Wurfel, declined to take any shots at Boehner, even though Snyder has done perhaps more to advance the new bridge project than anyone in the U.S.
“(T)he Gordie Howe International Bridge is moving forward and we are confident that those at all levels of government value and recognize the countless merits of this critical infrastructure project,” she said.
Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.

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Wealthy Detroit bridge-owning family throws $25,000-plate dinner for Boehner

Luke Skywalker

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