Santa Monica, CA — The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights today called upon Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to convene a special committee possessing subpoena power to examine Governor Schwarzenegger’s personal business contracts given Schwarzenegger’s failure to fully disclose his significant financial interests and economic conflicts.
The call follows revelations of the governor’s $8 million secret contract with bodybuilding and fitness magazines based on advertising revenue while vetoing a law regulating nutritional supplement companies that advertise in the magazines.
In his economic disclosure statements, Schwarzenegger failed to separately list each revenue source of more than $100,000, as required by law. Instead, Schwarzenegger masked his multimillion dollar contract by lumping it with 20 other contracts he has through his company, Oak Productions, and only acknowledging “more than $100,000” in income from Oak. (Click here to read the key pages of Arnold’s Economic Interest filing.) Each of the 20 other companies could potentially be paying Schwarzenegger similar sums through Oak Productions and have comparable arrangements.
“The details of the governor’s magazine contract should not have been hidden from public view; only a legislative investigation can ensure other contracts and possible conflicts of interest are revealed,” said FTCR’s executive director Douglas Heller.
This month’s issue of Flex, published by AMI, is dominated by ads for the muscle enhancement products that the bill Schwarzenegger vetoed would have regulated, including: Vitrix (Natural Testosterone Stimulator) and Methyl-Dianadrone (“So androgenic, so anabolic”). Under the terms of the secret contract, Schwarzenegger receives a percentage of the revenue received from these advertisements.
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