The Tea Party's favorite professional athlete, golfer Phil Mickelson, a five-time champion of golf's major tournaments, is reportedly under federal criminal investigation for allegedly trading shares of Clorox stock on inside information. Two other people, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and gambler William Walters, are also reportedly under investigation as part of the same probe.
Here's the details:
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating possible insider trading involving billionaire investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas gambler William Walters, a source familiar with the matter said.
Federal investigators are looking into whether Mickelson and Walters may have traded illegally on private information provided by Icahn about his investments in public corporations, the source told Reuters, confirming a report by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Walters, who plays golf with Mickelson, is a well-known sports bettor who met Icahn through a mutual acquaintance and struck up a friendship, according to the Journal.
The investigation into the trio centers on suspicious trades in Clorox Co options days before Icahn announced a bid to acquire the company in 2011, according to the Journal, citing people briefed on the probe.
Icahn had accumulated a 9.1 percent stake in Clorox in February 2011. In July, the activist investor made an offer for the company that valued it at above $10 billion and sent its stock soaring.
If the name Phil Mickelson rings a bell to people who, like me, are more interested in politics than golf, that's because Mickelson, who has earned tens of millions of dollars in prize money since turning professional in the early 1990's,
publicly complained about having to pay taxes on his income from golf tournament prize money and endorsement deals. Mickelson quickly became a hero to Tea Party websites like Brietbart and The Blaze.
Looks like yet another far-right hero is in legal trouble.