The topic of this diary: Marco Rubio's Sugar Daddy deserves attention. The NY Times has an article about the close financial relationship between Marco Rubio and billionaire auto dealer Norman Braman.
Braman has contributed to Rubio's campaigns, given his wife a job with his foundation, and provided personal financial assistance to the Rubios. Rubio, on his part, "has steered taxpayer funds to Mr. Braman’s favored causes, successfully pushing for an $80 million state grant to finance a genomics center at a private university and securing $5 million for cancer research at a Miami institute for which Mr. Braman is a major donor."
No quid pro quo, of course.
This is a real test of media coverage, which I'm sure it will fail. Will Rubio's peronsal billionaire receive even 5% of the hours of coverage given to non-existent evidence of Clinton Foundation?
For a sense of Rubio's reliance on Braman:
The reliance on Mr. Braman is likely to put a spotlight on the finances of Mr. Rubio, who ranks among the least-wealthy candidates in the emerging Republican field. Mr. Rubio left the Florida House of Representatives in 2008 with a net worth of $8,351, multiple mortgages and $115,000 in student debt. In his latest financial disclosure form, for 2013, he reported at least $450,000 in liabilities, including two mortgages and a line of credit.
Mr. Braman and aides to Mr. Rubio have declined to say how much personal financial assistance he has provided to Mr. Rubio and his wife, directly or indirectly, but it appears to total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Morning Joe to weigh in at length.