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On the Prowl

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Americans for Limited Government filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all documents, including the flight manifest, related to the Air Force One New York flyover in late April.

At least one other entity, believed to be a news outlet, filed a FOIA request for information related to the incident. The requests were made to determine if any Obama donors or other interested parties were on board the flight, which caused a panic in the area around Ground Zero and Wall Street. The suspicion that civilians— or high-ranking White House officials— may have been on the flight is the result, in part, of the involvement of Louis Caldera, the Obama administration’s director of the White House Military Office.

Caldera authorized the New York City flyover, and was brought into the administration, say Obama donors and transition team members, for his understanding of the Pentagon’s inner workings, his relationship with high-powered donors with backgrounds in the defense industry, and his ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Caldera served two years as Bill Clinton’s secretary of the Army. During Caldera’s tenure at the Pentagon, his choice for deputy inspector general, Maj. Gen. Larry G. Smith, was scuttled after it was revealed that an alleged sexual harassment complaint against him had been removed from his personnel record.

Caldera, who served in the California state assembly, also served as a vice chancellor of the California state university system. It was this background that allowed Gov. Richardson to press for Caldera to be brought on as president of the University of New Mexico. Caldera was not considered a top-tier candidate for that post until Richardson’s staff inserted a requirement that the president must have a top security clearance. According to former Clinton administration sources, that requirement almost ensured the only qualified candidate would be Richardson’s friend Caldera. In the end, he stayed in the post for only about two years.

Caldera’s controversial background doesn’t end there. In 2002, Caldera was placed on the board of IndyMac, before its failure and placement in receivership due to its poor capitalization as a result of poor mortgage investments. IndyMac Bank was the largest savings and loan in Southern California and the seventh- largest mortgage originator in the United States.

“This was a Rahm Emanuel hire,” says a former Obama transition team member. “And the thing about Rahm is that he’s not afraid to push a guy like this out the door. I’d be surprised if Caldera is there to remind anyone of this boneheaded decision six months from now.”