Charles Wyly and Sam Wyly

Charles J. Wyly Jr. and Sam Wyly, often referred to as the Wyly Brothers and the "Wyly coyotes", are two prominent Dallas, Texas, billionaire businessmen brothers well-known for bankrolling Republican candidates, as well as for funding the smear group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.


 * Charles is a Trustee of the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity

John McCain
In May 2006, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) returned donations totalling $20,000 made by Charles and Sam Wyly, and other members of their family, to his political action committee Straight Talk America, Chris Cillizza reported in the Washington Post, May 25, 2006.

"The contributions drew notice because the two brothers bankrolled Republicans for Clean Air, a soft-money 527 group that attacked McCain for his environmental record during his 2000 presidential campaign&mdash;an attack that was widely interpreted as being motivated less by concern about pollution than an eagerness to help then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, for whom the Wylys have been key backers. McCain is planning another presidential run in 2008."

Profiles
"Charles Wyly is co-founder and chairman of Michaels Stores, Inc., a publicly held company and the nation's foremost arts and crafts retailer operating over 1000 stores in 48 states and Canada.

"Upon receiving his business degree from Louisiana Tech University - where he was recently inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame - Charles embarked on a lengthy and distinguished career that took him to IBM, where he worked eight years, before joining his brother, Sam, at University Computing Company. He is co-founder of Sterling Software, Sterling Commerce, Earth Resources Company (an oil refining and mining company), and the BBonanza Steakhouse chain. More recently, he was a co-founder of Maverick Capital, which became a multibillion dollar hedge fund.

"His civic interests mirror his diversity as an entrepreneur. Mr. Wyly currently serves as chairman of the Communities Foundation of Texas. He is a member of The Salvation Army National Advisory Board, the past chairman and current member of the Dallas Salvation Army, and a member of the board of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas Theater Center, the Cox School of Business, and the John Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University. Through his leadership, two private Dallas schools built their permanent campuses.

"In addition to being a patron of the arts and an advocate of charity and education, he champions public policy that promotes strong economic growth while providing opportunities to achieve individual success. A dedicated public servant, he was appointed to the President's Advisory Council for Management Improvement and served the state of Texas as its founding chairman of the Texas High Speed Rail Authority." 

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Merrie Spaeth
 * Republican 'culture of corruption'
 * Swift Boat Veterans for Truth/Funding
 * swiftboating

2000

 * Joe Conason, "Tit for tat? How the Texas brothers who secretly funded attack ads against McCain have made millions managing state money under the Bush administration in Austin," Salon, March 6, 2000.
 * Jake Tapper, "Boy on the bus. John McCain's impulsive, inspired and angry ride misses a few turns before getting back on the road. But can he catch up?" Salon, March 6, 2000. See page 4.

2004

 * "Swift Boat Follies," WhiteHouseforSale Blog, August 20, 2004.
 * "The Press Corps Still Loves Those Accusers (Part 3)! John O’Neill’s gang can’t seem to shoot straight. Why won’t the press corps confront them?" Daily Howler, August 25, 2004.
 * Joe Conason, "Sailing buddies. A flotilla of new reports shows that the Swift Boat Veterans group is helmed by longtime cronies of the Bush family," Salon, August 28, 2004.
 * Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, "Sinking the Swift Boats," Common Dreams, August 31, 2004.
 * Thomas B. Edsall, "Swift Boat Group's Tally: $6.7 Million," Washington Post, September 11, 2004.

2005

 * "George Bush's Wise Guys: Noe, Abramoff, Reed, and the Wyly Brothers," BuzzFlash Alert, June 14, 2005.
 * Greg Palast, "GIVE IT BACK, GEORGE. Did Wyly Coyotes' Ill-Gotten Loot Buy White House?" gregpalast.com, August 11, 2005.
 * Albert L. May, "Swift Boat Vets in 2004: Press Coverage of an Independent Campaign," George Washington University, published in First Amendment Law Review, Fall 2005 Vol. 4 pp. 101-106; as revised December 5, 2005.

2006

 * Jake Tapper, "Gearing Up for '08? McCain Befriends Old Enemies," ABC News, April 23, 2006.
 * "McCain 'befriends old enemies'," The Carpetbagger Report, April 24, 2006.
 * "McCain's DoubleTalk Express Rolls Into Dallas," The Democratic Party, May 17, 2006.
 * Jason Zengerle, "McCain's Wyly Ways," The Plank/The New Republic, May 18, 2006.
 * Chris Cillizza, "McCain Returns Donations Made to PAC," Washington Post, May 25, 2006.
 * Glenn R. Simpson, "Foreign tax shelter under scrutiny," Wall Street Journal (Star-Telegram (TX)), August 1, 2006.
 * David Cay Johnston, "U.S. blows the whistle on tax cheats," New York Times/International Herald Tribune, August 1, 2006.
 * Tim Funk and Rick Rothacker, "BofA admits errors to Senate. But bank is now more stringent in efforts to fight money laundering, executive says," Charlotte Observer (NC), August 2, 2006.
 * Greg Newton, "Trust Week: Untrustworthy trusts I. Swift-boating the wily? Or trading loopholes for heavily-advised mavericks?" NakedShorts, August 7, 2006.
 * Brendan M. Case, "Selling secret accounts draws scrutiny. Senate report blasts Dallas firm for offshore services for the masses," Dallas Morning News, August 13, 2006.
 * Katie Fairbank and Sudeep Reddy, "Billionaire brothers under a microscope. They're known for gifts to charities, politics, but tax shelters scrutinized," Dallas Morning News, August 27, 2006.
 * Trish, "Bankrollers of Swiftboat Vets and McCain Smear in Trouble With the Feds," Pensito Review, August 27, 2006.