The question is whether all the right wing causes ranging from ex-Resident Bush to tea party political action groups will return the millions they received from the brothers. Time for political watchdogs on the left to draw up a list of those who profited from the Bros' financial largess.

From NYT -

"Samuel and Charles Wyly, the billionaire brothers from Dallas who are large donors to conservative causes, were charged Thursday with conducting an extensive securities fraud that the Securities and Exchange Commission said reaped them $550 million in undisclosed gains."

"The brothers, who founded Sterling Software, a business software and services company that was sold for $4 billion in stock to rival CA in March 2000, were also charged with insider trading violations that reaped more than $31 million in gains, the S.E.C. said.

"The ill-gotten gains, according to the S.E.C., were used to buy tens of millions of dollars of art, collectibles and jewelry; $100 million of real estate, including two ranches in Aspen, Colo., and a 100-acre horse farm near Dallas; and to make charitable contributions, including $10 million to the business school at Sam Wyly’s alma mater, the University of Michigan.

Samuel Wyly is also known for his political affiliations, including financing a group that paid for ads in 2000 praising the environmental record of George W. Bush during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination."

For original story, go to -

http://www.nytimes.com/...

Here are some of their politcal actions according to Wikipedia -

"In March 2007, commenting on a purchase of a local bookstore by Wyly and his wife Cheryl, the Aspen Times noted that the Wyly family "has been known not only for its philanthropic efforts, but also its large contributions to conservative political campaigns and candidates." Wyly and his brother Charles have personally given about $10 million to Republican causes and candidates between the early 1970s and 2006, they say; both are Bush Pioneers.

In 2000, Sam Wyly contributed $2.5 million to a group called "Republicans for Clean Air", which ran ads praising George W. Bush's environmental record and criticizing that of John McCain. The ads ran in New York, Ohio, and California in advance of early March primaries, at a time when Bush and McCain were locked in a tight struggle for the Republican presidential nomination. It initially was unclear who was behind the group or who paid for the ads until Wyly stepped forward to take the credit.

In 2004, Wyly also donated $20,000 to the Swift Boat campaign that raised questions about Sen. John Kerry's military record in Vietnam, helping scuttle Kerry's challenge to Bush. Wyly said he is neither leaning toward McCain nor Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, and won't get involved in the race.