Rubio fundraiser seeking $10 billion federal contract

Sen. Marco Rubio attended a fundraising event Monday night at the home of a major Florida shipbuilder who is competing for a multibillion dollar contract from the Coast Guard, an agency Rubio helps to oversee as the chairman of a key Senate subcommittee.

The event was at the Panama City home of Brian D’Isernia, owner of the Eastern Shipbuilding Company. Donations ranged from $10,000 for hosts, $5,000 for VIPs and $1,000 for general attendees, according to a source who received an invitation.


Neither Rubio’s staff nor D’Isernia responded to requests for comment. The fundraiser was confirmed by a D’Isernia employee.

Eastern Shipbuilding, one of D’Isernia’s major holdings, is one of three companies the Coast Guard selected in February 2014 to design prototypes for the Offshore Patrol Cutter. The Coast Guard plans to select a winning design for what will be a fleet of at least 25 vessels — each estimated to cost at least $484 million.

Rubio, who plans to announce his presidential bid next week, has oversight of the Coast Guard as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, which has jurisdiction over the agency’s budget.

“This is a contract worth as much as $10 billion over the long haul, and the last thing D’Isernia wants is to have a senator angry with him,” said a source with direct knowledge of the fundraising efforts.

In the brutal competition for Florida’s abundant GOP donors, the 71-year-old D’Isernia is a highly sought-after target.

Indeed, he was in talks this spring to participate in a $100,000-per-person fundraiser for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is also widely expected to announce a White House bid soon. But scheduling conflicts apparently got in the way. And D’Isernia was also approached by Rubio’s go-between at the time, said the source with knowledge of the conversations.

This doesn’t mean D’Isernia won’t help Bush down the road, however. Monday’s event was technically a fundraiser for Rubio’s leadership PAC and his Senate reelection committee.

But some Panhandle Republicans who back Bush criticized Rubio for the event, suggesting he effectively stole D’Isernia as a fundraising source. But one Bush backer also pointed out the proposed $100,000-per-person fundraiser for the former governor was steep.

“I love Jeb. But I don’t second-mortgage-my-house love Jeb,” the Republican quipped.

In Tallahassee on Tuesday, Rubio will attend another fundraiser — this one set to include former staffers and lobbyists, magnate Sheldon Adelson, pro-Israel Republicans, and executives from Florida Crystals sugar. That fundraiser was readily advertised by Rubio supporters, unlike the one held by D’Isernia.

D’Isernia has been a reliable fundraiser for Republican candidates and political causes in recent years. For example, he gave more than $50,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2013 and 2014, according to campaign finance records.

Beyond eyeing lucrative federal contracts for shipbuilding, D’Isernia has another distinction that may give him reason to curry favor from Washington power brokers: in 2013, he and one of his other holdings, Lagoon Landing LLC, were forced to pay the largest criminal fine in Florida state history for wetlands violations.

A federal court fined D’Isernia and his company a total of $3.25 million for illegal dredging and other felony violations of wetlands protections. They were accused of dredging a basin without a permit so that Eastern Shipbuilding, one of the region’s largest employers, could build larger vessels.

As part of the plea agreement, D’Isernia’s attorneys successfully argued that he and his businesses should not be barred from future contracts with the federal government.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story quoted a source as saying that Rubio toured the Eastern Shipbuilding shipyard. He did not, according to his office.