So APSCU decided that the right leader for its political contributions arm was Jack Massimino, whose Corinthian Colleges already was being examined by a group of 23 state attorneys general for deceptive practices and by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for unlawful student loans practices. By then it was quite clear that Corinthian was one of the worst-behaving colleges, and since then much more has come to the surface: Corinthian is now out of business under the weight of repeated media reports of how it abused students and misled authorities, lawsuits brought by the CFPB and three state AGs, investigations by the Justice Department and SEC, and an unprecedented $30 million fine from the Department of Education.
As his school’s reputation, enrollments, and share prices all plummeted, Massimino was taking a $3 million salary, bringing in enough to own an $11.5 million, 10,000-square-foot, mountain-view second home in Park City, Utah, whose real estate listing declared it “Simply THE finest home in Kamas Valley and possibly the Intermountain West; it offers a heated horse barn, a “Children’s ‘Art Barn,'” and a pond on 61 acres.
But Massimino may have been the man for the job in the eyes of his APSCU colleagues, because while Corinthian clearly was not good at providing quality, affordable education, it was practiced in buying influence in Washington: Corinthian was one of the biggest spenders in the industry on both political contributions and lobbying, providing campaign cash to influential politicians like Reps. Kline, Foxx, Andrews, and Hastings, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Romney, all of whom served as cheerleaders for for-profit colleges. Corinthian had hired lobbyists including former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt; it also used non-disclosed dark money spending to support non-profit advocacy and research groups capable of influencing the debate.
According to the 2012 newsletter, Massimino co-chaired APSCUPAC with Bruce Busada, President of the Diesel Driving Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana.
- See more at: http://www.republicreport.org/2015/corinthian-ceo-led-for-profit-college-industry-pac/#sthash.YVzOJu8h.dpuf