WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Los Angeles Jewish day school official is at the center of an investigation that forced Bill Richardson to withdraw from consideration for a Cabinet post.
David Rubin, board chairman of the Orthodox Yavneh Hebrew Academy, is also the CEO of CDR Holdings, which is under federal grand jury investigation for an alleged "pay-to-play" deal to acquire a New Mexico government contract worth $1.48 million.
Rubin and his company reportedly donated at least $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson, most of it around the time that CDR received the contract in 2004. President-elect Barack Obama picked Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, to be his secretary of commerce, but Richardson withdrew from consideration on Sunday.
Media reports have noted that Rubin has donated millions of dollars to liberal and Jewish causes over the years. Among his other political contributions over the past decade were two $5,000 donations to the Women’s Pro-Israel National PAC in 1998 and 1999.
