Palmer National Bank of Washington, D.C.
Palmer National Bank of Washington, D.C. was a bank in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1983 by Harvey McLean, Jr., a real estate developer from Dallas, Texas who served as the Southern finance chairman in George H. W. Bush's 1980 presidential campaign.[1] It was initially funded with $2.8 million to McLean from Herman K. Beebe, a businessman from Shreveport, Louisiana.[2] The bank's chairman from its founding until 1990 was former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Stefan Halper.[1] The bank's connections to Republican leadership led to it becoming a favored financial institution for conservative political action committees during the 1980's.[1] The bank's clientele included the National Conservative Political Action Committee and the political action committees of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas and Representative Jack Kemp of New York.[1]
Oliver North used this bank during the Iran-Contra scandal by funneling money from his shell organization, the "National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty", through Palmer National Bank to the Contras.
Palmer National agreed to merge with George Mason Bankshares Inc. in October 1995.[3] At the time of the merger, Palmer had 19 branch offices and $96 million in assets.[3]
References
- Mark Lombardi: Global Networks. Mark Lombardi, Robert Carleton Hobbs, Judith Richards; Independent Curators, 2003 (published for the travelling exhibition of his work, "Mark Lombardi Global Networks"). ISBN 0-916365-67-0
- 1 2 3 4 Gerth, Jeff (1 November 1984). "A BANK THAT BANKS ON CONSERVATIVE DOLLARS". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ↑ Moyers, Bill. "Project Censored". Moyers & Company. Bill Moyers. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- 1 2 Knight, Jerry (21 October 1995). "PALMER NATIONAL TO MERGE WITH VA. BANK COMPANY". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 June 2017.