AgriSol Timeline
Bruce Rastetter is no stranger to Iowa CCI members. We started fighting his Heartland Pork factory farms in the late 90’s. Since then he has continued to make his big money mark across Iowa, starting and selling ethanol plants under his Hawkeye Renewables, and most recently with his AgriSol effort. His political power has grown too, through hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to candidates, and millions spent in shadowy political attack groups like the American Future Fund and Team Iowa PAC.
Yesterday we filed a conflict of interest complaint against Rastetter. Now we have compiled a timeline of Rastetter's involvement in the AgriSol affair and his attempts to use ISU to further the project.
2007: Rastetter donates $1.7 million to ISU
2008: Rastetter begins talks with Tanzanian government
2009: Collaboration between ISU and AgriSol begins
2010: Rastetter is the single biggest donor to the Branstad campaign, giving more than $164,000.
2011:
February 25: Branstad appoints Rastetter to Board of Regents
May 1: Rastetter’s term begins: he should have recused himself from discussions of an ISU partnership with AgriSol at this point.
May 18: Rastetter finances a $13,000 trip for ISU officials to Tanzania
June 14: Des Moines Register publishes AgriSol expose
June 17: Rastetter discloses his financial interest in AgriSol to the public
July: Rastetter elected President Pro Tem of Board of Regents
September 13: Rastetter finally recuses himself from discussions of partnering with ISU -- four months after he becomes a Regent.
September 26: Dan Rather reports on AgriSol
2012:
February: ISU cuts all ties to Tanzania project
April 24: Rastetter files a false financial disclosure report with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board
June 19: Iowa CCI members file a conflict of interest complaint against Rastetter with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.
Take Action
Join hundreds of other Iowans calling on Gov. Branstad to fire Bruce Rastetter — the man unable to separate his role as an Iowa public Regent from his personal financial interest.
Join the fight
Contact us for more information
Join as an Iowa CCI member today or chip in $10 to support our organizing on this issue.
Sign up for our E-Mail Action list to get the latest updates