Investigation underway

Bushes get hacked, revealing Dubya's paintings, secret funeral plans and love for Bill Clinton

A hacker who goes by the online alias of "Guccifer" acquired personal photographs and sensitive information about the Bush family by infiltrating the email accounts of friends and family. (The Smoking Gun first reported on the privacy invasion in an extensive expose.)

Hacked email accounts include those belonging to Dorothy Bush Koch (H.W.'s daughter); Willard Heminway, an old family friend from Connecticut; Jim Nantz, noted CBS sportscaster; Barbara Bush's brother; and H.W.'s sister-in-law.

Information gleaned from those accounts piece together the post-presidential lives of both Bush 41 and Bush 43.

Information gleaned from those accounts piece together the post-presidential lives of both Bush 41 and Bush 43: golf appointments, Dubya's amateur painting hobby, family hang sessions that included Ralph Lauren as well as former President Bill Clinton (who had become so close to H.W. that the family referred to him as "Bubba") and, most recently, the poor health of the patriarch.

George H.W. Bush had been admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston just after Thanksgiving for health complications related to pneumonia and remained hospitalized for seven weeks due to a lingering cough and a high fever.

At one point he was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. Meanwhile, the hacked emails reveal, George W. Bush was "thinking about eulogy" while hoping that he was "jumping the gun."

Jean Becker, former president George H.W. Bush's longtime chief of staff who cautioned the media during his hospitalization to "put the harps back in the closet," is reported to have written to Bush's four children in late December, "Your dad's funeral team is having an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. just to go through all the details," a fact that "fell under the broadening category of things NOT TO TELL YOUR MOTHER."

Bush spokesperson Jim McGrath tells CultureMap that the family is unable to comment as the security breach is under criminal investigation. "Guccifer" bragged to the Smoking Gun that he has hacked hundreds of accounts and that "The feds" began investigating him a long time ago.

The Smoking Gun

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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