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Morris and Doug Jaffe, father-and-son businessmen from San Antonio, Morris is an associate of Marvin Haass and Carlos Marcello, the New Orleans Mafia boss. Doug borrowed from Ed McBirney's Sunbelt Savings and provided jet airplane noise-limitation equipment for Farhad Azima and others.

______________________ Henry Cisneros: Clinton once called the former HUD secretary "a man of integrity and character," though he proved far from it in several instances . . . lied to the FBI about payments to three-year lover Linda Medlar . . . got caught up in dirty business dealings with oil entrepreneur Morris Jaffe.

The Princeton Spectator, April 16, 1997

______________________ So far only one Texas name has surfaced as a money player. According to FBI records, San Antonio financier and political benefactor Morris Jaffe helped dump $85,000 into the hush-money account, sources say. Jaffe claims to have provided about $9,000 to Jones after the request of San Antonio district Councilman Frank Wing. No names have yet surfaced from the president's circle, but there are hints of conspiracy charges to come.

Insight on the News; Jan 12, 1998;News World Communications, Inc. ______________________ Mattox received $50,000 each from the Teamsters and Morris Jaffe of San Antonio. Jaffe , a longtime Democratic activist, was a key figure in the downfall of U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright of Fort Worth. Jaffe brought Wright into an oil deal that netted the speaker $325,000 and then refused to discuss the deal with congressional ethics investigators.

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AUSTIN – Tony Sanchez will be called upon to explain how $25 million in drug money was laundered through his now defunct savings and loan without his knowledge 17 years ago if he runs for governor, two top political rivals said Monday...Mr. Sanchez was chairman of the board of the thrift, which he and his father founded. It failed in 1988 because of unrelated financial problems.

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AUSTIN -- A key ally of Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez this week tried to get Marty Akins to drop out of the Democratic gubernatorial race in advance of Sanchez's formal announcement as a candidate next Tuesday.

Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, who once employed Sanchez as a legislative aide, tried to broker a deal with Akins on Monday in which Akins would drop out of the governor's race in exchange for the backing of Democratic leadership in a race for Texas land commissioner, according to several sources familiar with the exchange...Barnes' role in the deal brokering could give Perry's campaign additional fodder for a potential general election contest with Sanchez...In speeches around the state last year, Barnes promoted tax hikes and the possible creation of a state income tax. Perry aides privately have said they will use those opinions and Barnes' association with Sanchez to challenge Sanchez on state fiscal policy.

...Democratic operatives said Barnes assured Akins that if he got into the land commissioner race there would be no Democratic opponent and that Sanchez and Democratic leaders would support his campaign. Akins told Barnes he would consider the offer. Barnes then called Bernsen and urged him to stay out of the race, operatives said. Bernsen in turn called Akins to tell him he already had lined up support from some of the same Democratic leaders that Barnes had told Akins he could bring on board his campaign.

Aug. 28, 2001; By R.G. RATCLIFFE ; Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

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Juan Garcia Abrego, described as the leader of a powerful drug ring based in Mexico, was convicted on October 16 on drug trafficking charges (Deborah Tedford and Jo Ann Zuniga, "Cocaine kingpin is guilty," Houston Chronicle, October 17, 1996, p. 1A; Sue Anne Pressley, "Accused Leader of Mexico-U.S. Drug Ring Convicted," Washington Post, October 17, 1996, p. A4; "U.S. Jury Convicts Mexican on Drug Charges," New York Times, October 17, 1996, p. A3; Bruce Nichols, "U.S. jury finds Abrego guilty of drug charges," Dallas Morning News, October 17, 1996, p. 1A).

After a four-week trial and twelve hours of deliberation, a jury in U.S. District Court in Houston convicted Garcia Abrego on all 22 counts of money laundering, drug possession and drug trafficking. Prosecutors said Garcia Abrego lead the "Gulf cartel" of drug traffickers, which smuggled more than 15 tons of cocaine and 46,000 pounds of marijuana from Mexico into the United States, and laundered about $10.5 million. Garcia Abrego, 52, faces up to life in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 1997.

Mike Ramsey, Garcia Abrego's lawyer...Another defense attorney, Tony Canales (a former U.S. Attorney), tried to exclude a confession made by Garcia Abrego, (Bruce Nichols, "Drug suspect testifies he doesn't recall waiving his rights," Dallas Morning News, September 10, 1996, p. 13A).

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Mr. Sanchez said he was not advised of the rush of withdrawals, which were allowed on the advice of Tesoro's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Tony Canales, a law school classmate of Mr. Sanchez.

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AUSTIN (AP) -...Cuellar told the Houston Chronicle that while his nomination for secretary of state was pending approval from the Texas Senate, he was the target of a campaign to damage his reputation.

Two private investigators told several of Cuellar's friends and at least two state senators they suspected Cuellar wrote an anonymous, threatening letter to prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidate A.R. "Tony" Sanchez Jr., a Laredo multimillionaire. The private investigators worked for a lawyer employed by Sanchez, the Chronicle reported. Three Laredo residents also said the investigators said Cuellar was homosexual, which the former Laredo legislator denies. Cuellar also denies writing the letter.

...Sanchez spokesman Kelly Fero confirmed his boss received a threatening letter and turned it over to attorney Jose A. "Tony" Canales, the former U.S. attorney in Houston.

Fero said Sanchez does not know how Canales conducted the investigation...Both the Hildreths are former FBI agents. Claude Hildreth told the Chronicle he has known Canales since his government days but declined to discuss any recent employment for the lawyer.

"You can call Tony Canales and get any comment," Hildreth said. Canales did not immediately return a telephone message left Wednesday by The Associated Press.

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Barnes suffered some setbacks during his four years as lieutenant governor—a divorce, questions about his personal finances, and a unanimous rejection by the House of a plan he supported to extend the sales tax to food—but he drove the agenda in the Legislature and remained a heavy favorite to move up to the office of his choosing in 1972, which turned out to be governor rather than senator. But then the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Houston banker and real estate developer Frank Sharp, alleging that Sharp had manipulated the price of his bank's stock. The stock happened to be owned by some prominent Texas political figures, including Governor Preston Smith, and at Smith's request, the Legislature had passed two bills that would have eased Sharp's problems with bank regulators. (Ironically, Smith had vetoed the bills when other bankers protested.) Barnes owned no stock and had no dealings with Sharp that anyone could find. The entire legislative session of 1971 went by without a suggestion that he was involved. But that summer, Sharp was seeking a plea bargain to avoid a trial and prison time, and he told federal investigators that his political operative had told him, "Ben is smarter than those other politicians—he only takes cash." The operative denied having made the comment, and to this day there has never been any evidence to link Barnes to the Sharpstown scandal. But his meteoric career worked against him; who knew what such an ambitious young man might have done?

As 1972 began, he had a big lead over his most serious opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Uvalde rancher Dolph Briscoe. But as the vote drew near, House Speaker Gus Mutscher was convicted of conspiracy to accept a bribe in the form of bank stock. And lieutenant governor candidate Bill Hobby had billboards that read "Bill Hobby will make a good lieutenant governor . . . honestly." Ouch. "We could see the polls dropping in the final weeks," Barnes told me. "I went from over fifty percent to the forties, to the thirties." In the end, he didn't even get twenty.

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AUSTIN --But he still has a lot to prove, beginning with his party loyalty. Sanchez joined the Young Democrats in 1968 and during that same era worked as an aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes.

But, more recently, Sanchez has been better known as a major backer of the country's most prominent Republican. Personally or through his businesses, he gave more than $350,000 to the National Republican Party and to Bush's successful races for governor and president.

Sanchez' business dealings also invite scrutiny. He once owned a savings and loan, for example, that was used for laundering almost $13 million by Mexican drug dealers.

Sanchez also has to demonstrate that he can run a competent campaign. Without even announcing for governor yet, he already has committed a major political blunder by allowing his lawyer to sic private investigators on Secretary of State Henry Cuellar, a Democratic appointee of Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

...Sanchez still has time to turn things around, but he already is the butt of the first joke of the 2002 campaign season. "What's Spanish for Clayton Williams?" some amused observers have begun to ask.

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AUSTIN -Exhibit No. 1 is all the salivating that some party leaders are doing over another Democratic gubernatorial wannabe, wealthy Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez Jr., whose main claim to political fame so far has been helping to elect Republican George W. Bush to the White House.

Not too many years ago, Sanchez and Akins would have been laughed out of a Democratic race for dogcatcher. Now, they demonstrate how far Texas' once-dominant party has fallen.

...Sanchez has some Democratic credentials. He was a member of the Young Democrats in the 1960s and during that era also worked as an aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes.

Sanchez 's anticipated gubernatorial race - he hasn't formally announced yet - is largely the brainchild of former state Comptroller John Sharp, who is once again seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Sanchez is attractive to Sharp and party leaders because he is wealthy enough to largely fund his own campaign, and as a Hispanic would presumably attract a large bloc of Hispanic voters to the Democratic ticket.

So desperate are Democratic leaders for a statewide victory - they haven't had one since 1994 - they have suddenly become very forgiving, if only selectively.

...In an event, though, Akins and Sanchez may be enough to make many Democratic voters yell, "Help!"

LAREDO —— Last October, a handful of prominent landowners opened the first privately built toll road in Texas. Cutting across the land of some of Laredo's first families, people with names such as Benavides, Puig, Walker and Mann, the $90 million Camino Colombia Toll Road was built to capitalize on the NAFTA-related boom in truck traffic that routinely snarls movement in this border city.

Developers anticipated that 775 tractor-trailers would use the new highway daily, and that the project could break even by collecting $4.4 million in toll revenues in the first year.

But as the road's anniversary approaches, the highway has realized only 13 percent of the forecasted commercial traffic and is borrowing money to cover operating costs and debt service.

Disputes about land use, meanwhile, have fractured relationships among neighbors and family members who donated property to the project.

Chamberlain's is one of three lawsuits brought by current and former landholders in the project who say Mann, Camino Colombia Inc. and its president, Carlos Y. Benavides III, pressured them into donating their land and then reneged on promises to provide secure passages to the toll road.

Mann referred questions to his Alice attorney, who did not return phone calls.

...Chamberlain, however, fears Camino Colombia's fiscal struggles could result in her family members losing their land. "The cards were never really laid out on the table. We were never told what would happen if the road is a failure," she said. The 22-mile, four-lane road connects the 10-year-old Colombia Solidarity Bridge to a point 23 miles north of downtown Laredo on Interstate 35. ...Prieto remained skeptical, fearing the shareholding families are orchestrating a "fancy land grab." John Chamberlain, Nancy's husband, also is worried about what the ultimate outcome may be. "This is splitting up my wife's family. It's not a game," Chamberlain said. "We wouldn't (be suing) if we didn't believe there was something bigger going on."