Last week’s piece on Bayh’ relationship with the private equity industry can be found here.

Who does a candidate really work for when they take fistfuls of cash from billionaires?

I’m a working-class Hoosier, so that question matters to me. My loyalty is to my family, my neighbors, and the people struggling alongside me. Not party bosses. Not billionaire donors. So when I see money flowing into a race from a foreign lobby, I pay attention.

All money is not good money. We do not need billionaire backers to fight the other side’s billionaire backers. We would do well to remember that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

Now, I know what some political insider is thinking: The Indiana Secretary of State doesn’t set foreign policy. Why are you talking about a foreign lobby?

True, the Secretary of State doesn’t have much to do with foreign policy.

They do, however, decide on which businesses operate in Indiana, which investment firms face scrutiny, and who manages our public money. Foreign interests don’t just pour money into down-ballot races because they care about Hoosiers. They do it because they want a friend in the room when their business interests cross the statehouse threshold.

So let’s talk about the foreign lobby in the room.

The Israel Lobby

I am going to use the term “lobby” the way political scientist John Mearsheimer does: as shorthand for the loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction.

This is not a conspiracy theory.

It is a network of well-funded political action committees.

Key organizations in this lobby include the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), JStreetPAC, U.S. Israel PAC, the Friends of Israel PAC, United Democracy Project, among others. Then there are the multitude of insidious shell PACs cropping up in races across the country. Shell PACs like the United Democracy Project, Affordable Chicago Now!, Chicago Progressive Partnership, and Elect Democratic Women Action Fund.

And when you look at Beau Bayh’s donor list, you begin to see the Israel Lobby propping up his campaign. The contributions are not direct; they flow through a web of billionaires, bundlers, and dark money groups, all converging on a single candidate.

This isn’t just about foreign policy. It’s about what is happening right here in Indiana. Because the Israel Lobby doesn’t just focus on the White House or Congress—they work to ensure all 50 states are building favorable relationships with Israel. And Indiana is a prime example.

Let’s start with the most direct financial link: Indiana currently invests $110 million in Israeli bonds. When a state buys an Israeli bond, it essentially loans the Israeli government money with an agreement that they will get those funds back in an agreed-upon number of years, plus interest. For my non-econ bros, that means taxpayer dollars are effectively being loaned to the Israeli government. And while the bond portfolio falls under state Treasurer Daniel Elliott, it shows how much financial value statewide officials can direct toward a foreign ally.

Then came Governor Mike Braun, who eagerly invested $15 million in Hoosier taxpayer dollars to integrate Israeli start-ups with Indiana universities and healthcare systems, through a platform called Iron Nation which was launched right after the October 7th attacks.

Now follow the money to a darker outcome. Indiana’s Applied Research Institute (ARI), funded by state taxpayers, used its “Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace” to fast-track Palantir’s AI-powered Maven Smart System. That directly enabled a $99 million military contract for software later used to strike an Iranian girls’ school. Purdue’s president and Indiana University’s president sit on ARI’s board—meaning our public universities helped rubber-stamp automated targeting that reduces civilian death to “a click away.”

But the most stunning example isn’t just financial or military. It’s intelligence. The largest solar project in the U.S., the Mammoth Solar project in Pulaski and Starke Counties, is being built by Doral Renewables, a subsidiary of an Israeli company. And recently, Yossi Cohen—the former head of the Israeli Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel—was appointed as a director at Doral Renewables LLC.

So to be clear: the former head of a foreign intelligence agency is now a director of a company building the largest solar project in the United States. Right here in Indiana.

The Israel Lobby doesn’t stop at the presidential level. They target statewide offices because they need state officials who will look the other way, facilitate the deals, and ensure bond purchases continue without scrutiny. If we want to know who our candidates are truly working for, we have to follow the money…from bonds, to universities, and from solar fields, to spy agencies.

That’s the Lobby’s statewide footprint.

So now that we have a working understanding of what the Israel Lobby is and why it targets state races, let’s turn to Beau Bayh’s donor list. Because the Lobby, remember, is also people. It’s billionaire families with deep Indiana roots who write the checks.

The Simon Family’s Deep Pockets

First up, the Simon family.

We covered the family’s influence in Indianapolis in a previous report that you can read here.

Herbert Simon, founder of the Simon Property Group in 1960, is a longtime donor to the Israel Lobby. Since 2022, Herb Simon has donated $96,700 to AIPAC. And on December 5, 2025 he donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh’s campaign.

Deborah Simon donated $2,000,000 to the Democratic Majority for Israel on April 7, 2025 and is one of the top 15 donors to the Israel Lobby. According to filings, while DMFI’s previous reports showed modest hauls, this single contribution dramatically altered the group’s financial standing. Deborah Simon also donated $75,000 directly to Beau Bayh on November 21, 2025.

Then there's Deborah's sister, Cynthia Simon-Skjodt.

Cynthia was appointed by then-President Joe Biden to the council board for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the nation’s official memorial to the Holocaust. The museum's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide says it "works to do for the victims of genocide today what the world failed to do for the Jews of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s."

That’s a noble mission.

Here's the problem: the museum lists 23 country case studies where its Center for the Prevention of Genocide has worked. Palestine and Lebanon are nowhere on that list.

The museum teaches "that the Holocaust was preventable and that by heeding warning signs and taking early action, individuals and governments can save lives." Meanwhile, multiple genocide scholars and human rights organizations have clearly documented the evidence of Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The museum's response? Silence.

The Simon family's checkbook, meanwhile, is loud and clear.

The D.C. Insider

Then there is Norm Brownstein, a quintessential Washington power broker. Brownstein donated $10,000 to Beau Bayh on November 26, 2025—just twelve days after donating $14,000 to AIPAC. In 2025 alone, Norm Brownstein donated $45,900 to AIPAC.

Because of his influence, former senators Ted Kennedy and Hank Brown have reportedly dubbed Brownstein “America’s 101st senator.” His influence extends deep into policy. He was a key player in getting President Donald Trump to enforce the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in universities under Title VI. He has also served as vice president of AIPAC and has worked hard on Capitol Hill to ensure “America’s relationship with Israel ironclad.”

Wall Street Weighs In

The financial sector is also heavily represented. Eric Mindich, a $10,000 donor to Bayh, donated $350,000 to the Democratic Majority for Israel in 2024. Mindich is a founding partner of the hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management and his philanthropic giving has consistently aligned with major pro-Israel organizations and AIPAC’s political spending priorities.

Then there’s the Apollo problem.

On January 5, 2026, Marc Rowan donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh. Rowan is a billionaire and a top AIPAC mega-donor who gave $1 million to the Trump Victory super PAC in 2020 and was once in the running to be Trump’s Treasury Secretary. Marc Rowan is also the CEO of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest private equity firms in the world, and sits on Trump’s Board of Peace—officially the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza’s executive board.

That board also includes the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; real estate developer turned United States special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff; and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair—yes, that Tony Blair, the one with the Iraq War baggage.

That's the crew tasked with "stabilizing" Gaza.

According to the White House, “[e]ach executive board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.” The White House added that “the board will help support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza.”

That's the theory, anyway.

As we covered last week, that matters for Indiana because Apollo Global is the private equity manager for a considerable portion of Indiana's public pension funds. And the Secretary of State's office oversees securities regulation and thus has direct authority over the kinds of investment firms that manage Hoosiers' retirement money.

So when the CEO of a firm holding Indiana pensions cuts a $25,000 check to a candidate for the office that regulates his industry, that's not just a donation. That's an investment with an expected return.

The Kentucky Connection

Even out-of-state political machines are getting involved.

The “In This Together PAC“ donated $10,000 to Beau Bayh on February 27, 2026. This PAC was formed by D-KY Governor Andy Beshear who has also publicly maintained a pro-Israel stance. The top donor to the PAC is Andrew Schwartzberg, a known Israel Lobby donor.

The Bottom Line

This is not a random collection of donors. It is what happens when a loose coalition of Zionists—all focused on steering U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction—converges on a single Indiana race.

And until we get money out of politics, we will continue to have auctions rather than elections.

So here is what we should tell our politicians and prospective candidates…

Not another dollar from the Israel Lobby.
Not another tax dollar spent on human rights abuses.
Not another candidate who puts the interests of a foreign country over Americans.

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Indiana voters are about to choose the official responsible for policing the securities industry. But the man who wants to be the watchdog is bankrolled by the very wolves he’d be sworn to guard against.

Meet Beau Bayh.

His father, Evan Bayh, takes a paycheck from Apollo Global Management, a private equity giant that pocketed $180 million from Indiana’s public pension fund in 2024 alone. On January 5, 2026, Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan chipped in $25,000 to Beau’s campaign.

That is a direct line from the top of a firm profiting off Hoosier retirees to the candidate who’d oversee them.

The Apollo Problem

Apollo Global Management isn’t just any investment firm. Co-founded by Marc Rowan and Leon Black (who resigned amid ties to Jeffrey Epstein), Apollo has a rap sheet that includes the largest fine in SEC history for misleading retirees. Despite this, the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) doubled down in 2024, handing Apollo a $180 million allocation of Hoosier teachers’ and police officers’ pension money. Indiana also became the first state to force public pensions into crypto. Another massive win for industry. Go figure.

Evan Bayh, Beau’s father, works for Apollo. He reportedly made millions as a “senior advisor.” When Evan ran for Senate in 2016, he was hammered for these ties.

Now, Beau is asking for a promotion to the very office that regulates Apollo.

This is a textbook case of regulatory capture.

If elected, Beau would oversee the Securities Division, the cops on the beat for Indiana’s investment industry. That means he would have the power to investigate, fine, or license the firms managing Hoosiers’ retirement money.

Including the one that pays his father a seven-figure salary.

This isn’t just bad optics. It’s a structural conflict of interest—and it’s Indiana teachers, police, and firefighters whose retirements are riding on the answer.

But Apollo is only the beginning.

Let’s Put A Number On It

On October 3, 2025, Robert Johnson—founder and chairman of RLJ Companies LLC, RLJ Equity Partners LLC, and RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings—wrote a $300,000 check to Beau Bayh’s campaign.

That’s not a typo, dear reader. Three hundred thousand dollars. From one private equity billionaire to the candidate who wants to regulate auto dealers, hotels, and securities in Indiana.

Johnson made his fortune as the founder of BET, but his private equity empire—RLJ Equity, RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, RLJ Lodging Trust—now reaches deep into Indiana.

Consider the auto dealers.

RLJ Equity owns RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings (RML Automotive), which has deep, revolving-door ties to Asbury Automotive Group—one of the nation’s largest auto retailer that owns Hare Honda, the Estes dealerships, and more across Indiana. According to RML Automotive’s own website, the Vice Chairman, Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty, helped take Asbury Automotive public in 2002. The Secretary of State licenses and regulates every single one of those dealers. David W. Hult, the current CEO of Asbury Automotive, previously served as Chief Operating Officer of RLJ-McLarty-Landers. That’s the same RLJ that donated $300,000 to Beau Bayh.

Asbury Automotive is also known for its exploitative practices toward employees and customers alike. My husband, a mechanic in central Indy, has encountered issues from failing to provide meal breaks to wage theft—and we’ve experienced some of these ourselves. In August 2024, the FTC began an enforcement action against three Asbury-owned Texas dealerships for allegedly selling unauthorized add-ons and targeting Black and Latino consumers with higher-priced extras.

And who investigates complaints regarding dealer practices? Well, the complaint is filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

Now consider the hotels.

RLJ Lodging Trust bought up Indiana-based White Lodging Services Corp., acquiring 100 hotels in a $1.7 billion deal. That includes properties in Indianapolis, Merrillville, and across the state. The Secretary of State oversees business regulations, charitable gaming, and liquor licenses that apply to those hotels.

Robert Johnson—the man who controls all of this—is spending $300,000 to put Beau Bayh in the office that would oversee every single one of those businesses.

That’s not a campaign contribution. That’s an investment.

[No Labels Enters the Chat]

On the last day of March, another private equity executive wrote a six-figure check. Andy Bursky—founder of Atlas Holdings—donated $100,000 to Beau Bayh.

Andy Bursky is a private equity guy through and through. And he’s also a major donor to No Labels, the self-styled “commonsense” political organization.

Now look at No Labels’ own website. Listed as a “National Leader” of No Labels? Former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh—Beau’s father.

That’s right. The same Evan Bayh who takes a paycheck from Apollo Global Management and sits on the board of RLJ Lodging Trust is also a national face of No Labels.

So the owner of a private equity firm and a major No Labels donor pumps $100,000 into Bayh’s campaign for Indiana Secretary of State, and the Indiana Democratic Party wants Hoosiers to believe that’s purely coincidence?

The Anti-Corruption Candidate Bankrolled by P.E.

Here’s the cruelest irony: Beau Bayh is running on an anti-corruption platform. He talks about transparency, about cleaning up the Secretary of State’s office, about being a watchdog who puts Hoosiers first.

But his campaign finance records tell a different story.

But his campaign is a slush fund from the very industries he’d be sworn to police. The Simon family—billionaires who built their fortune in real estate and have since ventured into private equity—have poured hundreds of thousands into Beau Bayh’s campaign. Along with at least eight other private equity executives who have also written checks to Beau Bayh’s campaign. That’s a small army of industry insiders funding the man who would regulate their industry.

Let me be clear, private equity doesn’t write $25,000, $100,000, or $300,000 checks out of civic virtue. It buys access. It buys a regulator who will look the other way and not ask questions.

You cannot take six-figure checks from the wolves and then promise to guard the henhouse.

The Question for Indiana Voters

Do you want a Secretary of State who answers to you?

Or to the private equity wolves who wrote his campaign checks?

Beau Bayh has raised nearly $2 million in 2025, far outpacing incumbent Diego Morales or primary challenger Blythe Potter. He has the money. He has the name recognition. And he has the private equity donors, including one who gave $300,000 in a single check, and another tied to his father’s own political network.

The only question is what they expect to get in return.

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Well, if you pay taxes, then it has everything to do with you. And if you’ve ever wondered why your paycheck doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, why your city’s potholes never get fixed, or why you’re buying groceries on credit, the answer is blowing up schoolgirls half a world away.

This isn't a war for America; it's a war bought by a foreign government, paid for with American tax dollars, and fought against the express will of the American people.

Grab your coffee and let’s get into it.

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The $38 Trillion Elephant in the Room

Let’s start with the numbers, because they are too big to ignore and too important to leave to the pundits.

Our national debt is currently at $38 trillion dollars. Yes—trillion, with a “t.”

To make that number mean something, let’s break it down. We are spending at a rate of roughly $6.43 billion dollars a day. In the time it took you to read that sentence, we spent another $2.23 million dollars.

But the most galling part is the interest. The annual interest on that debt now exceeds $1 trillion. It is one of the fastest-growing expenses in the entire federal budget. For the average taxpayer, that means your share of federal income taxes going toward interest alone—not paying down the debt, just the interest—is between $6,000 and $7,000 per year.

You are working the first few months of every year just to pay the bankers for the money Washington already spent.

Against this backdrop of staggering debt, the Pentagon’s budget sits at $901 billion. President Trump wants to increase it next year to $1.5 trillion. Let that sink in. That’s an extra $600 billion. It is such a ridiculously unnecessary sum that even the Pentagon—an institution that wrote the book on wasteful spending—is reportedly unsure how to waste that much money.

We have already spent $3.7 trillion on the regime-change war in Iraq, and nearly $21 trillion on the post-9/11 “War on Terror.” Now, we are turning our sights on Iran which is four times the size of Iraq and has a better equipped and more modern military than Iraq did in 2003.

So, will a war with Iran cost Americans four times the blood and treasure it did in Iraq?

All I can say is that so far, in the first 24 hours, the U.S. spent $779 million and we have lost six service members.

The Opportunity Cost

While we initiate another “forever war” in the Middle East, over 650,000 Americans are homeless. Families are avoiding going to the doctor because they’re terrified of the medical bill. Wages are flat, inflation is eating away at savings, and people are relying on credit cards just to afford groceries.

This brings us to the concept of opportunity cost. Every dollar spent on a bomb in Iran is a dollar not spent here at home.

Think about what we could build with the money we are burning. Healthcare, childcare, free school breakfasts and lunches, universal pre-k, tuition-free college, high-speed rail, the list goes on and on. We could invest in building quality, affordable housing across the country using union labor, putting Americans back to work fixing their own communities.

Instead, we get to watch our current infrastructure crumble while our tax dollars pay for the bombs that will turn apartment buildings, schools, and hospitals in Gaza and Iran into dust.

So Why is America at War?

Majority of Americans do not support a war with Iran. So why are we in one?

Follow. The. Money.

Israel wants America to fight its war. Israel wants to weaken Iran by destabilizing the regime’s leadership—the same playbook they ran in Syria and Lebanon—so they can achieve regional hegemony. The Israeli government has been planning the Greater Israel project for a long time and Netanyahu views the current moment to be a once in a lifetime opportunity that he must seize on. And all of this is out in the open, all one has to do is pay attention to Israeli media.

The Jerusalem Post:

As the drumbeat of war continues to echo, a less binary reality is becoming increasingly clear: Israel is not truly striving to topple the Iranian regime. Instead, it is pursuing a less ambitious yet more practical goal of weakening the regime and rendering it non-threatening, to the point where its ability to harm Israel nears zero.

This is the reality Israel is striving for: to create operational dominance in Iran similar to what has been established in Lebanon. This would allow the Jewish state to carry out strikes there, on a regular basis, to thwart any attempts at reconstruction without Iran having the ability to react, and without the world holding its breath every time Israeli jets head toward Tehran.

And they have successfully lobbied the United States to do their bidding…

[Enter the Pro-Israel Lobby]

Thanks to our complete and utter lack of campaign finance reform laws along with an Israel-sized carve-out in the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a foreign government has built a machine that owns Washington.

FARA requires people working on behalf of a foreign government to register as foreign agents. It’s designed for transparency. But according to leaked emails and legal memos from the Israeli Justice Ministry, Israel has figured out how to bypass it entirely.

The legal advisers suggested channeling funds through third-party American nonprofits to prevent FARA registration and the “stigma” associated with it. One legal adviser, Liat Glazer, wrote that even though the nonprofit would not be formally managed from Israel, “we will have means of supervision and management” through informal coordination.

Enter the pro-Israel lobby. AIPAC, Christians United for Israel, JStreet, the Republican Jewish Coalition, Preserve America PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, the United Democracy Project, Friends of Israel PAC—and so, SO many more.

The lobby, as described by political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, is a "loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction." They spend millions to elect politicians who do their bidding and, more importantly, to destroy anyone who doesn’t.

In Chicago, AIPAC is funneling money into shell PACs with innocent-sounding names like “Affordability Chicago Now” and “Elect Chicago Women.” It’s a campaign finance network specifically designed to hide the source of the money and the intent behind it.

And would you look at that, dear reader, the money flows all the way to the top.

The Price of a President

The pro-Israel lobby effectively bought the President of the United States for a little more than $230 million.

Take the late Sheldon Adelson and his widow, Miriam Adelson—Israeli-American billionaires. They have donated over $600 million to Trump’s three presidential campaigns. Currently, Miriam Adelson is funding the East Wing ballroom renovation at the White House and has allegedly offered Trump $250 million to run for an unconstitutional third term.

When a foreign national can renovate the White House and fund a president’s campaigns to the tune of nearly a billion dollars, the line between American sovereignty and foreign influence ceases to exist.

Where is Congress? Out to Lunch.

You might ask, “Where is Congress in all of this?” The answer is: Out to lunch. On Israel’s dime.

In the first six months of 2025 alone, AIPAC spent $1.8 million on lobbying. The entire pro-Israel lobby complex spent $12.8 million. And that’s just the lobbying—the figure doesn’t include the exorbitant campaign donations at every level.

Sure, Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have sponsored a war powers resolution to reassert Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war. And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) gave a speech saying the administration “must seek authorization” for an act of war.

But listen closely to what Jeffries said.

He affirmed that Iran is a “bad actor and must be aggressively confronted.”

He isn’t mad that America is at war with Iran; he’s mad that the administration didn’t go through the proper procedure. When you affirm the need for “aggressive” confrontation with a country, and then quibble about the process, you’re not opposing the war. You’re just upset they didn’t manufacture consent first.

So What Now?

We should tell our politicians and prospective candidates: Not another dollar. Not another dollar from the pro-Israel lobby. Not another tax dollar spent on bombs and bloodshed. Not another tax dollar spent on human rights abuses or to fund governments who carry them out.

American sons and daughters are being called upon to risk their lives while taxpayers are expected to foot the bill—not for our safety, but to serve the strategic goals of another nation.

Reaching this point without a vote, consent, or consideration of American interests highlights an unsettling reality about our democracy: as long as money equates to speech, American foreign policy will remain open to influence.

And I am deeply concerned.

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A wave of anxiety has recently swept through Indiana with TikToks swirling around speculating about ICE staying at hotels downtown or potentially in Plainfield. And the fear is palpable…

Hoosiers are scared that Indianapolis could start to look like Minneapolis.

Unfortunately, dear reader, I cannot predict the future. But I don’t need a crystal ball to know Indianapolis isn’t about to look like Minneapolis—at least not in the way the rumors suggest. And especially not when elected officials like Secretary of State Diego Morales are so willing to hand over Hoosier voter registration data the moment the federal government asks.

But this isn’t about what might happen.

It’s about what’s already been built, quietly and systematically, while we weren’t looking.

Indianapolis isn’t bracing for a raid…it’s being wired for a permanent, expanding operation.

Grab your coffee or your Dr. Pepper and let’s look at what we do know.

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Forget the Rumors. Watch the Paper Trail.

In January of 2025, Governor Mike Braun signed an Executive Order pledging “full cooperation” with ICE. The order directs every state agency to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and local outfits like the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office simply couldn’t wait to oblige.

The result?

An analysis done by Axios found that ICE arrests in Indiana shot up 127% from January to June 2025. What’s more telling is that the targets have since shifted.

In January of 2025, 6% of those arrested had no criminal charge. By June? That number ballooned to 23%. So much for the “criminal alien” pretext.

And yet, cooperation wasn’t enough.

They needed space. So, in August 2025, the state proudly announced a new partnership wherein Indiana would lease 1,000 beds in the Miami Correctional Facility to ICE.

Our Indiana tax dollars at work, folks.

While schools crumble, rural hospitals close, and our young people are priced out of homeownership, our tax dollars are busy expanding an ICE detention empire.

And who benefits? Follow the money.

In late November 2025, The GEO Group, a private prison giant, dropped a cool $5,000 directly into Governor Braun’s campaign coffers. Another GEO-linked entity threw in another $5,000 the same day. A tidy $10,000 investment.

Now, against this backdrop, comes the real power grab—HB 1343.

This little gem would turn the Indiana National Guard into a militarized police force with law enforcement powers under the direction of the Governor.

Chilling.

And wouldn’t you know it? The bill’s author, Rep. Steve Bartels (R), received a $1,000 donation from GEO Care LLC on December 27, 2025.

For context, the window to file new bills had opened just weeks prior. The donation landed right in the sweet spot between conception and introduction.

A coincidence? Please.

That’s not a donation; that’s a down payment.

Not a Spectacle, a System

So, will Governor Braun or any Indiana official stand up for Hoosiers against an overreaching ICE?

Don’t hold your breath.

They aren’t preparing for a Minneapolis-style spectacle. They’re building a quieter, more sustainable system—one where mass deportation becomes a routine, lucrative, and unchallenged function of the state.

In red states, fascism doesn’t come down from Washington in a single blow. Instead, it is laundered through our institutions by spineless officials more interested in proximity to power than accountability to the people they represent.

Hoosiers will have to look out for one another, because the people in power have made clear whose side they’re on…

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Last week we discussed Beau Bayh accepting a $25,000 donation from his father’s boss, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan.

And I explained how the financier in question is a billionaire, AIPAC mega-donor, who gave $1 million to the Trump Victory super PAC in 2020 and was once in the running to be Trump’s Treasury Secretary.

Then I asked you, dear reader, if having Marc Rowan on the donor sheet of the Dem candidate for Secretary of State was something to worry about…

Yeah well a trove of new files just dropped and they show us that Rowan’s world isn’t just about backroom deals and geopolitical blueprints.

It’s also about breakfast at a predator’s house.

Grab your coffee or your Dr. Pepper…it’s time to connect the darkest dots.

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This isn’t just a story about a shady-looking conflict of interest. It’s worse. It’s about a candidate accepting major cash from a man who was a frequent, welcome guest in Jeffrey Epstein’s “house of horrors.”

Beau Bayh’s choice of donor shows us exactly how power and impunity operate—in plain sight, over breakfast, and with zero consequences.

Until we decide there should be some.

A Pattern, Not a Mistake

Let’s be clear, Marc Rowan’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t a one-time slip-up. It was a sustained, years-long pattern of association that persisted long after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea for soliciting a minor as young as 14 years old.

In fact, federal documents show the paper trail of a rather friendly rapport with a registered sex offender:

• September 2013: Sunday morning breakfast at Epstein’s Manhattan home

• October 22, 2013: Breakfast w/ Marc Rowan, Leon Black, and Josh Harris at JE’s Manhattan residence; Rowan plans to be 30min early “to see Jefferey for 1:1”

• January 6, 2016: Rowan’s assistant schedules another meeting at the townhouse, “[Rowan] will move things around and come to Jeffrey. Marc said if Jeffrey wants early breakfast that works for him — he will bring coffee!!!”

• January 14, 2016: Rowan’s secretary emails Epstein’s assistant on a Thursday morning saying “MR is happy to meet at Jeffrey’s home and is moving some things around to accommodate. He can be there at 3:45pm and stay as long as needed.”

The timeline is damning and it doesn’t even fully cover the scope of communications between Rowan and Epstein.

For years, a powerful CEO chose to do business with and inside the home of a known, convicted sex offender. And for Beau Bayh to take $25,000 from this man isn’t an oversight. It’s a fundamental failure of judgment.

It says his campaign is willing to overlook grave moral failings for a check, adopting the very “rules don’t apply” mentality he’s supposed to fight.

The Billionaire Breakfast Club’s House of Horrors

But to grasp the full weight of this failure, you have to understand where Marc Rowan was so “happy” to meet.

Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse wasn’t just a rich guy’s pad. It was a customized dungeon, a “house of horrors” where abuse was the central function. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the documented testimony of victims and the special agents who executed the search warrants on Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.

Virginia Giuffre described a nightmare labyrinth where “every room” was rigged with cameras and a hidden staircase with a banister of carved eyeballs whispered, “We’re always watching you.” There were a few massage rooms on floors three through four. One of which another victim described as very dark with red-curtain walls and a giant massage table ominously sitting in the center.

The home’s decor was not just grotesque—to any rational actor, it was a gallery of alarm bells. Every guest who entered was greeted by a screaming subtext: a life-sized doll hanging from a chandelier, prosthetic breasts mounted like trophies on a bedroom wall, a menagerie of stuffed exotic animals, and in the foyer, a bronze statue of a young bride suspended by a rope. These were not eccentricities; they were warnings in plain sight.

In 2019, when the FBI raided this Manhattan townhouse, they discovered the horrifying truth behind the décor. What they found was a cache of CDs and black binders, meticulously labeled with victims’ names containing child sex abuse materials.

This was the environment Marc Rowan repeatedly entered for breakfast and business, stepping past the evidence as though it were merely art.

When Beau Bayh accepts a $25,000 donation from a man who was an accommodated guest in this specific place, he’s doing more than engaging a controversial donor. He is monetizing a relationship cultivated in a chamber of exploitation and abuse.

Bayh’s campaign is signaling that the source of the money, and what that source was willing to ignore, does not matter.

For a candidate asking for the public’s trust to oversee our elections and business laws, that is a catastrophic, disqualifying ethical lapse.

The Choice for Indiana

The Secretary of State’s office administers our elections, registers our businesses, and is a cornerstone of public trust. It cannot be for sale to the highest bidder, especially not to individuals who travel in the most corrupt and depraved circles.

Beau Bayh had a simple choice: reject tainted money from a man who courted a predator OR accept it and embrace corruption and criminality.

He chose the check. He chose impunity.

Hoosiers deserve a Secretary of State who understands that some doors—especially on East 71st Street—should never be opened, and some money should never be touched.

Last week, dear reader, I asked you if we should accept the billionaire’s funding. Or do we take the road less traveled and back the grassroots candidate?

This week I leave you with the wise words of Asa:

There is fire on the mountain

And nobody seems to be on the run

Oh, there is fire on the mountaintop

And no one is a-runnin’, oh yes

One day the river will overflow

And there’ll be nowhere for us to go

An we will run, run

Wishing we had put out the fire…

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On January 5th, Beau Bayh accepted a $25,000 donation from his father’s boss, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan—and ignited a debate on the left about the ethics of taking money from MAGA billionaires.

The centrist argument is simple: “It takes money and name recognition to win, and Beau Bayh has both.”

Let’s pause on that logic.

We are supposed to take money from a MAGA financier…to elect Democrats who will stop…the MAGA movement?

The financier in question, Marc Rowan, is a billionaire, AIPAC mega-donor, who gave $1 million to the Trump Victory super PAC in 2020 and was once in the running to be Trump’s Treasury Secretary.

Still think having Marc Rowan on the donor sheet is nothing to worry about?

Grab your coffee or your Dr. Pepper and let’s take a closer look.

Who is Marc Rowan? Let’s Connect the Dots.

Marc Rowan, the Apollo CEO who just donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh, isn’t just any billionaire.

His career is a masterclass in using wealth and power to bend rules, institutions, and politics to his will.

First, the Personal Power Play

In the 2010s, Rowan fought Montauk residents to build a waterfront restaurant. When he couldn’t win community favor, he sued the town nine times until he prevailed—a clear example of using financial might to override local opposition. Because this is Marc Rowan’s modus operandi: overcome obstacles not through persuasion, but through sheer financial and legal force.

Then, the Political Machine

Rowan is a Republican mega-donor. He gave $1 million to Trump in 2020 and was considered for Treasury Secretary. Now, he’s a key architect of Trump’s higher education agenda, drafting a “compact” that would force universities to ban affirmative action, limit protests, and reject transgender identity to receive federal funds.

In 2018, Marc Rowan gave UPenn a record $50 million, cementing his influence.

That influence was cashed in during the crisis over the 2023 Palestine Writes Literature Festival. As a powerful trustee, Rowan signed an open letter demanding President Liz Magill take a harder line against the event.

The conflict moved to the national stage during the December 2023 congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. In a pivotal exchange, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) grilled Magill on whether calls for genocide violated Penn’s conduct policies—a line of questioning that sparked intense controversy. It is critical to note that Stefanik, along with hearing chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and participant Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), were all political beneficiaries of Rowan’s donations. The hearing provided the public catalyst. Rowan then applied the final, private pressure. In 2024, he openly called for Magill’s resignation and orchestrated a concerted donor revolt. The result was inevitable–Liz Magill resigned.

The pattern is clear. Rowan’s money funds the politicians who create the public pressure, which he then amplifies with private financial threats to achieve his desired institutional change.

The Apollo-Bayh Connection is the Point.

This brings us to Beau Bayh and his father, former Senator Evan Bayh.

In 2010, as a Senator, Evan Bayh cast the key vote to preserve the “carried interest” tax loophole—a massive financial benefit for private equity firms like Apollo. Evan Bayh’s relationship with the firm was already cozy. That same fall, he met multiple times with Apollo’s then-CEO, Leon Black, because he felt it was important to meet with people who would be policed by new financial regulations. Weeks after Evan Bayh left the Senate, Apollo hired him as a Senior Adviser.

It’s also worth noting that Adam Aron is an Apollo executive who donated $10,000 to Evan’s son, Beau Bayh, in early October of 2025. Now, Apollo’s CEO is funding Evan’s son’s campaign, while other Apollo executives and connected donors (like RLJ’s Robert Johnson) pour money into Beau’s coffers.

This isn’t a coincidence.

It’s the cycle of influence…a political favor is repaid with a lucrative job, which is then cemented with campaign donations to the next generation.

Evan Bayh’s post-Senate career maps perfectly onto this playbook. His reward for the carried interest vote was a lucrative position as a Senior Advisor at Apollo, which came with a seat on the board of Marathon Petroleum. Furthermore, his Apollo role integrated him into its wider financial network. He now chairs a governance committee for RLJ Lodging Trust, founded by Robert L. Johnson—who is also a $300,000 donor to Beau.

The connections compound: David Simon, a member of Apollo’s own board, is the nephew of Herbert Simon, another top-tier donor to Beau’s campaign. The flow of influence, jobs, and donations forms a closed circuit.

What is Rowan Buying?

Look at Apollo’s recent moves juxtaposed Trump’s plans:

1. Data Center Empire: Apollo has built a commanding position in this critical sector. It now controls a major U.S. data center company and, in January 2026, provided $3.5 billion to finance a $5.4 billion deal for advanced AI chips. This technology is being leased to Elon Musk’s xAI to build a top-tier supercomputer to train its chatbot, Grok.

2. Trump’s Gaza Plan: The ultimate return on Rowan’s political investment came post-election. Trump appointed him to the boards overseeing Gaza’s long-term stabilization–a so-called “Board of Peace” that has been criticized for excluding Palestinian voices. Trump’s “Master Plan,” is a vision of sweeping commercial redevelopment: 170 residential towers, coastal tourism, and, crucially, industrial zones for data centers and advanced manufacturing.

The connection is stark. A man whose firm finances AI data centers is now helping draft a plan to build them on blood-soaked soil.

Think about that for a moment, dear reader.

A CEO whose company invests in restaurants, hotels, real estate, and infrastructure is shaping a blueprint that perfectly aligns with Apollo’s investment portfolio.

This isn’t just influence.

It’s the merger of geopolitical strategy and corporate business development.

And for us Hoosiers, it unfolds against a telling backdrop as Indiana, the state Beau Bayh aims to represent, is in the midst of its own data center boom, with over 30 centers proposed.

The Final Picture:

Marc Rowan isn’t just donating to a Democrat. He is investing in influence and access that will ultimately protect his wealth (tax loopholes), shape policy (campus rules, Gaza reconstruction), and secure future markets (data centers in Indiana and abroad) for Apollo Global Management.

And the $25,000 to Beau Bayh’s campaign is a small price to pay to keep this cycle of power turning.

The question isn’t if Beau Bayh has name recognition—it’s whose recognition, and what they expect in return.

And this system isn’t illegal. It’s the way power often works in America.

So as usual Hoosiers, we find ourselves at a crossroads.

Do we accept the billionaire’s funding?

Or do we take the road less traveled and back the grassroots candidate?

Are we electing representatives, or are we installing middlemen for private equity dealmaking?

The answer, dear reader, will make all the difference.

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The governor even presented a gift to struggling Hoosiers: a slate of “rate-payer conscious” appointments to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), promising a new focus on affordability. It was offered as a protective fortress against soaring bills.

But the gift, dear reader, is a Trojan Horse. And the soldiers, now inside the gates, are armed with utility PAC checkbooks.

The newly appointed chair, Andy Zay, is the embodiment of this ruse. As a former state senator on the utilities committee, Zay wasn’t a watchdog—he was a known recipient. His campaigns were bankrolled by the very corporations whose rate hike requests he is now tasked with approving or denying in the “public interest.” In 2024, Zay’s State Senate campaign accepted money from a who’s who of state’s energy giants: AES ($300), Geenex Solar ($400), Duke Energy ($500), American Electric Power ($1,000), and NiSource ($1,000).

Thousands of dollars in campaign contributions bought access and reliably aligned interests.

Zay’s six-year voting record as a state senator shows where those interests lay. Citizens Action Coalition, Indiana’s leading consumer advocacy organization, graded him on utility and consumer protection legislation and, surprise, he only voted in favor of Hoosier rate-payers 40% of the time. Now, as chair of the IURC, that alignment is complete.

The utilities didn’t need to storm the commission. Instead, they funded the delegation sent to guard it. When Zay reviews a rate hike request, he isn’t judging a neutral corporate filing. He is reviewing an invoice from a patron.

This is the textbook definition of regulatory capture. Not by blunt force, but by clever infiltration. The governor’s so-called “consumer-conscious” watchdog is, in reality, an embedded agent for utility profits. His mandate is not to slash bills or challenge excessive costs, but to rubber-stamp the transfer of every grid upgrade and executive bonus from shareholder ledgers to kitchen-table budgets under the guise of “just and reasonable” necessity.

And all of this comes as Hoosier households are already absorbing rising utility costs, with families expected to shoulder billions in infrastructure investments while utilities enjoy legally protected returns. True public-interest regulation would look very different. It would empower commissioners to reject excessive guaranteed profit margins, disallow multi-million-dollar executive bonuses from rate bases, and seriously explore alternatives like publicly-owned utilities that prioritize affordability over shareholder returns.

Governor Braun did not appoint a defender for us struggling Hoosiers.

He wheeled in a Trojan Horse.

And while the governor sells the story of affordability, the only thing being unloaded inside the regulatory walls is guaranteed return on investment for the utilities that paid for the delivery.

In a recent interview, candidate Beau Bayh claimed his first action, if elected Secretary of State, would be to “conduct an independent audit of this office.” He went on to muse about the supposed rarity of such integrity in politics before concluding with a self-satisfied dare: “[a]udit me. […] Break open the books. See what’s gone wrong. See where the money is.”

So I did.

I opened Indiana’s campaign finance records and a pattern emerged spelled out in six-figure donations–the Simons.

Herbert, Deborah, Cindy, Stephen, Sarah, and Rachel Simon have already poured more than $230,000 into Bayh’s campaign for Secretary of State.

This isn’t philanthropy. It is a strategic investment by a billionaire family to install a business-friendly regulator. For working Hoosiers worried about jobs and fairness…it’s a lesson in how the game is rigged.

The Players and the Prize

So why target the Secretary of State? For a family like the Simons, the prize would be controlling the regulatory climate of their home state. This office isn’t just about elections. The Secretary of State is also Indiana’s business regulator-in-chief.

The office has two key powers of interest to the Simons:

1. As Indiana’s financial cop, it polices investment fraud and licenses debt collectors–areas that probably matter to any family managing a multi-billion dollar fortune…

2. As a corporate gatekeeper, it sets the rules and fees for every LLC and corporation in Indiana and manages the system that lets businesses borrow money against their assests–that would include the sprawling network of Simon-owned entities…

So who are the Simons anyway? They are a business empire.

Herbert “Herb” Simon, along with his late brother Melvin, founded the Simon Property Group in 1960 and built it into a global real-estate powerhouse. That success established the Simons as one of Indiana’s most prominent families. They have since leveraged their fortune to diversify into sports and entertainment through their ownership of Indiana’s professional basketball teams, among other ventures. Herb Simon, alone, is worth an estimated $6.5 billion, while the Simon family’s combined wealth sits around $11.6 billion.

The Investment Portfolio

The Simons, like many of the ultra-wealthy, treat politics as a diversified investment portfolio. They give to both parties to ensure access, regardless of who wins.

Herb Simon has donated to Democrats such as Rep. Frank Mrvan Jr. (D) and to Democratic PACs like the Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Cmte (D). He has also donated to Republicans like Sen. Todd Young (R), and Mike Braun (R), statehouse leaders, such as Todd Huston (R), along with a handful of Republican state representatives. Herb is also known to donate generously to national PACs, like the American Israel Public Affairs Cmte (AIPAC). And on December 5th, 2025, Herb donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh’s campaign.

It should be noted that Herbert Simon’s connection with the Bayh family pre-dates his support for the youngest Bayh’s political ambitions. In 1981, Herb married his second wife, Diane Meyer, a longtime staffer for Birch Bayh (Beau’s grandfather) and the Indiana administrator of Bayh’s office. Meyer briefly left her position to launch Meyer Simon Group Environmental Design Consultants, but returned in 1989, to serve on Evan Bayh’s gubernatorial finance committee where she remained active even throughout his time in the Senate.

This history reveals that it isn’t about ideology. It’s about access to power.

When you’re a billionaire, protecting your empire means having the governor, the mayor, and members of the general assembly in your back pocket.

And this election cycle that strategy is focused on the Secretary of State’s office.

Case Study: Proof of the Payoff

We don’t have to guess as to what the Simons expect. Their recent history provides a clear case study.

Consider what happened last January in Indianapolis…

In the midst of an ongoing housing crisis, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett promised to revitalize the city by demolishing Marion County Jail 1 and repurposing the public land it occupied.

Was it used to build affordable housing? Nope.

Instead, the city sold that land to Pacers Sports & Entertainment to build a new practice facility for the Indiana Fever.

Remember, dear reader: the Simon family owns both Indiana basketball teams through Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Coincidentally, in 2023, the year the deal moved forward, was also the year Deborah J. Simon, Cindy Simon Skjodt, and Herbert Simon each wrote $100,000 checks to local political campaigns. A subsequent Mirror Indy analysis of Mayor Hogsett’s 2024 campaign finances shows Herb Simon and his daughter Rachel added in another $80,000 for good measure.

In short, nearly $400,000 in campaign contributions flowed to Mayor Hogsett’s campaign coffers around the time the City of Indianapolis decided to sell public land to the Simon family’s sports empire.

Let’s be blunt: a billionaire family invested a generous amount to the mayor’s campaign and soon after, that same family’s company got a sweetheart deal on public land.

But don’t worry—according to the rules of American politics, money never buys access, influence, or outcomes. It just politely waits nearby while decisions magically break its way.

Totally normal. Perfectly legal. Absolutely no conflict of interest whatsoever. Riiiiiight.

The Pattern Repeats

Now, the Simons are making a major investment in Beau Bayh for Secretary of State–the office that regulates their business empire.

Consider the scale: One heiress alone, Deborah Simon, donated $75,000 to Beau Bayh’s campaign. She is a named top-ten national donor whose contributions are signals of expectation, not mere support.

The question isn’t if they expect something. The pattern shows they do.

Bayh, if elected, will oversee the corporate laws that govern the Simon Property Group. What are the odds he’ll be tough on his biggest benefactor’s family business?

I’ll tell you this, dear reader, they aren’t in our favor.

So when do we call this money an investment in influence?

The Simon family has answered. The Jail 1 deal is a $400k receipt for political access. The $230k for Beau Bayh’s campaign is a down payment on the next favor.

Beau Bayh asked us to audit him. To “see where the money is.”

Here’s your audit: the money is from billionaire backers like the Simons.

And for any Hoosier who doesn’t have a billion-dollar empire to protect, that tells us exactly who this candidate will work for.

* * *

Just a brief reminder that the purpose of this series is to expose the wealthy elite who bankroll our politicians. As an equal-opportunity critic, I hold power to account wherever it resides. With that in mind, my decision to examine Beau Bayh’s donor list is not intended to divide Democrats, but to make us a more principled party focused on everyday Hoosiers. If we are serious about advancing a working-class agenda, we cannot compromise our values or accept questionable contributions from extremely wealthy donors simply because they are perceived as “our” billionaires.

Accountability cannot be selective. And here, it won’t be.

So rest assured, Republican smoligarchs will get their full turn in the “lemon”-light.

Wait–what? I could’ve sworn the phrase was “fight the oligarchy.”

It is. But here in the Hoosier State, we do things differently. This series is no exception.

So, grab your coffee or your Dr Pepper and let’s talk about smoligarchs who bankroll Indiana politics.

First, what is a smoligarch?

In short, ‘smoligarch’ is a term coined by HoosLeft host, Scott Aaron Rogers. And as I resurrect and slightly rebrand this series, I feel it’s worth clarifying what it means since Indiana’s political class benefits from collective confusion.

The word is a mashup. Smol is internet slang for something small and, ideally, cute. While oligarchs refers to a small number of elite individuals or groups who consolidate political power through wealth. Ergo, smoligarchs are wealthy elites who appear harmless—right up until democracy bends around their checkbooks, that is.

Our smoligarchs may not have Elon Musk’s money, but they’ve got more than enough to carve out little fiefdoms of their own where they write checks, host fundraisers, and pick winners. And because they operate largely at the state level, they do so with far less scrutiny. So what kind of money are we talkin’ ‘bout? Well, as Chris Rock said…

I’m not talkin’ ‘bout rich, I’m talkin’ ‘bout wealthy.

So, when trying to understand the difference between a smoligarch and just another rich a$$hole, remember this, dear reader: Birch Evan Bayh IV’s multi-millionaire family is rich. The Simon family, worth roughly $11.6 billion and funding the young Bayh, is wealthy. In politics, that discrepancy is the difference between participation and control.

*Enter: Fight the Smoligarchy*

While I am a registered Democrat, I want to be fully transparent: I am not a “vote blue no matter who” Democrat. I am the mom of two small children, the wife of a hard-working mechanic, a full-time student on scholarships, and a homeowner in an area that just learned our drinking water will be sacrificed to cool a Meta data center.

I say all of this so you understand where I am coming from and why I am an equal-opportunist who will unapologetically cover smoligarchs from either side of the aisle. Class divides don’t disappear just because the party label is the same. Politicians from both sides benefit when we look left and right for the source of our problems instead of looking up.

And I cannot afford to delude myself into believing that some rich a$$hole knows what it feels like to struggle. To sit on the floor of the closet and cry because you can’t pay a $200 bill and put money into your kid’s school lunch account (don’t even get me started on the exorbitant transaction fee on MyLunchBucks; TLDR…it’s robbery).

But if the people we elect to represent us do not know what the struggle even looks like, how can they possibly identify REAL solutions?

Hoosiers are good, kind-hearted people who value honest work. All we want is to buy a home, go to a job that pays our bills, send our kids to good public schools, buy groceries with a debit card (not a credit card), and maybe, just maybe, be able to afford to go out to dinner or the movies once in a while. It doesn’t feel like an unreasonable request.

Your conservative co-worker did not raise your rent. Your kid’s schoolteacher who voted for Clinton isn’t why your AES bill is suddenly unaffordable. The immigrant newcomer to your community isn’t the reason you spent $300 at Walmart and walked out with only two bags. And your non-binary neighbor merely existing is not what’s wrong with the world today.

The real problem? Money in politics.

The purpose of this series is to loudly call out the smoligarchs who wine, dine, and pocket-line our politicians. To identify the wealthy elites and corporations who control our politics and ultimately our lives. This series exists because I’m tired of nepo-babies and wealthy a$$holes buying politicians who wouldn’t last a week living the material conditions of the working-class people they claim to represent.

Simply put, this series exists so we can fight the smoligarchy.

Together. In solidarity.