Free Republic

09:47 PM MDT on Friday, September 19, 2003 Associated Press SACRAMENTO - A millionaire investor from Idaho who has been fighting a long-running tax battle with the federal government has become one of the largest contributors to GOP front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor. William A. Robinson gave $100,000 to Schwarzenegger's Total Recall committee and $21,000 to his candidate committee Tuesday, public records show. Schwarzenegger's recall committee is not subject to the same Proposition 34 campaign contribution limits as apply to his individual campaign, and can accept unlimited donations to promote recalling Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. In May, Robinson, who...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - William Armsted Robinson, a top contributor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, founded Document Handling Limited, one of the nation's first courier services, and sold it for $57 million last year. Competitors United Parcel Service and Federal Express, which fought the sale, wanted Robinson to testify that he was merely a financial front for the minority owner, Germany's Deutsche Post. The U.S. Department of Transportation eventually ruled against their claim and allowed the sale. In a transcript of his sworn confidential deposition, obtained by The Associated Press, Robinson said he had no idea how he came up with his...

SACRAMENTO - He's used his millions to benefit exotic show horses, a home for retired chimpanzees - and California's actor-governor. William Armsted Robinson has quietly become one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top donors, periodically trading off the pinnacle with San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos and Spanish language television entrepreneur Jerry Perenchio. Stockton real estate developer Spanos and Univision owner Perenchio are high-profile businessmen with long-term interests in California. But Robinson is an elusive, reclusive man whose first major foray into influencing politics is the $650,000 he has given Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger fund-raiser Marty Wilson describes Robinson as a "very private,...