NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Former Reagan White House aide and FBI informant “wows” Noon Rotary audience (VIDEO)

Todd Blodgett
Todd Blodgett at the podium

GOP Operative went undercover, Spied on neo-Nazis; KKK – and became a Junkie (Watch video as he tells his story)

MASON CITY – Former White House aide Todd Blodgett addressed a full banquet room of Noon Rotary club members and others on Aug. 3 at Mason City’s Prime & Wine restaurant. Most of the audience of about 100 people clearly enjoyed his remarks, which centered on his service on Ronald Reagan’s White House staff, and his work for the FBI monitoring White Supremacists and Hate Groups. “I’ve been a member here for many, many years,” a Rotarian told NorthIowaToday.com, “and Mr. Blodgett was one of the best speakers we’ve ever hosted. He was serious, but he spoke in a way that got some big laughs. He was compelling, entertaining, and looked like a million bucks in that white sport coat.”

Blodgett, 54, has had a storied, well-publicized career: White House aide at age 24. Campaign staffer for the first President Bush at 27. Protégé of the famed, right-wing political strategist Lee Atwater at age 28, and Republican National Committee senior staff member by age 30. He was the reluctant co-owner of the world’s most profitable racist music company – Resistance Records, Inc. – which led to his work as a full-time, paid FBI undercover informant. While still in his thirties, Blodgett, after being recruited by the bureau, agreed to work full-time as a paid undercover informant. According the The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Wikipedia, from March, 2000 through November, 2002, Blodgett monitored what he called “some of the nastiest people on the planet.”

One of the “big laughs” Blodgett got came at the expense of local politician Max Weaver. As Blodgett described his run-ins with drug dealers in the hoods of D. C., he said he “learned, the hard way, that fighting drug pushers in the hoods made about as much sense as fighting over an old hubcap at the Landfill, with Max Weaver.” Blodgett was 38 years old when he became a drug addict; his drug was crack cocaine.

He told the crowd his addiction destroyed his 9-year marriage, cost him $800,000, and led to him being hospitalized after fights with drug dealers. Blodgett also was jailed a few times in Washington, D.C., “after being busted for narcotics possession by the D. C. police.” One of his hospitalizations resulted in the removal of his spleen, he said, after a knife fight with a dope pusher where Blodgett “got the point.”

After being mugged three times, and fearful, the former White House staffer began carrying a loaded handgun for self-protection. As he was introduced, the Master of Ceremonies told the audience of how Blodgett, as a kid, made the acquaintance of J. Neil ‘Moon’ Reagan. Neil Reagan was the older brother of Ronald Reagan and arranged for Blodgett to meet the future President in 1976.

Ronald Reagan liked Todd Blodgett, and the two stayed in touch with one another. They were already on very good terms before Reagan was elected U. S. President in 1980.

Todd Blodgett at the podium
Todd Blodgett at the podium

“If I’d had to rely on my grades for the jobs I held,” Blodgett said, “I’d have never made it.”

Todd Blodgett is the son of retired Orthodontist Dr. Gary B. Blodgett. Gary Blodgett served as the Deputy Majority Leader in the Iowa Legislature from 1992-2001, and was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 as a Federal administrative Judge. The senior Blodgett served in the Bush administration until 2008, and returned to Clear Lake. He fills the role of what Globe-Gazette reporter John Skipper deemed the “Republican Kingmaker” of north Iowa politics.

Cerro Gordo county Supervisors Jay Urdahl, Casey Callanan, and Phil Dougherty, and Gov. Terry Branstad, U. S. Senator Chuck Grassley, and Congressman Steve King, are among the many elected officials who have benefitted from Dr. Blodgett’s fundraising efforts and endorsements on behalf of their candidacies.

NorthIowaToday.com was unable to reach Mr. Blodgett for a comment for this article, but NIT did obtain a copy of a video taken via the cell phone of an audience member. Referencing his being jailed for illegal drug possession, and gunplay, and his ex-wife leaving him due to his addiction, Blodgett tried to downplay his status as a well-connected, GOP Insider from one of Iowa’s most prominent Republican families. “For me to have the honor of addressing you,” Blodgett told Rotary members, “is like Donald Trump being named as Ambassador to Mexico.”

Not everyone at the Rotary luncheon was pleased with Blodgett’s remarks. A member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NIT that “it’s inappropriate for speakers to talk about drugs, guns, and racial prejudice.”

“But I guess that doesn’t apply to Dr. Blodgett’s son, the Rotarian said. “Before he spoke, several older members greeted him like they would a celebrity, or a prodigal son. I saw Ron Masters, Francis Holland, and Dick Mathes, and several others, walk right up to the head table to shake his hand. Even more members went up there after his speech, they got photos taken with him. I guess being from a well-to-do, politically-connected family has its benefits. Todd was self-deprecating, which was wise on his part. But if I’d had my druthers, he’d have not addressed our club. Don’t get me wrong: Blodgett spoke well, and nobody was bored. He was funny, and entertaining, and people will be talking about this one for awhile. But, still, it was just inappropriate, I think.“

However, an NIT reader, confidant and Mason City citizen, Jim Burgess, told NIT that Mr. Blodgett “blew them away”. Mr. Burgess was in attendance and sat next to the mayor of Mason City and other “important” people.

“I was there, and boy, let me tell you, Todd had that room in the palm of his hand.”

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

47 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Need help with your website?
Call your local professional,
Breakthrough Web Design:
515-897-1144
or go to
BreakthroughWebDesign.com

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
47
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x