The Lewis Operating Corp. benefited from earmarks obtained by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA). Interestingly, Miller has a business relationship with Lewis Operating Corp.

Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) helped secure several earmarks in the 2005 transportation bill that would benefit projects of his business partner, Lewis Operating, according to House sources and an analysis of the bill’s earmarks and San Bernardino County, Calif., land records.

In the years leading up to the bill’s passage, Miller’s financial ties to the company, one of the largest privately held real-estate development companies in the country, have grown. The year before the transportation bill passed, Miller borrowed $7.5 million from Lewis Operating to purchase land from it. Lewis Operating Corp. is also one of Miller’s top campaign contributors; employees of the company have donated $22,150 to Miller’s campaign committee since his election to Congress in 1998.

Miller was named one of the 20 most corrupt Members of Congress in CREW's report, Beyond DeLay. One of the reasons Miller made the list was his relationship with Lewis Operating Corp.:

Before he entered Congress, Rep. Miller had a lucrative career as a developer of planned communities. Rep. Miller has had a long relationship with Lewis Operating Co. Members of the Lewis family and employees of the company have been Rep. Miller’s top campaign donors, while at the same time, Rep. Miller has been involved in a number of land transactions with Lewis Operating. In 2005 alone, Rep. Miller made between $1.1 and $6 million off of land deals with Lewis Operating.

In addition, in 2004, Rep. Miller took out three separate promissory notes from the Lewis Operating group of companies totaling $7.46 million. Using the money obtained through these loans, Rep. Miller bought land from Lewis Investment in “seller-financed” deals, which often result in better deals for the person buying the land.

Rep. Miller has earmarked $1.28 million for street improvements near a planned residential community he co-owns with Lewis Operating and he subverted the FAA’s process by closing the Rialto airport, allowing Lewis Operating to win a contract from Rialto to redevelop the airport property as a planned community.

Rep. Miller appears to have abused his position to financially benefit himself and Lewis Operating in violation of House rules.