GOP Infighting May Trouble Simon Campaign

As for his business dispute with the candidate and his late father, former U.S. Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, Parsky denied there was lasting friction.

"Any differences were with his father," Parsky said.

When the breach occurred, though, Parsky cast Bill Simon Jr. as a key source of the conflict. Parsky, now 59, had been a top aide to Simon's father during the Nixon and Ford administrations, when the elder Simon was Treasury secretary. In the late 1980s, Parsky and the elder Simon became partners in a wide array of savings-and-loan and other investments. They abruptly broke ties in 1991.

"I totally lost trust and confidence in Gerald L. Parsky and no longer wished to be associated with him either professionally or personally," William E. Simon said at the time.

Parsky Says Simon Cut Ties

Parsky gave a different account to Forbes magazine in 1992, saying Simon had cut their business ties because Parsky had refused to make Bill Simon Jr. a full partner.

Bill Simon Jr. declined to discuss the matter.

"It really had to do with things between Dad and Gerry, and that's really about as far as I want to take it," he said.

For now, Simon and Parsky are working together. Parsky was in Sacramento last week at a Simon appearance with Republican leaders.

Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist at the White House, said Simon and Parsky have been "very positive" about each other. Since the primary, Parsky has helped to rally Riordan supporters and others behind Simon, and he remains "the leader of our political team out there," Rove said.

"He's there to help facilitate whatever the Simon campaign wants within reason from the White House and from the Bush people," Rove said.

Parsky's ties to the Bush family date to 1976. At the time, former President George Bush was director of the CIA. He met from time to time with Parsky, whose frequent travels abroad for the Treasury Department required him to keep in close touch with the CIA.

Parsky cultivated a friendship with the elder Bush. The former president once described Parsky in a videotaped testimonial as "not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get involved in the political arena when a lot of people are running for cover." During Bush's 1992 campaign, First Lady Barbara Bush stayed at Parsky's ranch.