GREEN BAY, WI — Talk about embarrassing! Even without opposition in the fall, Republicans just hate getting caught with their hands in the adult-entertainment cookie jar.State Sen. Rob Cowles [R-Green Bay] had his San Diego-based stockbroker dump from his investment portfolio what one columnist called “a boatload of X-rated stock” after word got out Monday that he had invested in Rick’s Cabaret International and VCG Holding. Both of the publicly traded companies operate gentlemen’s clubs nationwide. Rick’s also publishes men’s magazines, operates the annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo, and offers websites catering to swingers and lovers of hardcore imagery.
The more than $50,000 investment, at least part of which Cowles had held for two years, appeared in his most recent ethics filing as required by state law.
Ouch.
“I’m not happy with this,” Cowles told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice. “It’s embarrassing.”
Cowles, who has a reputation for being fiscally conservative and is one of the wealthiest members of the state senate, admitted he knew what business the two companies were in, but Bice wrote the senator “seemed genuinely surprised… about the websites and magazines operated by Rick’s.”
He also vowed to purge “right away” any other sneaky pornography hiding in his stock portfolio.
It probably didn’t hurt Cowles’ decision-making that both companies’ stocks have declined in value over the summer.
Even though he knew Rick’s and VCG made their money in the skin trade, Cowles blamed his broker’s bad judgment for the stock’s presence in his portfolio.
“I’m very upset with my guy in California,” he told Bice. “I hope this chapter is done, and we can get back to good stuff.”
Cowles said he didn’t know whether he had profited from owning or selling the stock.
