In the previous pages we showed documents stating that Summers End had borrowed $1.7 million from “Island Investco” in early 2017.  Island Investco is an entity owned by Timothy Litel, of Baton Rouge, Lousiana.

Following the September 2017 hurricanes, and the slow progress of Summers End in the Army Corps of Engineers, it appears that by 2023 Mr. Litel had decided to enlist the support of Republican Congressman Garrett Graves, of Baton Rouge, Lousiana.

In October 2023, Representative Garret Graves served on the House Committees on Natural Resources and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has jurisdiction over the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The Natural Resources committee has oversight over NOAA NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service).  All of these agencies (Army Corps, NMFS, and EPA) were involved in reviewing the Summers End permit application.

So it is clear that Rep. Graves, through his committee oversight role, had some influence over the federal agencies involved in the SEG permit review.

According to the online records of the Federal Election Commission, on September 7, 2023, Timothy James Litel donated $25,000 to the “Garret Graves Victory Fund” as a contribution to Graves’ primary election campaign.  This is the largest individual contribution reported by Graves to the Federal Election Commission from 2022 – 2024.  A second contribution, the same day, was made to the National Republican Campaign Committee, earmarked for “Garrett Graves Victory Fund”.  The second contribution was $13,400 for a total of just under $40,000 contributed by a major Summers End investor to Rep. Garrett Graves.

I cannot find any other campaign contribution records from Timothy Litel.  These two appear to be his only federally reported political campaign donation in this  period.

Two months later, on November 7, 2023, Representative Graves’ office contacted NOAA NMFS to request a “a briefing on NMFS’ role, the consultation process for consideration, and status of the Summer’s End marina at St. John USVI.”  This request was forwarded to all of the senior staff in NOAA NMFS involved with the project (document from NOAA FOIA response):

Shortly after this meeting the activities of the Army Corps and NOAA appeared to accelerate, with pressure to approve informal consultations, pressure to approve the NHPA Section 106 action, and pressure to get a permit approved.  The earliest mention that I can find of an “expedited review” by NMFS is a request from USACE in October 2023.

As an added element of irony, the Summers End Group had for years claimed that their mega yacht marina would “improve the environment” of Coral Harbor – clean up the water, reduce storm runoff, protect seagrass – all of that and so much more.  Their federal spokesperson – Rep. Graves – was not known as an “environmentalist” and, in fact, the League of Conservation Voters gave Graves a grade of 6% (on a scale from 0 – 100%) for his record of environmental votes.  When does a supposed environmentally conscious developer seek the services of one of the least environmentally recognized members of Congress?