Dan Quayle announcing his brief, unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1999. (Photo: Getty)

Cerberus Capital Management L.P., the private equity firm that owns the company which made Newtown killer Adam Lanza's assault rifle has extensive political connections. The company's senior executive leadership team is stocked with political figures including former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Mr. Quayle is the Chairman of Cerberus' international division, Cerberus Global Investments, and is identified on the companies website as one of its top eight executives. In 2006, Cerberus, which is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, purchased Bushmaster Firearms, manufacturers of the AR 15 assault rifle Lanza used to kill all 26 of his victims.

Cerberus followed their purchase of Bushmaster by buying several other gunmakers including Remington Arms. These companies were later consolidated into a company called the Freedom Group that is now one
of America's largest gun manufacturers.

Cerberus has a $20 billion portfolio, but Freedom Group is no small fry. In the three months from the end of June through the end of September, Freedom Group sold $237.9 million worth of its products for a profit of $82.2 million. Sales made to Wal Mart accounted for 13 percent of Freedom Group's sales in the first nine months of this year.

In addition to Mr. Quayle, two of the other eight members of Cerberus' senior executive leadership come from the political realm. Former Treasury Secretary John Snow is Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management. Andrew Kandel, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Investor Protection & Securities Bureau at the New York State Attorney General's Office is Cerberus Capital Management's Chief Compliance Officer, Co-General Counsel and Managing Director.

In the aftermath of the Newtown killings, much of the ensuing political debate has focused on the NRA and the lobbying arm of the gun industry. However, the lengthy political resumes of Cerberus' executive leadership clearly demonstrates the gun industry's political connections go much deeper than the NRA.

Politicker reached out to spokesmen for Cerberus to ask about their connection to the Newtown killings and Mr. Quayle's role in the company. As of this writing, we have not received a response.

Update (12/18 10:08 a.m.): Cerberus spokesman John Dillard responded to our request for comment overnight by sending us a statement announcing the firm's plans to sell Freedom Group. 

(Photo: Getty)

Thanks to the Obama campaign's attacks on Mitt Romney's career with Bain Capital, private equity has been thrust into the spotlight  on the campaign trail with partisans on both sides debating whether the industry has a negative effect on the country. Private Equity Growth Capital Council, a political action committee that was formed in 2007 by several of the country’s largest private equity firms, has responded with a series of videos  "aimed at educating media, policy makers and the public about the private equity industry and its positive contributions to the American economy."

"The presidential election has brought the private equity business model into sharp focus. But sometimes lost in the political debate is the positive impact private equity brings to the companies in which they invest," read a statement from PEGCC announcing their latest video.

The video series, which is entitled Private Equity at Work, highlights examples of companies that have been helped by private equity. A "national coupon and reverse logistics processing company" called Inmar is the latest video case study featured in the series.

“In 2011, private equity firms pumped $144 billion into 1,702 companies, and Inmar is just one of many hugely successful stories.  This new video illustrates yet another example of private equity growing and strengthening companies, and we are proud to add the Inmar case study to our collection of private equity success stories,” Steve Judge, President and CEO of PEGCC, said in a statement announcing the video.  “Private equity is part of the long-term solution for our country’s economic recovery.”

Members of PEGCC include 36 of the world's largest private equity firms including The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Bain Capital was a founding member of the PEGCC, but it is no longer part of the group. Along with its efforts to promote private equity, the PEGCC makes substantial donations to political candidates.

Watch the PEGCC's latest video below.

Ed Koch (Photo: Getty)

Former Mayor Ed Koch has had a bit of an independent streak in politics (he endorsed George W. Bush for reelection in 2004, for example), but he's not joining the ranks of moderate Democrats expressing skepticism of President Barack Obama's attacks on Bain Capital and Mitt Romney's record with the company.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker infamously -- and briefly -- criticized attacks on Bain as a broad attack on private equity, and on Inside City Hall last night, Mr. Koch backed Mr. Booker's attempt to walk those remarks back.

"I think it's a bad rap," he explained. "I think he was inarticulate -- even though he's a very articulate guy -- in not distinguishing between what he believes to be honorable professions when honorably done and ... the smut and the attacks made by both parties on one another which he doesn't think are good and neither do I!"

Mr. Koch proceeded to specifically defend the president from criticism in this regard.

"The president made it very clear: He's not attacking people on Wall Street," he argued, noting that the financial sector pays a good portion of New York City's taxes. "So as long as they're paying and being honorable, who should attack them? On the other hand, I do attack the people engaging in abuses. I do attack people like J.P. Morgan that's leading the fight to end regulation."

Of course, it might not be that surprising for Mr. Koch to stick up for Mr. Obama on this issue, he was most recently found hosting a press conference in front of J.P. Morgan's headquarters demanding more federal regulation.

Mitt Romney is currently on a fundraising swing through New York City and Democrats like Congressman Jerry Nadler and state party chairman Jay Jacobs used the occasion  to blast, as Mr. Nadler framed it, Mr. Romney's economic "wizardry."

Of course, neither Mr. Nadler or Mr. Jacobs would attack the financial industry with the same rhetoric as officials in other parts of the country -- Mr. Nadler's district contains many people who work in Wall Street and Mr. Jacobs undoubtedly raises plenty of money from that constituency as well.

"I don't think the campaign is attacking private equity per se. Private equity is  a great business that very often rescues companies, restructures them and saves jobs," Mr. Nadler said in response to our question about Democrats feeling skittish about the president's rhetoric. "What the campaign is saying is that private equity can also be used by people with very little conscience to destroy companies, to take value out of those companies, to make profits for a few people and destroy lots of jobs. Mitt Romney -- as head of Bain -- did that."

"Most private equity people do a fine job and help the economy and take fair profits," he said later. "What the campaign is saying is not that there's anything against private equity when done right, it's against some people who do it wrong. Like Mitt Romney."

Mr. Nadler's argument was echoed by Mr. Jacobs. People who work in Mitt Romney's field aren't bad, but he the candidate still needs to be judged by his "ruthless" practices, especially as he has stressed his own business record in the campaign.

"He needed to practice a very ruthless form of business, and I'm not characterizing it as good or bad, but it's just a very different type of business that needs to be done if you want to be President of the United States," Mr. Jacobs said. "As president, you don't have that luxury. You don't have the luxury to be ruthless. Your constituency is everybody in America: the rich and the poor; the succeeding and the failing; the businessmen and the worker; and the strong and the weak."

Mitt Romney is widely expected to win New Hampshire tonight.

America's biggest private equity companies have spent millions over the past five years lobbying to keep their tax rates low. Several major private equity firms, including Mitt Romney's former employer, Bain Capital, have paid for lobbyists to fight for the carried interest tax break, which protects the profits-based compensation that makes up a large portion of private equity executives' pay from regular tax rates. Carried interest became a hot button issue on the campaign trail when Mr. Romney revealed he pays a tax rate of just about 14.65 percent, in large part due to the low tax rates for carried interest. 

Carried interest is a portion of the profits made in an investment fund that is paid to the fund manager once they're in the black. Many private equity executives receive much of their compensation in the form of carried interest. Carried interest is currently taxed at the same 15 percent rate as other profits from investments rather than the 35 percent rate that earners in the highest bracket pay on standard income.

The private equity companies Blackstone Group LP and Bain have both paid to lobby to keep the carried interest rate low. Private equity companies also teamed to form a political action committee which began making campaign contributions last summer. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, lobbying is only part of the reason the carried interest tax break has survived political pressure. In addition to the backing by companies, the tax break also enjoys the support of wealthy donors who give to both parties.

In 2008, Mr. Romney supported preserving the carried interest tax break. Following the controversy over his tax returns, his policy director, Lanhee Chen, hinted that he'd be willing to eliminate the tax break, however his campaign subsequently backed away from her statements.

Congressman Joe Crowley (Photo: House of Representatives)

The Private Equity & Growth Capital Council, which was formed in 2007 by several of the country's largest private equity firms, quietly formed a political action committee last spring and began making campaign contributions this past summer. New York City Congressman Joe Crowley was one of the top Democratic beneficiaries of donations from the private equity PAC. 

PEGCC spokesman Ken Spain told Fortune's Dan Primack the purpose of the private equity PAC was to support candidates who "understand the important role that private equity plays in driving economic growth, strengthening businesses and providing financial security to millions of Americans by delivering superior returns to public and private pension funds."

Last year, PEGCC's PAC mostly gave money to Republicans. Campaign finance reports show it gave roughly two-thirds of the $98,000 it spent during the last year to GOP politicians. Republican Congressmen Orrin Hatch and Spencer Bachus got the most money from PEGCC with $10,000 apiece. The Democratic politicians who received the most money from the private equity PAC were South Dakota Congressman Tim Johnson and Mr. Crowley, who each received contributions of $5,000 from PEGCC.

Private Equity has become something of a political bogeyman in this year's presidential election with Republican candidate Mitt Romney taking a great deal of heat on the campaign trail for his career with private equity firm Bain Capital. Bain was one of the original members of PEGCC, but it has since left the group.

In 2010, Mr. Crowley, who is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, came under scrutiny for his contributions from the financial industry. That fall, the House Ethics Committee conducted a probe of Mr. Crowley after he collected $23,500 in donations from financial industry executives at series of fundraisers held in late 2009, just before he voted on legislation to impose tougher restrictions on Wall Street. The Ethics Committee dropped their investigation of Mr. Crowley in January 2011 and released a report saying the probe  "raised no appearances of impropriety."

Mr. Crowley represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens and The Bronx.