Seal bribe case records, pump firm asks court

A Broward company headed by a one-time business partner of Gov. Jeb Bush wants to seal records in a federal case in which the firm is accused of having bribed officials in Nigeria as part of a water-pump sale.

The records could include any pretrial deposition given by Bush about his role in a company that he once owned with J. David Eller, who now runs MWI Corp., the company being sued.

Bush has never given a full accounting of the work he did for Bush-El Trading Corp., which did business in Nigeria and a host of other foreign countries while his father was president.

In 1994, when he first ran for governor, Bush sold his share in the company for $648,250 to Eller.

The company later changed its name.

Eller owns MWI, a Deerfield Beach-based firm that makes water pumps, and he still has ties to Bush.

He co-sponsored a Bush reelection fund-raiser on June 17 in Davie. He has also contributed money to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns.

MWI is defending against a lawsuit involving a decade-old business deal with Nigeria that went sour amid the bribery allegations. The governor's office has said that the lawsuit does not involve Bush, and Bush has said he had no role in the Nigerian pump deal.

MWI is seeking a federal judge's order to seal pretrial documents. Bill Scherer Jr., MWI's Broward-based attorney, said Bush was not on the list of people expected to be called as witnesses, and who would thus be subject to a pretrial deposition.