Abel Corbin was considered a smooth talker and had made money speculating in real estate. More importantly to Fisk and Gould, he had direct access to Grant. They used Corbin's relationship to get close to Grant in social situations, where they would argue against government sale of gold, and Corbin would support their arguments. Gould also attempted to bribe Grant's personal secretary Horace Porter by giving him a $500,000 gold account in his name, but Porter, a former military aid to Grant, stated that he declined the offer. Not accustomed to having such offers turned down, Gould went ahead and made the purchase and opened a brokerage account in Porter's name regardless. When Porter was informed of Gould's unauthorized transaction, he refused the offer in writing. In similar fashion, Corbin approached Grant's wife Julia and attempted to entice her into accepting half interest in $250,000 in bonds, but she turned that offer down.