Which came first: the lobbyist or the congressional staffer? The answer in the case of Jeffrey Shockey, aide to Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) profiled in Time Magazine, is just as difficult to determine as the original chicken and egg version. Shockey began his career on Capitol Hill working for Rep. Lewis for eight years. He then left his post in 1999 to join a lobbying firm whose chief partner Bill Lowery was a top donor and close friend of Lewis. “Many of his new clients, including municipalities, hospitals and lesser-known universities, were from Lewis's district” and had business before Lewis and the Appropriations Committee. Shockey “helped win at least $150 million in pork for an array of clients,” with the help of earmarks added to appropriations bills. When Lewis took over the Appropriations Committee he brought Shockey back to work for him, while Shockey’s wife went to work for the very lobbying firm that her husband had just left. Shockey received a $600,000 buyout from the Lowery firm and continued to receive payments from the buyout even as he worked for Lewis.
Continue readingSpecter Denies Wrongdoing, Asks for Investigation:
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) denied wrongdoing for his part in “earmarking 13 times in the last three years to allocate funds to clients” of lobbyist Michael Herson, the husband of Specter’s appropriation aide Vicki Siegel Herson. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Specter stated that he “would ask the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether any rules were violated.” The Senator also denied that he or anyone in his office had done anything wrong, although he “acknowledged that he had not sorted out all the actions of his aide in the approval of the spending.” Siegel Herson’s actions in approving earmarks related to her husband’s clients are unknown as of yet, however it is known that she failed to inform Specter that her husband represented clients that benefited from his earmarks.
Continue readingPelosi Calls for Ethics Committee Investigation on Budget-cut Bill:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called for an ethics investigation into the budget reconciliation bill that passed both the House and Senate and was signed by the President despite a typo that made the House and Senate versions different, according to The Hill newspaper. A bill cannot become a law if the House and Senate versions differ. A private citizen in Alabama has already filed a lawsuit challenging the bill in court. The Democratic Leader brought a “privileged resolution to put Republicans on the record defending their leadership's decision not to bring the bill back to the floor for a fix.” Republicans claim that a typo does not matter and that the President has already signed the bill.
Continue readingGonzales Won’t Step Aside on Abramoff:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to recuse himself from the investigation of Jack Abramoff a day after 31 Senate Democrats called on him to step aside, according to the Associated Press. Democrats contend that Gonzales’ previous work as White House General Counsel and his close ties to President Bush and White House officials creates a conflict of interest in the investigation. So far, the Abramoff investigation has led to the indictment and arrest of former General Services Administration official David Safavian and an ongoing investigation into Deputy Secretary of Interior Stephen Griles. Gonzales stated, “We've got career prosecutors involved in this investigation as we do in all investigations; these are folks that are not motivated by any political agenda.”
Continue readingMembers Push for Independent Ethics Commission:
Contending that the House and Senate ethics committees have failed to do their jobs, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) “outlined a plan for an ethics enforcement commission that would receive complaints from the public as well as from legislators, have subpoena and deposition powers, and could present cases to the House and Senate ethics committees or the Justice Department.” The Associated Press reports on Obama’s efforts in the Senate to create an outside enforcement body and the efforts of Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Chris Shays (R-CT) to do the same in the House. Meehan and Shays “introduced a bill to create an office of public integrity - a professional, independent, nonpartisan office to investigate ethics complaints.”
Continue readingCity Aims to Curb Lobbyists:
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) joined forces to push for strict limits to the influence of lobbyists in the city, according to the New York Times. The two “jointly proposed new legislation prohibiting all city employees, elected or appointed, from accepting gifts or meals from lobbyists,” and “also proposed legislation that would end matching funds for campaign donations from lobbyists, their spouses and other immediate family members.” The reform proposal also “would seek strict new disclosure and reporting standards, requiring that the information be filed electronically and that lobbyists disclose when they are also helping political candidates raise money.” A proposal for a mechanism to enforce infractions “had not been worked out yet.”
Continue readingJefferson, Bribery Probed:
Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA) is in the spotlight for his role in a bribery case that has already led a former aide to plead guilty. According to the Washington Post, Jefferson allegedly demanded “cash and other favors for himself and relatives, in exchange for using his congressional clout to arrange African business deals.” The former aide, Brett Pfeffer, claims that after getting a job at an investment firm owned by Lori Mody, the head of a foundation whose aim is to educate Third World children about technology, Jefferson informed him of a business deal to introduce a new technology to African children. According to court documents, Pfeffer states that Jefferson performed a series of official acts, including meeting with African dignitaries, and, in return, asked for a family member to be hired to the new business and for 5 to 7 percent of returns. Federal investigators raided the home and office of Jefferson and the home of the Vice President of Nigeria last August and continue to pursue the case.
Continue readingSpecter Earmarks Go to Aide’s Husband:
According to USA Today, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) used the process of earmarks “13 times to set aside $48.7 million for six clients represented by lobbyist Michael Herson and the firm he co-founded, American Defense International.” Herson is married to Specter’s legislative assistant for appropriations Vicki Siegel Herson, who was formerly a lobbyist for defense contractors. Michael Herson’s lobbying firm took in $1.5 million from these clients over the past four years. Specter denies knowing that Herson was involved in these earmarks and said that, “at no time did her husband lobby my office or seek appropriations from any member of my staff.” It is a violation of Senate rules for senators or their staffers to use their position for personal financial gain.
Continue readingEarmark Reform Could Cost Bipartisanship, Test GOP Comity:
The process of earmarking often unites lawmakers across party lines for the purpose of bringing money back to their state and respective districts. The Hill newspaper reports that this bipartisan behavior, rare nowadays on Capitol Hill, could be lost in the wake of earmark reform. The Transportation Bill, which passed the House 412-8, is a symbol of this process, where lawmakers put their pet projects in, and “[exchange] pleasantries on the floor.” In a related story on the pressures of earmark reform the comity of the Republican Conference is being tested. The Washington Times reports that Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and other House Republicans are backing the practice of earmarking while conservative stalwart Jeff Flake (R-AZ) denounces the pushback against reform by stating, “The Empire is striking back.”
Continue readingOnline Lobbying Disclosure Forms Frustrate:
Thousands of lobbyists trying to file their end-of-year disclosure forms electronically found that their forms were continuously rejected by the new electronic disclosure system, according to the Washington Post. The new system, initiated by former House Administration Chairman Bob Ney (R-OH), is facing complaints from lobbyists that it is “cumbersome, complicated and expensive.” A chief complaint is the requirement of a “digital signature” before it would be accepted. So far, 14,165 electronic disclosure forms had been received. The typical annual intake of forms usually rises above 20,000.
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