According to the Alaska Daily News, Gov. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) used the new state jet to rack up 44 hours of travel time and $73,500 in costs in the jet’s first three months of operations. Some of his destinations include Las Vegas, Dallas, and Seattle. The only people to spend more money and time on the jet: prisoners being ferried to leased jail space in Arizona. … Roll Call’s K Street Files: ex-Rep. and current lobbyist for PhRMA Billy Tauzin is trying to defend himself from becoming the poster child of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street. Speaking of that revolving door, it just keeps on spinning as Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and the Commerce Department see employees leave for jobs on K Street. … The Christian Science Monitor covers Gale Norton’s resignation at the Interior Department and discusses the pressure from pro-industry groups for Bush to nominate another Interior Secretary with close industry ties. The article also ponders whether Norton’s resignation was related to Jack Abramoff’s ties to Interior and a group founded by Norton. … The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that it’s good business for the nearly one-third of leaseholders in San Diego to hire lobbyists to target City Hall. But for lawmakers and lobbyists, “it can be a bonanza.” … It’s not only big business and special interest groups that lobby the government, foreign governments do it too. And it just so happens, according to the Telegraph, that Pakistan lobbied the 9/11 Commission to drop “anti-Pakistan references” from the commission report. The lobbying allegedly included bribing some commission members to go easy on Pakistan. These allegations first appeared in the Pakistani magazine The Friday Times.
Continue readingIn Blog Daylight:
Laura Rozen of War and Piece looks into Duke Cunningham’s connections to American policy towards Iran and the shady connections that his bribers Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade had with the government and with Iranians.
Continue readingSantorum Continues to Meet with Lobbyists:
A month after saying that he was canceling regular meetings with lobbyists the Washington Post reports that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) continues to meet “with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week,” as he previously did. The meetings, which are designed for strategy and to raise money for Santorum’s re-election bid, were held at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters and at the offices of the Heritage Foundation, a non-profit conservative think-tank. Santorum is also facing criticism for using money from his political action committee to pay for 160 visits to coffee shops around his house, and numerous trips to fast food restaurants, and grocery stores. His campaign manager, Virginia Davis, justifies the use of PAC money to purchase coffee by stating that PACs “can be expensive to maintain”.
Continue readingSenate Votes to Ban Gifts, Meals; Schumer Holds up Reform:
The Senate voted to ban lobbyists from providing lawmakers and their staffs with meals and gifts, according to the New York Times. The meal ban was attached to broader reform legislation and was approved unanimously by voice vote. Aside from the meal and gift ban the reform legislation would require members to disclosure all privately financed travel, double the “cooling off” period for legislators turned lobbyists from one year to two years, and allow members to challenge individual earmarks. The most contentious part of the reform legislation would “require, for the first time, the disclosure of big, paid grass-roots lobbying campaigns aimed at influencing government officials.” The Family Research Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the ACLU oppose this reform. Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in an attempt to block the United Arab Emirates from taking over control of numerous US ports, attached an amendment to the lobbying reform legislation that would block the controversial port deal that is supported by the Bush administration. This has thrown the reform process into disarray as Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) filed for cloture to block Schumer’s amendment.
Continue readingDefense Department Opened Investigation into Contractor in 2000:
The Department of Defense opened a criminal investigation into the activities of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, now under federal investigation for his role in bribing jailed ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, back in 2000 that began with an anonymous tip, according to Roll Call. In the Defense Criminal Investigation Service report a Defense Department official, “Official D,” details “an attempt by Cunningham to pressure him into allowing payment of $750,000 for five allegedly fraudulent invoices submitted to the Pentagon in 1998 and 1999.” Justice Department documents show that the invoices came from Wilkes and his company, ADCS. The DCIS made a criminal referral to the Justice Department that was not taken up by the U.S. Attorney in San Diego. Wilkes paid Cunningham his first bribe the month before “Official D” was interviewed.
Continue readingIn Other News:
Roll Call reports that House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) “has traveled on more exclusive golf outings, lobbyist-funded vacations and fundraising excursions to luxurious destinations than he has on return trips back to his Ohio district to visit constituents during this time period,” according to a report by Campaign for a Cleaner Congress. … Alaska Daily News reports that Rep. Don Young (R-AK), “With 31 campaign-related flights on private jets since 2001 … is in third place among House members.” … The Billings Gazette reports that Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) is denying accusations made by Jack Abramoff that Abramoff’s team got “every appropriation we wanted” claiming that Abramoff “is a pathological liar who has no credibility and belongs in jail.” … According to Roll Call, ex-ethics members Joel Hefley (R-CO) and Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) are teaming up to push for lobbying reforms. … According to The Hill, another Republican pair plans on pushing for reform. Reps. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Heather Wilson (R-NM), both vulnerable in the next election, are advocating the creation of an independent Office of Public Integrity. … Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), as the chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, is offended by the attempt to create independent enforcement, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and plans to fight to oppose it. Voinovich states that he will hold hearings on Jack Abramoff’s ties to Senators as soon as the Justice Department investigation is complete. … According to The Hill, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) proposed an amendment to lobbying reform legislation that would force members to disclose when they put a hold on nominations or legislation.
Continue readingBlogging Corruption:
Will Bunch at Attywood shows that Sen. Rick Santorum, who claims not to have any involvement with the non-profit Operation Good Neighbor, happens to be the chairman and hands out checks in person. … In more Santorum news, Mark Klein at Reality Based News looks into whether the Heritage Foundation is violating their 501(c)3 status by allowing the Senator to hold lobbying fundraiser in their offices.
Continue readingVanity Fair Exclusive Abramoff Interview:
In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair (to be published next week) ex-lobbyist and Republican heavyweight Jack Abramoff dishes on his GOP friends who have “airbrushed” him out of the Congress, the Party, and the White House. GOP Party chairman Ken Mehlmen, “exchanged e-mail with Abramoff, did him political favors (such as blocking Clinton administration alumnus Allen Stayman from keeping a State Department job), had Sabbath dinner at his house, and offered to pick up his tab at Signatures.” Karl Rove sat next to Abramoff for the NCAA Tournament games at the MCI Center and House Majority Leader John Boehner was a regular at Abramoff’s restaurant Signatures. Jack Abramoff on Newt Gingrich: “I have more pictures of him than I have of my wife!” President Bush once asked Abramoff, “What are you benching, buff guy?” Conrad Burns, “Every appropriation we wanted [from Burns’s committee] we got. … Our staffs were as close as they could be. They practically used Signatures as their cafeteria. I mean, it’s a little difficult for him to run from that record.”
Continue readingBurns Connections Pay Off:
Former aides to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) have used their connections to the Senator and institutions connected to him to reap some $20 million in lobbying fees and secure Burns-authored earmarks for their clients, according to Roll Call. The newspaper reports that, “more than a dozen companies in the telecommunications and high-tech sector … have paid lobbying retainers to former Burns aides … As chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on communications through the end of 2004 — and as an ongoing member of the Commerce and Appropriations committees — Burns holds significant sway over how the government regulates and aids the telecommunications industry.” Burns consistently backed legislation and pushed for tax breaks for companies that employed his former staffers as lobbyists.
Continue readingCorporate Travel Reform Eyed in Senate:
A group of Senators are aiming to make lawmakers pay their fair share when they fly in corporate jets, according to the New York Times. Current rules stipulate that lawmakers must reimburse the cost for private jet travel at the commercial first class rate, which is significantly lower than the actual rate for private jet travel. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Rick Santorum (R-PA), and Barack Obama (D-IL) are proposing legislation that would force lawmakers to pay the actual rater for the private jet travel. Obama sees private jet travel “as a way to circumvent the limits on so-called soft money campaign contributions.”
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