- The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the investigation into the bribery allegations against Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) is moving along as a Virginia court has subpoenaed records from “a law firm where one of the congressman's daughters once worked”. The judge also delayed the sentencing of Jefferson’s former aide Brent Pfeffer, who pleaded guilty to “aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes” and implicated Jefferson as demanding bribes from technology firms.
- According to the Associated Press, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and the Missouri House Democratic Congressional Committee are being fined for “various campaign finance violations.” The State Ethics commission found that the committee “failed to file proper financial reports and mixed money with another campaign committee” during the 2002 campaign and the Carnahan “signed checks for the committee that he wasn't authorized to.”
- Barbara Bush’s donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund was earmarked for her son Neil’s technology firm Ignite!, according to the Houston Chronicle.
- Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) is warning his constituents that earmarks are under attack and that Alaska risks losing its share of federal money, according to the Associated Press.
- Bloomberg reports on the attempt to attach 527-reform to the lobbying and ethics reform legislation.
- Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times goes down to the Duke Cunningham auction and exposes what Cunningham bought with all of that dirty money. Morrison is disappointed: “You sell out your career, your reputation and your freedom, and this is your asking price?”
In Other News:
Today is the deadline for lawmakers to turn in their earmarks requests to Appropriation subcommittees. The Hill reports that, in a bid to hold off earmark reform, Appropriations subcommittee chairmen are self-policing by “limiting their colleagues to 10 project requests each.” … Two more lawmakers signed onto the plan to create an Office of Public Integrity, according to Roll Call. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) both want to see the independent oversight office created with Walden stating, “When it comes down to it, we simply don’t have the time or — frankly — the objectivity to provide the necessary oversight of our colleagues.” … The Alaska Daily News reports that the Alaska House passed legislation that would allow lawmakers “to solicit contributions from lobbyists for certain charity events, and make legal a longtime tradition”. … Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) “signed an executive order yesterday requiring lobbyists who seek to influence the executive branch to register and report expenses for the first time since the state's lobbying law was overturned in 2002,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. … The Arkansas News Bureau looks at how Arkansas companies lobby lawmakers in Washington with private jet travel. The article takes as an example the cozy relationship between Tyson Foods and House agriculture subcommittee chairman Henry Bonilla (R-TX).
Continue readingSpecter to Institute New Rules for Staffers:
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) will impose new rules in his office that govern staffer relationships with lobbyists after a USA Today story exposed possible a conflict of interest in earmarks Specter wrote that benefited the lobbyist husband of Specter’s top appropriations aide. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Specter will have his chief of staff or legislative director “identify any situation in which a staffer might have a conflict of interest because of a relationship with advocates of an appropriations request.” He will also have “any company, institution or cause requesting appropriations through Specter's offices would now be required to list the names of everyone who lobbies for it - not just who is representing it with Specter.”
Continue readingAlaska Congressman Wants State to Pay for “Bridge to Nowhere”:
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is furious that his earmarked “bridge to nowhere” became the object of derision and a symbol of congressional largesse and pork barrel spending, so he is asking the Alaska state government to pay for the two bridges to Ketchikan-Gravina Island and Knik. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Young blames John McCain (R-AZ) for the defeat of his earmarks and states his opposition to a McCain presidential campaign, “I may support Hillary Clinton if he gets the nomination.” Young also said “he has been unfairly pulled into the orbit of the Jack Abramoff scandal,” and denied that he addressed the Marshall Islands Legislature in Bermuda shorts on a trip organized by Abramoff as Islands legislators have claimed in recent reports.
Continue readingEarmark Foes Work as Lobbyists to Secure Earmarks:
The American Conservative Union, which recently called for an end to “pork barrel spending” and proposed a total ban on pork, has five board members who are lobbyists making a living off congressional pork, according to Salon magazine. The ACU board lobbyists pulled in millions in earmarks for their clients over the last few years. David Keene, a lobbyist for Survival, Inc., defends the practice of earmarking while Cleta Mitchell dodges the issue saying, “I don’t have an earmark business.”
Earmarks Meant Business for Embattled Lobbyist:
Alleged ‘co-conspirator #1’ in the Duke Cunningham bribery investigation Brent Wilkes parlayed his ability to secure earmarks into profitable business ventures. According to the Washington Post, Wilkes found promising technology companies and made a deal with them: he would secure millions of dollars in earmarks and in return he would receive a 51 percent interest in the company. The Post reports that, “Although it is common for lobbying firms to charge clients large fees to pursue earmarks, Wilkes's demand for a majority interest in the resulting contract is highly unusual”. Wilkes did not only get Cunningham to insert earmarks for his companies. He also had Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) place a $37 million earmark into the defense budget for PerfectWave Technologies in 2002. From 2002 to 2005 Doolittle received $85,000 in campaign contributions from Wilkes.
Continue readingPresidential Earmarks Hard to Find:
The Wall Street Journal delves into the topic of Presidential earmarks, a practice that is “harder -- if not impossible -- to tally” compared to Congressional earmarks. Some Presidential earmarks are listed as line items in the budget but others are found in agency “justifications” – “staffers say the collection of ‘J-Books’ would form a pile roughly five feet high.” Notable Presidential earmarks include $24 million to the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program and $204 million to abstinence education in public schools. James Dyer, the former staff director of the House Appropriations Committee, asserts that, “the whole faith-based initiative” is “largely implemented by executive order to fund religious groups doing social work.”
Continue readingRevolving Door in the Appropriations Committee:
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.
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