John McCain and Lobbyists

Main Point: While John McCain talks about cleaning up Washington on the campaign trail, back at headquarters, his campaign advisors seem to have no problem lying about their lobbying backgrounds, perhaps because they don't think the American people care.  Like Bush, the McCain campaign doesn't seem to understand that the American people don't want another four years of an administration that's willing to mislead them for political gain.  The more voters learn about John McCain the more they will see he is just not the right choice for America's future.

Just yesterday senior advisor Charlie Black told reporters, according to the Wall Street Journal, that he complied with the new campaign ethics rules "before there even was a rule" even though he lobbied from the back of the Straight Talk Express last year.  Black also said Rick Davis hasn't been a lobbyist for five years though documents show this to be false.

Yet for all McCain's talk about cleaning up Washington, Black-one of McCain's closest advisors-thinks Americans don't care about the issue.  Yesterday when asked if this mattered to voters Black said "Hell no. This is complete inside-the-beltway nonsense." [Wall Street Journal, 5/19/08]

When asked if he agreed with Black's assessment, McCain refused to directly answer the question and instead spouted rhetoric, saying "we wanted to make sure there was an effective and comprehensive and transparent policy towards lobbyist." [foxnews.com, 5/19/08]

Black Claims to Have Adhered to No-Lobbying Rule Before There Even Was One.  "Black said he complied with the policy "before there even was a rule." Black said he has no income from either his firm or the campaign but joked about an allowance from his wife, Judy Black, who is a lobbyist." http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/19/top-mccain-adviser-defends-his-lobbyist-past/

FLASHBACK: Charlie Black Lobbied from the Back of the Campaign Bus; Black Slow to Relinquish Lobbyist Job, Despite Working as McCain Senior Advisor. Many McCain campaign advisers have been slow - or have simply failed - to relinquish their lobbying roles, such as Charlie Black, who despite being a fixture on the Straight Talk Express through late 2007 and early 2008, only relinquished his role at BKSH in early April 2008. "Suffice it to say," wrote the Washington Post, all of McCain's lobbyist advisers, "have a stake in the legislation that McCain will work on, even if he continues to be merely a senior senator on Capitol Hill." [Washington Post, 11/20/07; US News & World Reports, 5/28/07; The Hill, 3/8/06; The Atlantic, Marc Ambinder, 3/27/08]

• Charlie Black Admitted Lobbying From the Straight Talk Express.  "But even as Black provides a private voice and a public face for McCain, he also leads his lobbying firm, which offers corporate interests and foreign governments the promise of access to the most powerful lawmakers. Some of those companies have interests before the Senate and, in particular, the Commerce Committee, of which McCain is a member. Black said he does a lot of his work by telephone from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]

• Black: Davis Hasn't Been a Lobbyist For Five Years.  "Black also defended campaign manager Rick Davis, who still holds a stake in his firm, Davis Manafort. Black said Davis hasn't received income from the firm since 2006 and hasn't been a lobbyist for five years. 'By the way Rick Davis and nobody else at his firm either has been a registered lobbyist in five years-five years,' Black said."  http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/19/top-mccain-adviser-defends-his-lobbyist-past/

• Rick Davis Registered to Lobby for Preserve Luke AFB in 2005. [Lobbying Report, Secretary of the Senate, 8/16/05]

• In 2006, Davis Arranged Introduction Between McCain and Putin-Ally, Russian Oligarch. While seeking to do business with him, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis - while simultaneously at the Reform Institute and lobbying for Davis Manafort - introduced McCain to Oleg Deripaska, a Putin ally whose U.S. visa was revoked due to suspicions over his ties to Russian organized crime.  McCain, Deripaska and Davis rendezvoused at least twice - first in January 2006 in Davos, then during a codel in Montenegro in August 2006. [Washington Post, 1/25/08]

• Campaign Official Lies About Lobbying McCain. "Loeffler last month told a reporter 'at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain.' But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to 'discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations.'" [Newsweek, 5/26/08]

• But Resigns Only After Media Reports "Lobbying Entanglements."  "Former Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, a Texan who is among the McCain campaign's most important advisers and fundraisers, has resigned as a national co-chair over lobbying entanglements, a Republican source told Politico on Sunday.  It's at least the fifth lobbying-related departure from the campaign in a week. The McCain campaign, already facing the prospect of being badly outgunned in the general election, now also must cope with the disruption of the lobbying shakeout." [politico.com, 5/18/08]