WASHINGTON, May 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Just days after at least
four McCain campaign aides resigned, three of whom after news reports
revealed that their lobbying groups had worked on behalf of the repressive
regime in Myanmar and the energy lobby, a new report shows that McCain's
problems with lobbyists are not over. According to Newsweek's Michael
Isikoff, McCain's "finance co-chair Tom Loeffler['s] ... lobbying firm has
collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more
from other foreign and corporate interests." Another McCain aide, finance
director Susan Nelson, was paid $ 15,000 a month by Loeffler's firm while
she was on the campaign payroll even though "Federal election law prohibits
any outside entity from subsidizing the income of campaign workers." Time
and again, McCain demonstrates that his calls for higher ethical standards
seem not to apply to him and his campaign.
The following are excerpts of today's story:
McCain Vs. Lobbyists
Newsweek
By Michael Isikoff
May 26, 2008 Issue
"Stung by the news that two aides once lobbied for the Burmese junta,
John McCain last week rolled out a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy
for his campaign, requiring all staffers to fill out questionnaires
identifying past or current clients that "could be embarrassing for the
senator." Aides say that McCain was furious over the Burma connection
(which he learned from a Newsweek story) and was "adamant" about banning
campaign workers from serving as foreign agents or getting paid for
lobbying work.
"But the fallout may not be over. One top campaign official affected by
the new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas
congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi
Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate
interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts
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."
"Another potential problem: Loeffler's firm started paying $15,000 a
month last summer to one of its lobbyists, Susan Nelson, after she left to
become McCain's full-time finance director, said a source familiar with the
arrangement (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive
matters). Campaign officials were told the payments were "severance" for
Nelson and that they ended by November. But in "February or March,"
Loeffler rehired Nelson as a consultant to "help him with his clients"
while she continued on the McCain payroll, according to a campaign official
who asked not to be identified talking about personnel matters. Federal
election law prohibits any outside entity from subsidizing the income of
campaign workers. McCain's officials say they have been assured that Nelson
did actual work for Loeffler's lobbying clients -- and that the payments
were proper. But after Newsweek posed questions about the matter, they
confirmed Loeffler's resignation and the termination of Nelson's consulting
contract. (Loeffler and Nelson did not respond to requests for comment.)
Also last week, energy adviser Eric Burgeson was ousted."
To read the entire article, click here:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137522
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrats.org.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.
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