Lobbyists bankrolling politics

Introduction

More than 1,300 registered lobbyists have given slightly more than $1.8 million to President George W. Bush over the last six years, according to a Center for Public Integrity study comparing the donations of all registered lobbyists from 1998 through March 2004. Sen. John Kerry received $520,000 from 442 lobbyists during the same period.

Such numbers account for a significant percentage of those who ply the influence game. In fact, the lobbyists who donated to Bush have represented about 6,000 clients; those who gave to Kerry, approximately 3,000 clients. Combined, these figures add up to more than half of all the companies that hire lobbyists, according to the Senate Office of Public Records. The SOPR says that there are currently 24,000 lobbyists registered to represent 15,000 clients.

The Center’s study is the first of its kind to precisely track donations to presidential candidates from all federally registered lobbyists. Until now, campaign finance analysts used industry coding, a method that has included thousands of dollars from individuals not registered to lobby, while omitting donations from thousands of lobbyists hired outside of traditional lobby shops.

Several of the lobbyists donating to Bush also raise funds for the president. The campaign Web site’s directory of volunteer fundraisers lists more than 550 so-called bundlers: Mavericks, who raise $50,000, Pioneers, who raise $100,000 and Rangers, who raise $200,000.

Of these, the Center found, 52 lobbyists—who have together raised more than $6 million for Bush’s reelection—represent more than 800 organizations and companies. Since Bush’s election as president, their firms have reported billing these clients $146 million for lobbying.

The Center also found that the Bush administration appointed 92 lobbyists to its transitions advisory teams between 2000 and 2001, according to its study of lobbying records and lists of transition teams made available by OMB Watch. These transition teams gave lobbyists a strong voice in affecting regulatory decisions; many were assigned to the very branches of government that they had been paid millions of dollars to influence. Nor did their work as lobbyists suffer from their stint in the transition committees: since then, these lobbyists’ firms have reported billing their clients more than $250 million for lobbying.

While there is a disparity between the sums of money given to each candidate, some of the lobbyists giving to Kerry and Bush worked for the same firm. For instance, both Patton Boggs LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP are among Bush’s and Kerry’s top four donors from individual lobbyists. Similarly, another 21 lobbyists gave money to both candidates. A trend has emerged where the lobbyists giving are often connected to the largest contributors to these presidential candidates. In fact, each of Bush’s top ten career patrons were represented by at least one lobbyist who donated to the president’s campaign, as were nine of Kerry’s top ten career patrons.

Bush Lobbyists

Among the many lobbyists giving money to Bush is Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist for Greenberg Traurig. According to the firm, Abramoff left Greenberg Traurig after he “disclosed to the firm for the first time personal transactions and related conduct which are unacceptable to the firm” in connection with his representation of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Abramoff, who is closely associated with House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, is a Bush Pioneer who also has lobbied on behalf of companies like Tyco for government contracts and tax legislation.

Other lobbyists who have donated to Bush have enjoyed the perks of political appointments that have included transition teams, positions with federal agencies and ambassadorships. Former Pioneer and lobbyist Peter Terpeluk was appointed as ambassador to Luxembourg in 2002.

But the measure of success for a lobbyist is whether he or she is able to influence legislation. Take Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP lobbyist and former Bush Pioneer John Schmitz, who represents Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a health care electronic prescription company called RxHub. RxHub paid $1.3 million for the services of Schmitz and three associates. During a two-year period, they lobbied for RxHub on only one listed bill: the recently passed Medicare Prescription Drug bill.

On March 4, 2003, RxHub got a break when Bush announced support for a proposal to make medical records and prescriptions available electronically. At an American Medical Association meeting, the president announced his initiative to increase funding to “help hospitals use information technology” by 53 percent. This provision became a core part of the only bill that RxHub lobbied and had a part that critics said was “tailor made to support” RxHub. The bill signed into law by Bush in December ended up including huge authorizations in favor of the company’s area of expertise at a time when the Bush administration is asking others for fiscal restraint.

Kerry Lobbyists

The Kerry campaign also has its share of lobbyists who are acting as fundraisers. Piper Rudnick LLP’s John Merrigan, for example, has given the senator thousands of dollars while lobbying on behalf of Merrill Lynch, Northwest Airlines and Raytheon Co.

In an unprecedented move last week, Kerry voluntarily released a list of some 300 lobbyists whom the senator has met with in the last 15 years. The move was intended to put pressure on the Bush campaign to release a similar list and to make public information about those who worked on the administration’s controversial task forces.

A study of these documents by the Center found that 27 of those whom the Senator met with made donations totaling more than a $100,000 to Kerry’s campaigns over the years. The campaign lists four of them as major fundraisers.

Other lobbyists who have been especially close to the senator include David Leiter, his chief of staff for six years. Leiter is a long-time beneficiary of Washington’s loose “revolving door” policy, who years after his Senate position became a lobbyist for Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, where Kerry’s brother works. While contributing to Kerry, Leiter lobbied for a number of companies, including Cablevision, AT&T, and Clear Channel, that fell under the senator’s purview as a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Also representing AT&T is Michael Whouley, a top lobbyist-turned-Kerry-political consultant. As the Center reported on May 7, 2003, Kerry has co-sponsored legislation favored by and written letters on behalf of the wireless telecommunications industry.

Agustín Armendariz, Alexander Cohen and Daniel Lathrop contributed to this report.

Registered Lobbyists Appointed to Bush’s Transition Teams and Their Activity

Registered Lobbyists who are Bush Mavericks, Pioneers & Rangers and Their Activity

Lobbyists who met with Kerry and Their Contributions