Cronies and Phonies

Before you faint from seeing where I found this, note that this was at the bottom:

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.

From Fox Business:

This week John McCain has stayed busy trying to escape his ties to criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his shady lobbyist colleagues, including Randy Scheunemann and Ralph Reed. The McCain campaign has been trying to gloss over the details of Scheunemann’s swings between lobbying and advising McCain, often on issues of interest to recent clients, and attempting to excuse McCain’s enlistment of Abramoff crony Reed to raise money. But the McCain campaign can’t spin away Scheunemann’s shady ties, or his influence on McCain, and they’re not having any more success trying to escape the fallout over McCain’s refusal to cancel his Monday fundraiser with Reed.

(At the top: Captain Underpants and Rick Davis. In front: Randy Scheunemann, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed)

Original DVD cover.

Scheunemann served as McCain’s campaign foreign policy advisor in 2000 and is back in 2008, despite lobbying in the interim. Until May, Scheunemann was lobbying for Georgia – earning more than $800,000 in the process – yet now in August, he’s advising McCain on the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Scheunemann’s other notable lobbying stints include putting his McCain ties to use in 2006 advising Greenberg Traurig, Jack Abramoff’s former firm, as McCain served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, charged with investigating Abramoff.

McCain has also enlisted Abramoff crony Ralph Reed to raise money for his campaign. Abramoff directed at least $4.2 million to Reed as he defrauded his clients, yet as chair, McCain never called Reed to testify before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during the Abramoff investigation.

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According to Public Citizen, McCain Has 76 Current and Former Lobbyist Bundlers. Public Citizen’s WhiteHouseForSale website noted that 76 current and former lobbyists are McCain bundlers.

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His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington’s lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways. Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O’ Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae.”

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Greenberg Traurig Hired Scheunemann for “Advice” on Handling the Senate Abramoff Investigation. The New York Times reported, “When Senator John McCain led a Senate investigation three years ago of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist who later pleaded guilty to fraud charges, Mr. Abramoff’s old firm turned to a former McCain campaign adviser for help. The firm, Greenberg Traurig, which had quickly cut its ties to Mr. Abramoff, hired Randy Scheunemann, who had been the McCain campaign’s foreign policy adviser in 2000 — and is again this year — for advice on handling the Senate investigation. ‘After Greenberg Traurig severed ties to Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Scheunemann advised the law firm on how best to cooperate with the Senate investigation,’ said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. ‘The record reflects that the law firm cooperated.'” [New York Times, 8/14/08]

Greenberg Traurig Escaped Fallout From Abramoff Scandal.

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McCain Didn’t Investigate Republican Colleagues for Their Illegal or Unethical Behavior. John McCain’s Indian Affairs Committee hearings failed to go after federal lawmakers who benefited from Jack Abramoff’s lobbying.

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McCain Withheld Controversial Email Implicating AL Gov. Bob Riley During Riley’s Re-Election Campaign. As chair of a committee conducting an investigation on Abramoff, McCain had access to an incriminating email involving Alabama Governor Bob Riley. Rather than including the email — which detailed what Abramoff wanted Riley to do in return for the contributions Abramoff’s tribal clients directed toward his campaign — in his report on the Abramoff scandal, McCain chose to withhold it, thus shielding Riley from becoming implicated in the scandal as he was waging a bitter re-election campaign. [Huffington Post, 2/25/08]

The Hill Noted Reed and Norquist Have Never Been Called to Testify in the Senate Indian Affairs Hearings.

Kids, I would love to copy and paste the entire thing, but, instead, I think you should go over and read it for yourselves. And while you are there, why not click where it says Recommended at the top?