With all the current news about lobbyist Jack Abramoff, I wanted to take the time to do some in-depth research about the lobbying industry.
In the investigation of two recent stories that I wrote, I came across the firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Not knowing very much about them, I spent many long hours researching what is publically known about this firm.
I want to say clearly from the beginning that I have not uncovered any evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity on their part. This article was written to take a microscope to the lobbying industry in general and my purpose in doing so is purely for educational purposes.
While many people are familiar with the term “lobbying” group, understanding exactly how the industry works is less well-known. What follows is my humble effort to show how one firm in particular operates today.
With approximately 1,000 lawyers on its staff, Akin, Gump is the 5th largest lobbying group in the United States. For 2004 it received 21.5 million dollars in fees from clients. It’s number one client is the Gila River Indian Community.
Although it was founded in 1945, it didn’t rise to prominence until the early 1970’s when founding member Robert S. Strauss used his political connections to gain business with the firm. Akin, Gump is now one of the “power centers” of Washington.
Lobbying firms know no political allegiances. They will hire lawyers and consultants to curry favor with whichever party is currently in the White House, Senate or House of Representatives. For practical reasons they are now strongly aligned with the Republican Party.
Current Members of Akin, Gump
Bill Paxon – Senior Advisor. Former member of Congress (89-98), also served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Served as chariman of the 2001 Bush Transition Advisory Team. Was “key advisor” to 2000 Bush election campaign. In 2003, Paxon (working for Foundation Executives Group) successfully lobbied to prevent a bill that would force foundations to spent 5% of their annual assets on charity.
Bush Pioneer (raised at least 100,000 dollars) in both 2000 and 2004. Currently serves as advisor to senior GOP congressional leaders and is chairman of the Majority Fund of the RNC.
When Paxon left Congress in 1998, House Majority Leader Tom Delay pressured Electronic Industry Association to hire Paxon as its director. When they refused, Delay delayed a vote on an intellectual property bill as “punishment” and was admonished for this by the House Ethics Committee. Paxon also participates in weekly meetings with Delay and Dennis Hastert.
George P. Bush – Nephew of George W. Bush, son of Florida governor Jeb Bush. Actively campaigned for his uncle in 2000 and 2004.
While Bush is only an associate lawyer, his access to the White House is obviously a major asset.
Robert C. Langdon, Jr. – Native of Texas. Member of George Bush’s Presidential Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, has very high security clearance and prepares reports, most of which are not available to members of Congress.
Langdon was a Bush Pioneer, the name for those who raised at least 100,000 dollars for his election, in both 2000 and 2004.
Langdon was named to the 2000 Energy Department transition team. Langdon, as part of his work at Akin, Gump, worked as a lobbyist for ChoicePoint, a company which “helps governments and companies” comply with the USA Patriot Act.
Tommy G. Thompson – Former head of the Department of Health and Human Services in Bush administration and governor of Wisconsin. Joined the firm in 2005.
Thompson is also a senior advisor for the consulting firm Deloitte & Touche.
Thompson was the principal author of a disastrous policy to prepare the public for a smallpox outbreak, which cost approximately 100 million dollars, although Thompson called it a “success”. The ill-fated program was to vaccinate emergency services personnel.
More on this here. Thompson also pushed for criminal immunity for the producers of the vaccine.
Thompson also worked with then-Akin, Gump attorney Tom Loeffler to delay FDA oversight on ephedra-based products, which killed 80 people in the United States.
After leaving the DHHS, Thompson joined the board of VeriChip Corporation, a company which makes RFID devices. Thompson advocated implanting the devices in all members of the military.
Ladd A. Wiley – Listed as “policy counsel” for Akin, Gump. From 2003-2005, served as counselor to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. Also served under Thompson when Thompson was governor of Wisconsin.
Alan D. Feld – Senior executive Partner. Joined the firm in 1960. Was a Bush Pioneer in 2000.
Feld has been on the board of the Clear Channel Corporation since 1984. Akin, Gump handles Clear Channel’s acquisitions.
Feld also sits on the board of the Dallas Citizens Council. See Sandy Kress.
Feld also represented the Grocery Manufacturers of America, who succesfully lobbied the Bush administration not participate in the WHO’s anti-obesity program, which included recommending reducing sugar intake.
Tobi Trister Gati – Senior International Advisor. Worked for a long time with the State Department, including heading it’s intelligence division. Worked with James Giffen during her tenure at State.
Is considered an expert and liaison on energy and other issues in Russia and the former Soviet states. See also this.
Jose H. Villareal – Served as Assistant Attorney General in the Public Finance Division in Texas. Serves on the board of Wal-Mart.
Paul E. Mirengoff – Besides serving as a lawyer for Akin, Gump, Mirengoff has written many op-ed columns in newspapers, including one for the Weekly Standard, where he backed the nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.
He is also a regular blogger on the conservative blog Power Line. Mirengoff and John Hinderaker of Power Line both are members of the conservative thinktank, the Claremont Institute.
Mirengoff participated in the blogging campaign against former CNN journalist Eason Jordan, who resigned in 2005 after stating that the U.S. military was arresting andtorturing Arabic journalists in Iraq.
Barney J. Skladany, Jr. – The official website says he works with House and Senate congressional committes on behalf of technology clients.
Skladany was the pointman for the law firm’s defense of Glossco Freezone. Skladany also served on Bush’s Transition Advisory team for the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2001.
Thomas S. Foley – Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and member of Congress, where he served on the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran.
Was a member of Clinton’s Presidential Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Foley is currently a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council.
Is also a member of the Department of Defense’s Defency Policy Board.
Sandy Kress – I wrote about Kress extensively here.
Kress was former president of board of trustees of Dallas Public Schools. Kress later worked with current Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to create the No Child Left Behind law, which was passed in 2002.
After NCLB was passed, Kress (on behalf of Akin, Gump) then lobbied to get NCS Pearson lucrative contracts to implement NCLB.
James Collins – Senior International Advisor. Was the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union directly before Robert Strauss. Has extensive career history for the State Department.
Collins is something of a celebrity in Russia for his numerous media appearances.
Robert S. Strauss – Founding partner. Arguably the most influential of all Akin, Gump lawyers due to his long history in politics and the government.
Former FBI agent. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, the highest civilian award. In 1991-1993 he was ambassador to the Soviet Union/Russia after James Collins and worked directly for Collins.
Also headed a corporation where Sandy Kress worked. Strauss developed numerous and complex ties to the Soviet and post-Soviet world of business, which has led to lucrative contracts in Russia and the former Soviet states.
It is largely through Strauss’ Washington connections that the firm became tremendously influential starting in the early 1970’s.
Former Members of Akin, Gump
Robert Jordan – Member of Akin, Gump from 2003-2005. Previously worked for law firm of Baker Botts, run by former Secretary of State James Baker III.
When Jordan was with Baker Botts, he represented George Bush in an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on insider trader charges dealing with Bush’s sale of stock in Harken Energy. For more on that, see here.
Jordan was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from September 12, 2001-2003. While ambassador, Jordan publically praised Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with U.S. terrorism investigators. Later the Bush administration censored reports to the 9/11 Commission about Saudi financing of terrorism.
Former president of the Dallas Bar Association (1999). Jordan was a Pioneer (raised at least 100,000 dollars) for Bush’s campaign in 2000.
Kenneth “Ken” B. Mehlman – Current chairman of the Republican National Committee. Was campaign manager for George Bush’s 2004 election campaign.
Tom Loeffler – Was a Bush Pioneer in 2000, the name given to those who raised at least 100,000 dollars for his election.
Also contributed 141,000 dollars to Bush’s gubernatorial races. Was appointed by Bush to the University of Texas Board of Regents. Loeffler is a former member of Congress (House of Representatives) (1979-87).
Helped coordinate Ronald Reagan’s Central American policies. Loeffler worked for Metabolife, a company which produced ephedra-based weight loss products. Loeffler, acting for Metabolife, lobbied succesfully to get HHS Secretary Thompson to oppose a rule requiring ephedra products to contain a toll-free number to call the HHS to report health problems.
Loeffler was appointed by then Gov. Bush to the Universityof Texas Investment MAnagement Company, which gave lucrative contracts to two firms with close ties to Bush. For much more, see here.
Jeff Baum – Currently a senior executive at EDS. EDS is a major government contractor and in 2000 won a 9 billion dollar contract to develop an intranet between the Navy and the Marine Corps (NMCI).
Lisa Rickard – Currently president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, which is dedicated to restoring “fairness, efficiency and consistency” to the U.S. civil justice system.
Helen M. Hubbard – Was hired as a member of the Office of Tax Policy of the Department of the Treasury. The OTP’s mission is to “develop and implement tax policies and programs”.
Geoff Connor – Currently the Texas’ Secretary of State. Connor was formerly the Assistant Secretary of State (Texas). Connor is the senior chief elections officer for the stateof Texas.
George R. Salem – Member of George Bush’s Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World. Salem is a GOP activist and an Arab-American.
Salem was selected to be an Official Election Observer for the Palestinian elections (2006). Salem is the chairman of the Arab-American Institute, which features James Zogby as a prominent member.
Recent/Current Clients of Akin, Gump
James Giffen – Giffen is currently on trial for paying millions of dollars in bribes to the autocratic government of Kazakhstan. I wrote extensively about that case here.
The character “Danny Dalton” in the movie Syriana is largely based on Giffen.
Giffen was formerly the VP at a company in which Akin, Gump founder Robert Strauss was the CEO. Giffen and Strauss developed many business ties with the Soviet Union just prior to and continuing after its collapse, especially with the emerging independent nations.
In Giffen’s case, Akin, Gump also filed motions to appeal the court’s ruling that the law firm had to turn Swiss bank records in its possession because they were “attorney work product”. The Swiss bank accounts are the ones alleged to have been used to funnel bribes to Kazakhstan’s leadership.
CNOOC (Chinese state-run oil firm) – Akin, Gump senior partner James C. Langdon, Jr. played an active role in getting CNOOC as a client for his law firm.
Last year, CNOOC was attempting to buy American oil firm, Unocal Corporation, which ultimately fell through due to stiff opposition in Congress. At the time of the merger talks, Langdon was a member of Bush’s Presidential Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and had a very high security clearance.
ChoicePoint – Akin, Gump’s point man was Robert Langdon. Awarded contracts by the government to help “enforce” the USA Patriot Act.
Years before its now-infamous security breach and the loss of thousands of consumer records, ChoicePoint was a major government contractor. In fact, it is by most measure the federal government’s primary source of information on individual Americans.
The federal government has turned to commercial databases for information because it is not allowed to collect such data. In 1974, Congress passed the Privacy Act, which made it illegal for the government to operate its own “Big Brother” database. But Congress did not restrict private companies from conducting surveillance and gathering data on individual Americans. Nor did it prohibit the government from buying that information.
Since at least April of 2001, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based data broker has been providing multiple government agencies with thousands of data records on individuals. According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)’s investigation, ChoicePoint owns dozens of information brokering or collecting services, trafficking in everything from medical records, to drug test results, to arrest and criminal records.
Clear Channel Communications – Senior Executive Partner, Alan Feld, sits on the firm’s board. The law firm manages Clear Channel’s acquisitions.
Clear Channel has been involved in a number of controversies, including censoring songs on its networks post 9/11 including John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Clear Channel aslo organized and paid counter demonstrations to anti-war protests.
Clear Channel also banned the music of the “Dixie Chicks” after they said they were ashamed of George Bush in March 2003. Clear Channel owns over 1,200 stations nationwide and has been able to consolidate the market in many cities due to favorable FCC regulations.
Clear Channel also owns the Premiere Radio Network, which broadcasts the programs of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura.
Khalid bin Mahfouz, Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi and Salah Idris – These are three wealthy Saudi businessmen, who were investigated for possible involvement in financing Osama bin Laden.
Mahfouz‘s father is Salim Ahmed bin Mahfouz, was the personal banker of the Saudi royal family. That role devolved to Khalid in 1980 and he kept the position until 1999.
Mahfouz was the director of BCCI, which was convicted of a massive money laundering operation in the 1990’s. Mahfouz has admitted to giving Osama bin Laden 270,000 dollars but said it was only to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Mahfouz founded a charity organization called Muwaffaq Foundation. In October 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department labeled it a front for Al-Qaeda. More on this here.
Mahfouz was an investor in Arbusto Energy, the oil firm started by George W. Bush.
Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi is the current manager of the bank that Mahfouz used to run. Al-Amoudi’s Capital Trust Bank was investigated for allegedly having transferred money to Osama bin Laden.
Salah Idris, born in Sudan but now a Saudi citizen, was the owner of the pharmaceutical factory that was bombed in 1999 by American missilesin Sudan.
Akin, Gump filed suit and won, succesfully getting his American bank accounts unfrozen by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Holy Land Foundation – Claimed to be the largest Islamic charity in the United States.
It’s assets in the U.S. were frozen by the Department of the Treasury in 2001 because the charity’s primary purpose was to fund Hamas. The funds remain frozen to this day.
Akin, Gump does not represent the Holy Land Foundation on terrorism funding charges. Akin, Gump is the charity’s law firm defending in a lawsuit by the parents of a man allegedly murdered by Hamas.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – The law firm was a Registered Foreign Agent for Saudi Arabia in at least the year 2000. See more on FARA below. Akin, Gump maintains an office in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Republic of India – The law firm was a Registered Foreign Agent for India in at least the year 2003. See more on FARA below.
Big Pharma – Akin, Gump has represented the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories and Pfizer Inc., all of which benefited from the Medicare bill in 2003, which provided federal funding for medications.
Energy Companies – Akin, Gump has represented Amerada Hess Corp., Waste Management Inc. and FirstEnergy Corp., Pacific Gas and Electric Co., BP Exploration and Phillips Petroleum Co. amongst others. Waste Management and FirstEnergy are both run by Bush Pioneers.
Representative Jim McCrery – House of Representatives, representing Shreveport, Louisiana. Akin, Gump hosted at least one fundraiser for McCrery.
McCrery received donations from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Banco Nacional de Mexico – (Banamex). Akin, Gump represented two officials of Banamex in their lawsuit against independent journalist Al Giordano and his organization, the Narco News. Click on link for details. Narco News ended up winning the case.
Glossco Freezone – Formerly called the Mansur Corporation, Glossco Freezone is a company based out of Aruba. Some members of the Mansur family have been convicted of laundering drug-trafficking money.
Prior to 1998, the Mansur family handled the export traffic of Philip Morris‘ tobacco products. See also Operation Golden Trash.
Agua Caliente Indians – Formerly represented by Jack Abramoff, the tribe’s lobbying effort is now being conducted by Akin, Gump.
NCS Pearson – I wrote an extensive article on this here. Sandy Kress and Akin, Gump got NCS lucrative contracts implementing the NCLB, screening TSA workers (103 million, ballooned to 700 million), as well as DHHS (8 million) and the DOD.
The TSA contracts ballooned after major cost overruns, costing the government roughly 10,000 per TSA screener hired. For information on their NCLB contracts, see here.
Starbucks – Akin, Gump was hired by Starbucks to defeat efforts by employees to unionize last year.
Enron – Enron paid Akin, Gump 1 million dollars for advice on how to use offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes in the United States.
Miscellaneous – Complete list of current registered clients, includes Bechtel, Correction Corps of America, ExxonMobil, Honeywell, Merck and Dow Chemical.
FARA
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was a law passed in 1938 requiring American companies working for foreign governments to officialy report this to the American government. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for maintaining this information.
In previous years this information was readily available to the public. Recently however, a lack of funding has led to strange difficulties:
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2004 — Justice Department officials say a huge database that serves as the public’s lone window on lobbying activities by foreign governments has been allowed to decay to a point they cannot even make a copy of its contents.
Responding to a recent Freedom of Information request from the Center for Public Integrity, the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration Unit said it was unable to copy its records electronically because their computer system was “so fragile.” In a letter, the head of the unit’s Freedom of Information office said that simply attempting to make an electronic copy of the database “could result in a major loss of data, which would be devastating.”
The database details millions of dollars spent on lobbying activities by foreign governments, companies, and foundations.
Those activities include everything from wining and dining lawmakers to broadcasting issue ads on American television and radio stations.
This remains true today. If you want to access FARA records, you have to go in person to the DOJ in Washington, DC.
Getting a hard copy of the information costs 50 cents a page, which can make it extremely expensive as documents can be several hundred pages long.
FARA records during the Clinton administration can be found online at least as late as 1998. The latest FARA reports online (not registration info, but reports to Congress) date back to 2003.
In 2005, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee were debating asking the GAO to conduct an inquiry due to widespread non-compliance of filing as foreign agents. As far as I am able to tell, the GAO never investigated and the DOJ’s FARA files are still being maintained on the same old computer system.
Because of the above, it is difficult and expensive to collect information on which lobby firms are registered agents of foreign governments. More on this here.
Revolving Door
Members of Congress have increasingly gone straight from public service to lobbying firms. Last year, a watchdog group figured out that 43% of members of Congress who left office since 1998 became lobbyists.
The revolving door works both ways. In 2004, the Denver Post reported that over 100 lobbyists were given positions in the Bush administration, many overseeing the same industries they used to lobby for:
[Daniel E.] Troy [lead counsel for the FDA and former big pharma lobbyist] is one of more than 100 high-level officials under Bush who helped govern industries they once represented as lobbyists, lawyers or company advocates, a Denver Post analysis shows.
In at least 20 cases, those former industry advocates have helped their agencies write, shape or push for policy shifts that benefit their former industries. They knew which changes to make because they had pushed for them as industry advocates.
The president’s political appointees are making or overseeing profound changes affecting drug laws, food policies, land use, clean-air regulations and other key issues.
Government watchdogs call it a disturbing trend, not adequately restrained by existing ethics laws.
Among the advocates-turned-regulators are a former meat-industry lobbyist who helps decide how meat is labeled; a former drug-company lobbyist who influences prescription-drug policies; a former energy lobbyist who, while still accepting payments for bringing clients into his old lobbying firm, helps determine how much of the West those former clients can use for oil and gas drilling.
The Bush administration says the regulators were chosen for their abilities.
And in October 2005, the WaPo reported more examples:
David Lauriski , spent 30 years in the mining industry before being tapped as the Labor Department’s assistant secretary of mine safety and health — he resigned last year to work for a mine-industry consulting company. Jacqueline Glassman worked for DaimlerChrysler before being appointed chief counsel and then deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
At the Agriculture Department, Dale Moore was at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association before becoming chief of staff to the secretary. The undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Mark Rey , who oversees the Forest Service, was a vice president of the American Forest and Paper Association; Mary Waters , assistant secretary for congressional relations was a legislative counsel for ConAgra Foods.
At the Energy Department, Dan Brouillette was assistant secretary for congressional affairs after lobbying on behalf of mining and oil interests. Last year, he joined Ford Motor Co. Former deputy administrator of the EPA, Linda Fisher , had been an executive at Monsanto Co. and left the agency in 2003 for DuPont.
Conclusion
After spending many long of hours researching this article, all I can say is that it’s clear that the lobbying industry is deeply intertwined with private industry and the federal government.
While it is easy to focus on Abramoff’s unlawful actions, my concern is that the ethical ramifications for what is currently legal are not getting enough attention. I think the time is right to put the issue of lobbyists on the table for public debate.
I hope you have found this useful.
This is cross-posted from Flogging the Simian, where you can find many more good articles!
Peace
