Redstate

By MajorityAP Posted in Congress — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

DCCC lawyers take over after Oldaker resignation

William Oldaker, the controversial lobbyist who MajorityAP.com first reported had been tapped to head up the Democratic Freshmen PAC, resigned that post amid sharp criticism over the cozy relationship being developed between lobbyists and Democrat freshmen in the House of Representatives.

Since MajorityAP.com’s April 24 story, a series of events have shed an unwelcome spotlight on the group’s fundraising and political activities, as well as the freshmen class’s close relationship with the same Washington, DC, lobbyists they condemned while candidates in 2006. They culminated with U.S. Representative Jerry McNerney’s, D-CA, call for Oldaker’s removal on June 12, 2007.

“While Mr. Oldaker’s involvement with the Democratic Freshmen PAC may technically be legal,” McNerney wrote, “it surely does not meet the standard of rising above any hint of impropriety.” Oldaker resigned nine days later, although his law firm is still the official address of the committee.

Read on . . .

Oldaker was previously removed as treasurer of political actions committees headed by Senators Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Byron Dorgan and Blanche Lincoln following a scathing 2005 report compiled by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), which questioned whether he used his fundraising prowess to gain undo influence members of Congress.

Another lobbyist, James Smith, will reportedly remain as the PACs treasurer, even though McNerney wrote he believes “lobbyists should not be attached to political committees.”

McNerney’s letter cites a May 31 story in the Washington Times that reported new criticism of the Democratic Freshmen PAC from Congressional watchdog groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). That story said the freshmen class was under fire for what “ethics watchdogs and Republicans are calling a contradiction of their promise to end a ‘culture of corruption’ in Washington.”

But the Times reported more than three weeks earlier that “in just over a week, the Majority Accountability Project has already published several original stories, including a report on freshman House Democrats who named lobbyist William Oldaker head of their political action committee. Mr. Oldaker was singled out in a 2005 study by the Center for Public Integrity, which questioned whether he was using his fundraising ties to influence members of Congress.”

It was MajorityAP.com’s original reporting that began the scrutiny of Oldaker and the Democratic Freshmen PAC.

Earlier this month, the photographs of 22 House freshmen were replaced on the PAC’s website following another MajorityAP.com report that found those House members had their official, taxpayer funded portraits on the website. House rules prohibit the use of official resources for political and fundraising activities.

In addition to McNerney, freshmen members such as Chris Murphy, D-CT, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, have attempted to distance themselves from the PAC, even though all three were active with its activities prior to those MajorityAP.com reports. Only McNerney called for Oldaker to be removed.

While Oldaker’s resignation may end one controversy of the role Big Money plays in the new Democrat majority, it is unlikely to put to rest lingering questions over the influence the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the freshmen themselves have in the new fundraising operation.

Oldaker’s reported replacement is the law firm of Perkins Coie, which is counsel to the DCCC.

For this story and more, read the Majority Accountability Project at www.majorityap.com