[Mb-civic] Case Bringing New Scrutiny To a System and a Profession - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Case Bringing New Scrutiny To a System and a Profession

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 4, 2006; A01

The biggest corruption scandal to infect Congress in a generation took 
down one of the best-connected lobbyists in Washington yesterday. The 
questions echoing around the capital were what other careers -- and what 
other familiar ways of doing business -- are endangered.

Jack Abramoff represented the most flamboyant and extreme example of a 
brand of influence trading that flourished after the Republican takeover 
of the House of Representatives 11 years ago. Now, some GOP strategists 
fear that the fallout from his case could affect the party's efforts to 
keep control in the November midterm elections.

Abramoff was among the lobbyists most closely associated with the K 
Street Project, which was initiated by his friend Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), 
now the former House majority leader, once the GOP vaulted to power. It 
was an aggressive program designed to force corporations and trade 
associations to hire more GOP-connected lobbyists in what at times 
became an almost seamless relationship between Capitol Hill lawmakers 
and some firms that sought to influence them.

Now Abramoff has become a symbol of a system out of control. His 
agreement to plead guilty to three criminal counts and cooperate with 
prosecutors threatens to ensnare other lawmakers or their aides -- 
Republicans and possibly some Democrats. At a minimum, yesterday's 
developments put both sides of the lawmaker-lobbyist relationship on 
notice that some of the wilder customs of recent years -- lubricated 
with money, entertainment and access -- carry higher risks. In the 
post-Abramoff era, what once was accepted as business as usual may be 
seen as questionable or worse.

"In the short run, members of Congress will get allergic to lobbyists," 
said former representative Vin Weber (R-Minn.), now a lobbyist for Clark 
& Weinstock. "They'll be nervous about taking calls and holding 
meetings, to say nothing of lavish trips to Scotland. Those will be out. 
For a period of time now, members of Congress will be concerned about 
even legitimate contact with the lobbying world."

The initial impact of a scandal that earlier produced a guilty plea from 
Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon could be changes in the way lawmakers 
and lobbyists interact. In the longer term, said many lobbyists and 
others, Congress will be pressured to revisit and toughen rules on gifts 
and travel that lawmakers and members of their staffs may accept. Some 
former lawmakers said even bigger changes may be needed to restore 
public confidence in how Washington works.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who with Weber's help 
effectively used issues of corruption to wrest control of the House from 
the Democrats in 1994, said the Abramoff scandal should trigger a 
broader review in Congress of the way politicians finance campaigns and 
deal with lobbyists.

"I'm going to talk at length about the need for us to rethink not just 
lobbying but the whole process of elections, incumbency protection and 
the way in which the system has evolved," he said. "Which is very 
different from the way the American system is supposed to be like. I 
think Abramoff is just part of a large pattern that has got to be 
rethought."

Emotions ran high on K Street yesterday when news of Abramoff's plea 
deal began to break. "The Abramoff scandal is causing a reexamination of 
what lobbyists do in town," said R. Bruce Josten, executive vice 
president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "I wouldn't be surprised to 
see lawmakers become cautious in meetings with lobbyists."

With an eye on November's elections, Republicans have sought to limit 
the damage to themselves by portraying the scandal as bipartisan, 
describing Abramoff as an equal-opportunity dispenser of campaign cash 
and largess.

So far, the public has not identified corruption as solely a Republican 
problem. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in November asked Americans 
whether they thought Democrats or Republicans were better on ethical 
matters; 16 percent said Democrats, 12 percent said Republicans, and 71 
percent said there was not much difference between the parties.

But Republicans worry about two possibilities. The first is that 
Abramoff, known for his close ties to DeLay, mostly implicates 
Republicans as a result of his plea agreement. That could shift public 
attitudes sharply against the GOP. "People are uneasy about what else is 
out there," said one GOP strategist who requested anonymity to speak 
more candidly about the possible political fallout.

Beyond that is a fear that the scandal and attention it could draw in 
the months before the election might further sour the public on 
Washington and Congress. As the party in power, Republicans know they 
stand to lose more if voters take retribution in November.

Regardless of the electoral implications, the Abramoff scandal may force 
changes on Capitol Hill in the form of tough new lobbying disclosure 
laws that even some lobbying advocates say it is time to consider. 
"There will be a push for increased oversight and disclosure of 
lobbying," said Douglas G. Pinkham, president of the Public Affairs 
Council, a lobbyist education group. "There needs to be greater 
transparency and better enforcement."

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who co-wrote 
campaign finance changes a few years ago, have introduced separate 
proposals that would crack down hard on lobbying as now practiced. Their 
ideas will serve as the starting point for what is expected to be a 
vigorous debate.

Some lobbyists reacted defensively yesterday, at pains to say that 
Abramoff was an exception to the way they do business. "The Abramoff 
style is so far afield from the normal course of business as to be 
irrelevant to me and probably most people in my line of work," said Joel 
Johnson, a Clinton White House official and now a lobbyist for the 
Glover Park Group.

"The whole Abramoff matter is atypical," agreed Ed Rogers of Barbour 
Griffith & Rogers. "It is not a lesson of how business is done in 
Washington."

John Jonas, a lobbyist at Patton Boggs, said he expects "less partying, 
less gifting, more awareness about compliance" with rules that have been 
"observed in the breach."

As for the perception of lobbying as a profession, "it's confirmed 
everybody's worst fears about lobbyists -- that they double-deal, that 
they're not aboveboard," Jonas said. "That hurts the legitimate practice 
of the profession."

Gingrich said Republican leaders in Congress should take the initiative 
to reform lobbying and campaign finance, rather than hoping to slip 
quietly past the current scandal. "Things have to be done to really 
rethink where the center of the political process is," he said. "Right 
now, the center is a lobbying and PAC [political action committee] 
system center, which is not healthy."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010301536.html?nav=hcmodule
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