[Mb-civic] Lobby Firm Is Scandal Casualty - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Lobby Firm Is Scandal Casualty
Abramoff, DeLay Publicity Blamed For Shutdown

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 10, 2006; A01

One of Washington's top lobbying operations will shut down at the end of 
the month because of its ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and 
former House majority leader Tom DeLay.

Alexander Strategy Group, which had thrived since its founding in 1998 
thanks largely to its close connections to DeLay (R-Tex.), will cease to 
operate except for a relatively small business-development division, 
Edwin A. Buckham, the former top DeLay aide who owns the company, said 
yesterday.

Buckham said in a telephone interview that the company was fatally 
damaged by publicity about the ongoing federal investigation into the 
affairs of Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week to fraud and 
conspiracy charges. Abramoff is cooperating with prosecutors in their 
probe of congressional corruption.

DeLay was indicted in Texas last year on money laundering and other 
charges. He is one of several lawmakers under scrutiny in the Abramoff 
case, sources knowledgeable about the investigation have said.

"Reports in the press have made it difficult to continue as a 
lobbying/political entity," Buckham said.

Buckham's firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine, for four years. It also 
benefited by working closely with Abramoff. Abramoff's plea agreement 
mentioned his close ties to Tony C. Rudy, one of Buckham's colleagues at 
ASG, identified in the court papers as "Staffer A."

Rudy, a former DeLay aide, worked for Abramoff before joining ASG. 
According to the plea document, a political consulting firm run by 
Rudy's wife allegedly received $50,000 in exchange for official actions 
Rudy took while working for DeLay.

A senior ASG employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because 
of the sensitivity of ongoing discussions at the firm, said Rudy will be 
leaving the company. Rudy did not return phone calls yesterday.

The firm's collapse also coincides with DeLay's announcement that he 
will not attempt to regain his former post as House majority leader. 
DeLay has been indicted on money-laundering charges in his home state 
and, by House rule, had to give up his leadership position, at least 
temporarily.

The end of DeLay's leadership role was a major blow to the lobbying 
firm. Former DeLay associates have said that ASG and Buckham were key 
gatekeepers for DeLay with outsiders including lobbyists and their 
corporate clients. DeLay's fall from power presaged a major commercial 
loss for the company whether it dissolved or not.

The senior ASG employee estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the firm's 
clients probably would have abandoned the firm soon because of adverse 
publicity about the continuing investigations involving Rudy and Buckham.

Buckham said that he will be leaving the lobbying business and hasn't 
any regrets. "I'm at peace with all this," he said. "I'm not bitter. I'm 
not resentful. I harbor no ill feelings toward anyone. The important 
thing in life is having a clean heart and I do. I'm not even upset with 
the press."

ASG, based in Georgetown, lobbies for an A-list of about 70 companies 
and organizations, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Microsoft, and the 
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. ASG ranked No. 21 
on National Journal's 2005 lobbying list with $8 million in revenue, a 
34 percent jump over the previous year.

The 12 lobbyists who now work at ASG -- other than Rudy and Buckham -- 
intend to start a successor firm and intend to keep as many of the 
clients as possible, according to one of the lobbyists.

Financial disclosure forms show that ASG employed Christine DeLay from 
1998 to 2002. Lobby filings also show that Buckham hired Julie 
Doolittle, wife of Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), to do bookkeeping 
for a nonprofit group he created called the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council. 
A year ago, Julie Doolittle and her firm received a subpoena from the 
grand jury investigating Abramoff, according to her lawyer.

Former lobbying associates have said that Abramoff shared some 
high-paying clients with ASG, including Malaysian interests, the 
Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe and online gambling firms. Federal 
investigators have questioned some former Abramoff associates about 
whether those referrals were related to Christine DeLay's employment 
there, sources said.

The Washington Post reported in November that a federal task force was 
investigating Abramoff's connections to ASG and its hiring of 
congressional wives.

In court papers filed with Abramoff's plea, prosecutors said that 
Abramoff sought Rudy's help in killing a bill to prohibit gambling on 
the Internet. Rudy went on two luxury trips with the lobbyist, including 
one partly paid for by Abramoff's client, eLottery Inc., a gambling 
services company. Abramoff also arranged for eLottery to pay $25,000 to 
a Jewish foundation that hired Rudy's wife as a consultant, according to 
documents and interviews. Months later, Abramoff also hired Rudy as a 
lobbyist.

Abramoff and others looked to Rudy to help scuttle a postal rate 
increase, the court documents said. The Magazine Publishers of America, 
which had hired Abramoff in 2000 for a campaign against the increase, 
told The Post last week that it paid $25,000 to the same Seattle 
foundation. A spokesman for the publishers group, Howard J. Rubenstein, 
said its directors "had absolutely no knowledge of how the money would 
be used."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010901996.html
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