Gitenstein possible in DOJ? Another lobbyist nominee? U.S. Chamber of Commerce?!

Among more than 30 lobbying clients Gitenstein has represented are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co., United Technologies, and Bayer Corp. The Chamber, which has several times paid Mayer Brown more than $1 million for six months of lobbying services, is the highest paying client.

In the first half of 2002, for example, Gitenstein and a dozen other Mayer Brown employees were paid $1.1 million to lobby for the Chamber on issues including tort reform, class actions, preemption and federalism, and campaign finance reform. Each of the three lobbying disclosure forms Mayer Brown submitted to the U.S Senate for the third quarter of 2008 (reporting work on behalf of KPMG, AT&T and the U.S. Chamber), said Gitenstein was "no longer expected to act as a lobbyist" for each client" as of Aug. 22.

Electioneering shell game

On October 31, 2006, Public Citizen filed a complaint<8> with the IRS asking it to investigate whether the Chamber and "its affiliated Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) failed to report millions in taxable spending from 2000 to 2004 intended to influence state-level attorney general and supreme court races and federal races around the country."<9>

It also asked the IRS to investigate whether Chamber and the ILR, "which are two separate legal entities, combined funds in a shared bank account to hide accurate reporting of investment or interest income for tax avoidance. ... Court records, internal corporate documents and media reports indicate that the Chamber and the ILR engaged in a massive campaign to affect the outcome of state and federal races through direct expenditures and grants made to organizations that carried out the Chamber’s wishes."<9>

Public Citizen reported that
"In 2000, the Chamber claimed it spent $6 million on judicial races and took credit for winning 15 out of 17 state supreme court contests. In 2002, the Chamber said it planned to spend $40 million on political campaigns, divided equally between congressional and state-level attorneys general and judicial races. None of these activities were reported on their tax returns from 2000 to 2003.

"In 2004, the first year since at least 2000 that the Chamber and the ILR reported political expenditures, both organizations appear to have underreported their spending. They reported a combined $18 million, but in a 'President's Update' memo released the day after the November elections, Chamber President Thomas Donohue claimed the group had spent up to $30 million in races around the country.

"The Chamber and ILR also failed to report grants and allocations to outside groups as required by Line 22 of IRS Form 990. Both organizations reported no grants to outside groups from 2000 to 2004. But in a 2005 deposition, a Chamber official acknowledged that the Chamber had partnered with at least six outside groups to advance its agenda to avoid garnering unwanted critical attention. At least two 501(c) organizations, the Washington-based American Taxpayers Alliance and the Columbus-based Citizens for a Strong Ohio, reported receipt of contributions from the U.S. Chamber."

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Opposing "activist judges"

In late May 2005, the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform President Lisa Rickard announced it was going to "reign in activist attorneys general."<11> At a Chamber-sponsored conference examining the "appropriate role" of a state attorney general, several speakers "complained that 'Spitzerism' has become a dangerous model for ambitious regulators," refering to New York AG Eliot Spitzer.<12>



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Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act

In October 2007, the Chamber filed a friend-of-the court filing in a class action lawsuit under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court which originated with a California RICO lawsuit involving Microsoft and Best Buy. The Chamber stated that "RICO is getting out of control as a device against business. It has been used in more than 4,500 cases since 2001, with only 35 of those cases filed by the government."<14> The Supreme Court overturned the appeal and ruled that Microsoft and Best Buy are subject to RICO laws.<15>

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SCHIP veto

The Chamber is among a number of organizations which supported President George W. Bush's October 2007 veto of the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007) bill.<19> Republicans and "some business groups" such as the Chamber contended SCHIP "should focus on poor children and the expansion a move towards government-run health care. They also worr identification rules in the Democratic SCHIP bill might allow illegal immigrants to obtain government coverage."<20>

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Social Security

The Chamber also has a role in promoting President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.

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Lobbying spending

The Chamber ranks first in lobbying spending in the past decade, with General Electric ranking second at $161 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.<25>

Political Money Line<26> highlighted in February 2005 that the Chamber and its Institute for Legal Reform reported combined spending of $53.38 million for lobbying the Executive and Legislative branches during 2004. According to the watchdog website, "This is the largest twelve-month amount reported spent by any group."

The Chamber reported spending $20,060,000 in the first six months of 2004 and $8,780,000 in the last six months of 2004. They paid forty-five lobbyists in the last six months of 2004 to lobby on thirty-two issue areas, including "Trade, Small Business, Labor, Healthcare, Defense, Appropriations, Tort Reform and other areas."<27>