Some straight talk about John McCain and his lobbyists' involvement in a deal that landed a French defense contractor a big-money contract. For more information, visit
http://www.FireTheLobbyists.com More ---
McCain Lobbyist Ties Questioned in Ad, Complaint
June 08, 2008 3:22 PM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: A watchdog group is launching an advertising campaign and filing an FEC complaint questioning the McCain campaign's ties to lobbyists, as Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama spar over each other's ties to special interests.
The TV ad from Campaign Money Watch, set to run on Washington, D.C., broadcast and cable outlets starting Monday, focuses on McCain's role in the awarding of an Air Force contract that would eventually go to the French company Airbus instead of the American company Boeing.
"Seven of McCain’s staff and fundraisers lobbied for Airbus," the ad says. "And guess what? John McCain intervened, which helped Airbus get that Pentagon contract. Tell John McCain to kick those lobbyists off the Straight Talk Express."
The group is also asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate two other public reports that touch on McCain's connections to lobbyists: That a lobbying company, the Loeffler Group LLP, made payments this year to McCain's national finance director, Susan Nelson; and that a company controlled in part by campaign manager Rick Davis sliced more than $100,000 off of McCain campaign's tab, when the campaign was starved for cash last year.
While working for Loeffler, Nelson lobbied on behalf of Airbus. Newsweek reported last month that Nelson was rehired early this year as a consultant for the company, while on the McCain campaign's payroll.
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Campaign Money Watch is a project of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonprofit organization that seeks to highlight politicians' ties to special interests. Officials said they would not disclose the size of their advertising buy.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/mccain-lobbyist.html