McCain Finance Chair Quits After Making Under The Table Payments To Finance Director

Newsweek:

Stung by the news that two aides once lobbied for the Burmese junta, John McCain last week rolled out a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy for his campaign, requiring all staffers to fill out questionnaires identifying past or current clients that "could be embarrassing for the senator." Aides say that McCain was furious over the Burma connection (which he learned from a NEWSWEEK story) and was "adamant" about banning campaign workers from serving as foreign agents or getting paid for lobbying work.

But the fallout may not be over. One top campaign official affected by the new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts. Loeffler last month told a reporter "at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain." But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations."

Another potential problem: Loeffler's firm started paying $15,000 a month last summer to one of its lobbyists, Susan Nelson, after she left to become McCain's full-time finance director, said a source familiar with the arrangement (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters). Campaign officials were told the payments were "severance" for Nelson and that they ended by November. But in "February or March," Loeffler rehired Nelson as a consultant to "help him with his clients" while she continued on the McCain payroll, according to a campaign official who asked not to be identified talking about personnel matters. Federal election law prohibits any outside entity from subsidizing the income of campaign workers. McCain's officials say they have been assured that Nelson did actual work for Loeffler's lobbying clients--and that the payments were proper. But after NEWSWEEK posed questions about the matter, they confirmed Loeffler's resignation and the termination of Nelson's consulting contract. (Loeffler and Nelson did not respond to requests for comment.) Also last week, energy adviser Eric Burgeson was ousted.

Read the whole story: Newsweek

Comments

[kellygrrrl]

Of the Lobbyists, By the Lobbyists, For the Lobbyists

[brwnizofmine]

More of the same, scandal after scandal, after scandal. Now do we really more of the same?

[08timefortruth]

Yeah right, he knows nothing about any of these people....­I think he was "furious" because it made the news....he looks even stupider if he really is so clueless he has to get his information on his own campaign staff from the msm....jus­t who we need in the WH more criminals.

[GBecker]

This stuff just gets better 'n better.

[simplify]

This mans campaign is a non starter. This is who peolpe want to vote for.
George Bush not withstanding anyone who votes for this guy is an idiot.

[dadele]

McCain has always been Ethically Challenged. Anyone remember the Keating five, the Savings and Loan scandal? This is the same guy, just different packaging. I wish we had freedom of the press, so all his odious connections could be exposed.

[kasinca]

Senile old man yelling at the moon...lob­byists own the rethughlican party.

[NoahVail]

Let's see... Our Air Force pilots will be flying French Airplanes and burning Saudi jet fuel as they strafe villages in Burma. Since McCain once lobbied for the North Vietnamese, this does not surprise me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g
http://www.usvetdsp.com/smith_mc.htm
http://nationalwriterssyndicate.com/content/view/349/2/

Where are the 32 tapes? I want to know more about P.W. Songbird.

[Cedman]

The straight talk express is getting poor milage because it is heavy with fat cat lobbyists. I would like to see a diagram --a web might work, of all the people who have left the Express and their connections.

[111]

And this is the man Hillary supporters are going to vote for .... I guess they figured McCain couldn't beat Obama so they would try to help him. Ain't gonna work!

[dadele]

No, they won't actually vote for McBush. They are just disappointed and sad right now. When your candidate, who you believed in and invested in, loses, it makes you angry. The anger will subside as they realize the campaign mistakes that doomed Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with Obama, but were internal issues. Obama ran a positive campaign and didn't take any of the shots he could have.

[amazinggrace]

Is this another of his "I only have good lobbyists working for my campaign" people? Come on, McInsane, you are just as corrupt as so many Repugs in Congress. How many more do you have hiding in your campaign. Want to explain Charlie Black (WHO GOT CAUGHT) running your campaign and lobbying at the same time. Seems he dealt with some "interesting" clients. How many more, Johnny Boy.

Obama '08

[loax]

This man is a joke! What is this 4 in 2 days? And he claims to run a civil campaign? god, I hope America is watching, and will send this warmonger back to Arizona where he can live out his twilght years before he destroys this country!

[JadedAggie]

Unfortunately I really doubt this will get any real news coverage. The media is too obsessed with important things like flag pins.

[researcher]

the media is part of the corp fascism.

give americans peanuts and circuses.

easy to control americans.

just send them a 600 dollar check every few years.

hey we send the each person in israel 1500 a year.

borrowed chinese money that our kids will have to pay back.

there is dumb and dumber we fit the dumber side.

while our bridges fall we send money to the world.

and the world laughs at us for our ignorance.

they have a good point.

[harriscrl3]

YEP that sums it up Beautifully. We are living in a fascist country and Americans are still in ignorance. We dont get outrage anymore. A war thats suppose to last 6 months lasting 6 years and is based on lies and Americans are stroming White House demanding that Bush bring home our troops instead they forget about Iraq and when they remember it they are told we are seeing progress and yet the troops remain.

We've become a passive people absorbing media spins and soundbites and believing what we are told. They became active during the democratic primary lets see if it sustains to the general or if they get hoodwinked and bambaoozled with fear mongering again.

Carol

[deejsmom]

corruption abound, why should we expect anything less from the straight talk surrounded by LOBBYIST?

[izAriver]

The wheels on the bus go round and round...an­d they're falling off!