Lobbying Firm That White House Suggests Is Bankrolling GOP Donates Much More To Dems

The White House jumped on a story Tuesday morning showing that the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld was hosting a fundraiser on the night of the November elections for the Republican Party's congressional and Senate campaign committees.

The piece, published by Politico, made the case that K Street is positioning itself for an oncoming GOP wave. The White House and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in contrast, suggested that this was evidence of the GOP leadership confirming an unholy alliance with the special interest community.

Lost in the back-and-forth was the fact that despite hosting an election night fundraiser for the NRSC and NRCC, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, has pretty much been bankrolling Democrats for the past year and a half. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, almost three-fourths of the $1.2 million in donations made by employees of the firm in the 2010 cycle have gone to Democratic candidates. That's actually up from 2008, when 64 percent of the firm's donations went Democratic, and in 2006 when 58 percent of the firm's donations went to Democrats.

The actual data doesn't take into account whether it was lobbyists or simply administrative staff making the donations. It also doesn't change the awkward optics of Republican committees attending an Akin Gump sponsored fundraiser (which will raise much more money than individual donations) the night that they're expecting major gains in congressional power. But if the problem here is a conflict of interest, the Democrats have their own.

UPDATE: A DNC official notes, correctly, that neither the committee nor the White House accepts money from lobbyists, including those who work at the firm Akin Gump. The official adds that the significance of the story is that K-Street, at this late hour, is doing its best to cozy up to the GOP, betting that a change of congressional power is coming.

But the fact remains that Akin Gump has been really much closer-aligned with Democrats in this cycle than with Republicans. Sunlight Foundation, which tracks fundraisers for members of Congress, lists far more Democratic-functions sponsored by the firm this past year-and-a-half than Republican-functions.

Comments

[ImpressedByHonesty]

10:28 AM on 09/30/2010

"The actual data doesn't take into account whether it was lobbyists or simply administrative staff making the donations. "

Well, uhhh... hmmmm... WELL YOUR THE REPORTER!! GO FIGURE THIS OUT!!!!!

Otherwise the multitude of corporate donation stories are USELESS.

If I work for Halliburton, and I donate to Alan Grayson, you give Halliburton the credit of my donation? Please!

[Disdain]

09:23 AM on 09/22/2010

Lesson here is make sure you're covered before you start throwing mud.

[kimleehan]

07:50 AM on 09/22/2010

Squeaky wheel gets the grease, So are the Democrats the squeaky wheel and the Republicans all walk in lock step???

[Scent]

07:33 AM on 09/22/2010

Anyone who actually believes that the politicians of DNC or GOP have ANY moral or ideological backgrounds has serious issues.

They are fanatical believers in the same god: Profit.

And as fanatics they will sacrifice millions of people if need be to their god and saviour.

There is a legal term for someone who SWEARS to serve the people and then does the opposite for profit - or whatever reason.

Traitor.

[Scent]

07:20 AM on 09/22/2010

Anyone who actually believes that the politicians of DNC or GOP have ANY moral or ideological backgrounds needs a brain transplant.

They are fanatical beleivers n teh same god: profit.

And as fanatics they will sacrifice millions of people if need be to their god and saviour.

There is a legal term for someone who SWEARS to serve the people and then does the opposite for profit - or whatever reason.

Traitor.

[BlueSkyPilot]

07:12 AM on 09/22/2010

Since the GOP is more in line with their core beleifs they naturally have to pay the dems more "Bribations" to get them to swing votes in in their favor.

[Name Not In Use]

07:09 AM on 09/22/2010

Vote for whomever you please.

Without campaign finance reform it will make no difference.
We have a system that forces our elected representatives to raise millions of dollars per year to keep their jobs and also allows stakeholders in the issues to be voted upon to make "donations" to their campaigns.

It's not bribery - it's "free speech".

It's not bribery - it's "free speech".

It's not bribery - it's "free speech".

Nothing to see here.

Move along.

[Spin Sniper]

04:25 AM on 09/22/2010

Even the HP, the last bastion for a nearly extinct liberalism preceeding the November elections, has to read the writing on the wall and point out the hypocrisy in it's own midst. Everything the Obama administration accuses the opposition of is actually a mirror reflection of it's own policies. The Right has studied the play book of the left and have adapted the Left's tactics for their own use. Except that the Right has the further advantage of actually being right where the Left is merely wrong.

[GreenAmbition]

03:36 AM on 09/22/2010

Yeah they LOVE the Dems so much that SCOTUS have allowed their ilk to be a HUGE part of our democracy by voting comanies are "people". Which group is in bed with corporations and business...the GOP. I find this article rather misleading. If they did sponsor more dinners, it's just because people in general like going with a winner. Loyalty from lobbyist and business towards the Dems is laughable and ridiculous.

[FatFeline]

04:23 AM on 09/22/2010

The Unions are spending far more than any one else in the areas covered by the Citizens United decision.

[ImpressedByHonesty]

10:30 AM on 09/30/2010

And 90% of the others are spending to defeat anything pro-union.

[Spin Sniper]

04:27 AM on 09/22/2010

I agree. The idea that the Dems could attract loyalty from anyone is laughable and ridiculous. And, I would add, pathetic.

[GeorgieGirl9]

11:55 PM on 09/21/2010

Another inconvenient truth

[VikingQuest]

10:45 PM on 09/21/2010

Seriously, I thought the Bush WH was bad but they didn't jump on every story or fire people because they might be on a cable news show.

You'd think the WH would try to stay above it all until they researched topics but I guess not.

[FatFeline]

04:24 AM on 09/22/2010

The WH thinks that they know it all.

[latia65]

10:39 PM on 09/21/2010

The party is going to be a poof because they will win no more than .... seats.

HA!

[Triple Bottomline]

09:47 PM on 09/21/2010

like I have been saying for months, Dems and GOP are the same guys in different suits.
To believe that there are any fundamental differences between the two is about as clueless as thinking professional wrestling is real. Both parties succumb to big business and the ruling elite- neither party cares about the white/blue collar guy, the middle class guy or working professional. These parties are a joke and we are long overdue for a few new ones to be added to the mix.

[RightinWA]

09:28 PM on 09/21/2010

Honestly - theDems are too stu//pid to see the forrest through the trees!!

[biddan1000]

09:17 PM on 09/21/2010

The White House doesn't care about if they tell the truth about something like this. They know that if it is reported enough and not facted checked by the media, people will believe it.

[RoofinReality]

01:17 AM on 09/22/2010

Kind of like those WMD's in Iraq?

[Name Not In Use]

07:11 AM on 09/22/2010

I heard they were really there but were smuggled out at the last minute!

[keraz]

08:18 AM on 09/22/2010

A lie, told enough, becomes the truth.

The WH is scared of the surge with the GOP and the Tea Party movement. They are going to jump on any story that looks like it could even remotely damage this movement and slow down its momentum.

It's sad, really. Between that and calling the opposition racists, I'm not sure what they've got left.