Posts on “Rick Davis: September 2008” in September 2008

Two NRA Lobbyists Working for McCain; Do They Violate Campaign Rules?

Looks like Rick Davis isn't the only lobbyist problem the McCain camp is dealing with these days.

Mother Jones reports that two actively-registered lobbyists are currently working on John McCain's campaign for president.

Wayne Berman, co-chairs McCain's national finance committee. James Jay Baker co-steers McCain's National Steering Committee of Sportsmen for McCain. Both work for the lobbying firm, Ogilvy Government Relations as managing directors.

This month, the NRA -- a client of Baker and Berman's -- launched attack ads against Barack Obama. MoJo points out that besides conflicting with McCain's claims for running a straight-shooting, non-lobbyist campaign, Berman and Baker's presence also could come into conflict with the actual campaign rules that banned active lobbyists from working full time for the campaign, or participating in 527s or groups that "oppose any presidential candidate."

From Mother Jones:

Asked whether he might be in violation of the campaign's conflict rules, Berman told Mother Jones, "Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that." He said he was currently lobbying for the NRA but not involved in the group's campaign activities. "I'm in full compliance with campaign policy," he maintained. "I will check over there....I will continue to be in compliance. If that requires me to make changes, I'll make them." He added, "You've done me a favor" by raising this issue.

Davis Still an Officer at Lobbying Firm, Docs Show

We knew we hadn't seen the last news report on McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' ongoing ties to the lobby firm he founded, Davis Manafort.

Newsweek has taken a look at annual filings made by the company to the Virginia state government. Those filings, the most recent of which is from April of this year, list Davis as one of two officers and directors of the firm.

As the magazine notes, that information suggests that in recent days, the campaign "appear[s] to have overstated the extent to which Davis had severed his relationship with his lobbying firm." A statement posted on the McCain campaign website by a spokesman Wednesday morning -- in response to reports that Davis's firm was being paid by the home-loan giant Freddie Mac as recently as this month -- asserted that Davis "separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006." And a campaign spokeswoman wrote in an email to Newsweek Tuesday that Davis "left" the firm that year.

Of course, the fact that someone is listed as an officer on a corporate filing doesn't prove that he was involved in the day-to-day running of the company during the period in question. But Newsweek's find will certainly keep the heat on Davis, who yesterday skipped lunch with reporters, at a time when McCain would prefer the focus to be on his own efforts, belated and vainglorious as they may be, to help avoid a financial meltdown.


Questions Linger on McCain Campaign Manager Tied To Freddie Mac

Last night, The New York Times -- followed by a slew of other outlets -- reported that the lobbying firm of Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, has been collecting $15,000 from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. On Monday, The Times had reported that Davis had been paid to run Freddie Mac's advocacy group, the Homeowner's Alliance, until 2005.

But there's a set of questions that still remain unanswered.

The McCain campaign told the Times that Davis had stopped taking a salary from the firm, Davis-Manafort, by the end of 2006. (Davis took a leave of absence from the firm to work on the campaign.) But the Times points out that, as an equity holder, Davis continues to benefit from his firm's income.

But it's unclear exactly what the Times means by that.

Let's stipulate, first of all, that since Davis is an equity holder, he has a long-term interest in Davis-Manafort's success. The McCain camp hasn't disputed that.

But could Davis be benefiting in a more direct sense?

For instance, could Davis' agreement with Davis-Manafort allow for his share of profits to simply be deferred until he rejoins the firm? Nothing that the McCain camp has said on the subject -- including this lengthy response to the Times story from the campaign's in-house blogger -- has ruled that possibility out.

We also know that in 2007, the McCain campaign did not have Davis on the payroll, and was paying Davis Manafort for "consulting" services. Did none of that money make its way back to Davis?

It's also worth noting that the McCain camp hasn't offered any backing for its claim that Davis did indeed stop getting paid by his firm in 2006. The campaign declined a request from TPMmuckraker to provide such backing.

The bottom line is that none of the reports have fully fleshed out Davis' relationship worth Davis Manafort, and how his compensation agreement actually works.

Seems like that might be worth looking into.


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