Saturday, August 05, 2006
How do they do that?
If you want a good look at the workings of the Republican Congressional marketplace, you have to read this report from the NY Times today. It comes with all the "appropriate denials" and many of the details.
And the LA Times has its own report on how California Republicans do their "bidness".
In 1992, Brent R. Wilkes rented a suite at the Hyatt Hotel a few blocks from the Capitol. In his briefcase was a stack of envelopes for a half-dozen congressmen, each packet containing up to $10,000 in checks.Separational deniability for transactional lobbying, how cute!
Mr. Wilkes had set up separate meetings with the lawmakers hoping to win a government contract, and he planned to punctuate each pitch with a campaign donation. But his hometown congressman, Representative Bill Lowery of San Diego, a Republican, told him that presenting the checks during the sessions was not how things were done, Mr. Wilkes recalled.
Instead, Mr. Wilkes said, Mr. Lowery taught him the right way to do it: hand over the envelope in the hallway outside the suite, at least a few feet away.
That was the beginning of a career built on what Mr. Wilkes calls “transactional lobbying,” which made him a rich man but also landed him in the middle of a criminal investigation.
And the LA Times has its own report on how California Republicans do their "bidness".
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