Lobbyists are waging a subtle campaign to undercut the ethics law that Democrats approved with great fanfare this spring, according to government watchdog Fred Wertheimer. The good news: no congressional regulations can come between a lobbyist and the object of his or her affection.
In a memo to reporters today, Wertheimer - who led the charge to pass the 2002 campaign finance law that now haunts chief sponsor John McCain on the trail - seeks to debunk three myths about the ethics law that lobbyists have propagated in recent Washington Post stories.
The first example Wertheimer cites comes from Darryl Nirenberg, a former Jesse Helms chief of staff who now lobbies at Patton Boggs. Nirenberg is quoted lamenting the sad state of post-reform Washington, in which the new ethics law even prohibits lobbyists from proposing marriage to congressional aides without pitching woo to their bosses first. Nirenberg painted an unromantic picture of congressional romance to the Post:
If you want to give your girlfriend who works in the Senate an engagement ring, you are going to have to ask permission from not only her father, but also from her senator, and maybe from the ethics committee, too.
But Wertheimer, now president of Democracy 21, insists today that nothing should stop K Streeters from going on bended knee for aides whose bosses they may still be lobbying.
First of all, there is absolutely nothing in the gift rules that would require a staff member to get permission from a senator to accept an engagement ring. Second, while under the gift rules, a gift from a 'personal friend' requires getting permission, or a waiver, from the ethics committee if the value of the gift exceeds $250, this provision does not apply to engagement rings .... The gift rules exempt gifts from relatives from all gift restrictions, and they deem a ''relative'' to include 'a fiancé or fiancée,' for purposes of the rules.
Setting future professional guidelines for those betrothed lobbyists didn't come up.
