Lawyer says he advised Gingrich on lobbying laws in 2000

Jeudi 26 janvier 2012 4 26 /01 /Jan /2012 12:21

Lawyer says he advised Gingrich on lobbying laws in 2000

"Lobbyist" has become something of an insult in the Republican primary, with Mitt Romney, Gingrich accusing him of being an "influence peddler" who used contacts made when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives to push interests of clients of his firm.

Gingrich dismissed the accusation and said during a Republican presidential debate on Monday it has hired an expert on the regulation of lobbying the U.S. to ensure its consulting work has never lost in Lobbying.

Gingrich did not identify the expert at the time, but his office confirmed to Reuters that it was Thomas Susman, a lawyer and lobbyist who is well known in Washington.

In an interview, Susman said he took on Gingrich as a client in the fall of 2000, as the former MP was rise of the consulting firm known as the Gingrich Group.

"He hired me to give advice on the requirements of state and federal lobbying," said Susman.

"The object," he added, "was simply to inform him and his associates in his company that the lobbying laws have been because he did not want to cross the line to register as lobbyist in any of these jurisdictions. "

The decision by Gingrich to seek legal advice shows how complicated the regulation of lobbying can be.

Many exceptions

U.S. law requires a person to register with Congress as a lobbyist if he or she is at least two contacts with high-level government officials, spends 20 percent or more of his time and lobbying is paid to do . States have similar laws.

But there are many exceptions, of which only 17 for "lobbying contact" term in a federal law of 1995.

Susman has specialized for years of lobbying compliance. He co-authored "The Handbook of lobbying," a legal text is now in its fourth edition and is a past president of ethics of the American League of Lobbyists, a trade group.

When Gingrich was hired Susman managed all lobbying laws and regulations related to business in the firm Ropes & Gray LLP.

Susman said Mr. Gingrich wanted advice on what could trigger a requirement for him to register as a lobbyist or state or federal. "It was just where is the line, and if we take certain actions, we will cross it?" He said.

Susman said he has no recollection of why Gingrich intends to avoid having to register. There were news stories critical of the time on other former members of Congress who took the jobs of lobbying.

"Dole has been in the news a lot," Susman said, referring to former U.S. Senate Republican leader Robert Dole, who is a lobbyist for Alston & Bird LLP.

Gingrich and Romney are the leaders in the battle intensifies to become the Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama in the presidential elections in November. In Monday's debate, Gingrich said he and his staff "stayed away from lobbying precisely because I thought that this type of factually false and defamatory charge is made."

JUSTICE PROBE SOUGHT

Criticism has bubbled since November, when Gingrich first confronted with questions about $ 1.6 million in payments that his office received from Freddie Mac mortgage-finance giant. Gingrich said he never lobbied and worked as a consultant instead. He has published a copy of his contract Monday.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit group that files ethics complaints against elected officials, this month asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Gingrich violated the law of lobbying during a debate in 2003 on the expansion of health care. Prosecutors did not comment.

Lobbying is one of the professions in the United States at least considered. A poll released last month by Gallup Inc. found that 62 percent of respondents had a low or very low opinion of the honesty and ethics for lobbyists, below all other jobs except members of Congress.

There were about 12,200 federal lobbyists registered in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics nonpartisan. They represent a wide range of clients, including large companies like AT & T Inc., professional associations like the American Medical Association, trade unions and many charities.

Susman said that most of his work for Gingrich came here a year or two of his hiring in 2000.

The attorney-client relationships are often confidential, but Susman said Gingrich agreed upon to let him know his work for Gingrich. Susan Meyers, a spokesman for Gingrich Group, confirmed the relationship Tuesday.

Susman left Ropes & Gray in 2008 to become the chief lobbyist of the American Bar Association. Part of his work pushes Congress to implement the recommendations of a working group on lobbying regulation.