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K Street goes to the defense of Charlie RangelBy: TIMOTHY P.
CARNEY<http://www.sfexaminer.com/bios/timothy-p-carney.html>

Examiner Columnist
July 28, 2010
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., walks between meetings in the basement of
Longworth House Office building on Capitol Hill in May 26, 2010. (AP
Photo/Cliff Owen)

Every person accused of a crime or an ethics violation deserves a competent
defense. Charlie Rangel's legal defense, fittingly, comes from K Street.

Two of the three firms providing legal counsel to Rep. Charlie Rangel,
D-N.Y., in his pending ethics cases are lobbying firms. In fact, one firm,
Oldaker, Belair & Wittie, conducts much of Rangel's political fundraising,
while operating four different lobby shops.

But who's ultimately paying Rangel's legal bills? Mostly corporate and union
political action committees along with individual lobbyists. Over the past
six months, PACs and lobbyists have accounted for a majority of the money
Rangel's campaign has raised this year, not counting transfers from Rangel's
other fundraising operations (more on them below).

In turn, Rangel funnels his campaign cash into his legal defense. In 2009,
three-fourths of Rangel's $2.16 million in campaign spending went to legal
fees. The House Ethics Committee allows campaign funds for legal fees that
are not "primarily personal in nature, such as a matrimonial action, or
could result in a direct personal benefit for the Member." Otherwise, legal
fees are a legitimate use of campaign cash because "the protection of a
Member's presumption of innocence in such actions is a valid political
purpose," the guidelines state.

That means any politically savvy donor who cut a check in 2010 to Rangel's
reelection knew the donation was, in part, a contribution to Rangel's legal
defense -- indeed, in the first two quarters of 2010, Rangel's campaign
spent $655,232, with $230,749 (35 percent) going to legal fees. Zuckerman
Spaeder LLP got biggest haul of Rangel cash -- $182,000. The firm had
lobbying clients including one top drugmaker until last year, when the K
Street legal shop de-registered as lobbyist.

Another lobbying firm defending Rangel is Oldaker, Belair & Wittie,
pocketing $28,000 in legal fees so far this year. Oldaker's clients include
Indian tribes, health care companies and financial organizations such as the
Debt Buyers' Association. But the firm also houses two other lobbying firms:
the Oldaker Group and the National Group.

The National Group's lobby clients include defense giant Lockheed Martin and
other aerospace companies, as well as many universities and hospitals.

In the Oldaker orbit is lobbyist Michael Allen Andrews, a former Ways &
Means staffer, now a Rangel donor. Andrews is registered to lobby for
"National Health Advisors LLC," a lobbying operation launched by Oldaker and
another K Street firm days before Obama's inauguration.

In a press release, Oldaker explained: "As the Obama Administration and the
111th Congress begin their work to reform America's health care system, the
Washington DC-based joint venture offers lobbying and consulting services to
companies needing to understand and impact the reform debate." Rangel's Ways
& Means Committee was one of three with jurisdiction over the bill.

Oldaker lawyer Phu Hunyh is also the treasurer for a fundraising committee
called the "Rangel Victory Fund." This is different from Rangel's principle
campaign committee ("Rangel for Congress") and Rangel's PAC ("National
Leadership PAC"). The treasurer of those two committees is Basil Paterson,
father of New York Gov. David Paterson, a former union boss, and now a
senior member of a law firm that also lobbies.

The final arm to Rangel's fundraising machine is the now-defunct
Baucus-Rangel Leadership Fund. This was a joint fundraising committee Rangel
set up with Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. What did they have in common? When they
formed the committee, the two men had just become chairmen of their
chambers' respective tax-writing committees. The committee held a fundraiser
or two in 2007, pulling in cash primarily from New York City real estate
developers and investors. The fundraisers reeked of auctioning off tax
policy, or shaking down businesses vulnerable to tax changes.

Lobbyists are filling the campaign bank accounts that are paying these
lawyers. Some high rollers on Rangel's donor lists are: Joseph Dowley,
representing the Institute of International Bankers; Justin Gray,
representing taxpayer-owned GM; Alan Wheat, representing Sanofi-Aventis and
Roche; and Akin Gump lobbyists Robert Leonard and Jayne Fitzgerald, who
represent Boeing, Bechtel, General Electric and Aetna. Lobbyists from Patton
Boggs, the Podesta Group and Ernst & Young have also funded Rangel.

Check out the PACs giving to Rangel this year and you will see names like
the National Bankers Association, Pfizer, New York Life, GE and Lockheed
Martin. Lobbying firm PACs funding Rangel's re-election include Baker &
Hostetler; McKenna, Long & Aldridge; Holland & Knight; and O'Melveny &
Myers.

PACs and lobbying firms have given more than $120,000 to Rangel in the past
six months while individual lobbyists have chipped in another $28,000.

All of these companies and lobbyists are savvy enough to know they're
funding Rangel's legal defense. This is why politicians like Rangel benefit
when K Street gains clout. Starting this week, we'll find out if K Street is
powerful enough to save Rangel.

[note: Originally, due to a transposition error, this column had an
incorrect number for Rangel's 2009 campaign expenditures. The correct number
is $2.16 million.]

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Timothy P. Carney, The Examiner's lobbying editor, can be reached at
tcarney@washingtonexaminer.com. He writes an op-ed column that appears on
Friday.
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Read more at the San Francisco Examiner:
http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/K-Street-goes-to-the-defense-of-Charlie-Rangel-1004040-99363214.html#ixzz0vAdrGHsm
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Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co