Catastrophe - Dick Morris [94]
Here’s a list of Marwood’s federal lobbying clients, and their fees, from 2001 to 2004.
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THE MARWOOD GROUP
Source: “2004 Total Lobbying Income,” Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?lname=Marwood+Group&year=2004.
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According to federal lobbying disclosure records, after 2004 Marwood no longer participated in federal lobbying. That year, several unflattering stories were published detailing the unheard-of commissions—running into the millions of dollars—that Ted Kennedy, Jr., had received from labor unions and the City of Boston, with some help from his father. The Kennedys must have been anxious to avoid further stories of the kind.
Yet the fact is that although Marwood had officially closed down its lobbying operations in 2004, it hadn’t gone out of business. Marwood’s clients simply migrated to another Kennedy Jr.–related entity, Waypoint Advisors.
When Waypoint filed its first lobbying disclosure in mid-2005, it listed the same address, phone number, and lobbyist—and, coincidentally, the same clients—as Marwood. So why did Waypoint suddenly take the place of Marwood? Was it to distract attention from the connection between health care lobbying work and Ted Kennedy, Jr.?
By the end of the year, Waypoint Advisors had moved to a new address, listed a new phone number, and disclosed several new lobbyists.
Here’s a list of Waypoint’s lobbying clients for 2005 and 2006:
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WAYPOINT ADVISORS, LLC
Source: Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org.
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Anything about those lists look familiar? Did you notice that Waypoint’s clients are the same firms that used to retain Marwood? Just as it had once turned to Marwood for help on Medicare reimbursements, now BMS looked to Waypoint to handle the issue—and added the Prescription Drug Access Program to its wish list.
All these issues, of course, involved matters before Senator Ted Kennedy’s committee.
In 2006, pushed by Senators McCain and Obama, Congress began seriously exploring lobbying reforms—including a ban on lobbying by spouses and immediate family. Press reports began to focus on spouses who lobbied. It was a kind of scrutiny the Kennedys couldn’t have welcomed; the writing was on the wall.
For whatever reason, Waypoint Advisors closed down its lobbying business at the end of 2006. But it still maintains a Washington office and can be reached at the phone number originally listed for the Marwood Group. What it does is anyone’s guess.
Before the new reforms took effect in 2007, it was neither illegal nor a violation of the Senate ethics rules for a family member of a senator to be a lobbyist. It certainly should have been. Think about it: in some situations, paying a family lobbyist could be a way to funnel money to a senator. It’s unlikely that any such thing happened here, but at the very least Ted Kennedy, Jr.’s, Marwood/Waypoint business created an appearance of impropriety. On an even more basic level, it just doesn’t look good for the family of an elected official to benefit financially because of his ability to set up meetings in the Senate. If they can get paid five figures for setting up meetings, what else might they be tempted to offer for sale?
But things have substantially changed. The wide-ranging lobbying reforms Congress passed in 2006 included a ban on lobbying of a senator by a spouse or immediate family.
The new rules prohibit all “official contacts” between a senator or his personal, committee, or leadership staff and any spouse or immediate family member. That would make it hard for someone like Ted Kennedy, Jr., to “contact” his father about his clients’ concerns. And it would make it impossible for any of his business entities to market their unique selling proposition: access to power.
These reforms were serious. Legislators also passed a Sense of the Senate stating that: “lobbyists should not use a family relationship to gain special advantage over other lobbyists.” This meant one thing: it was time for Ted Kennedy, Jr.