Washington Insiders

Roy Blunt didn't get to where he is by letting his K Street constituency forget how much he loves and needs them.

So what is Blunt working on two months into his term as U.S. Senator?  Continuing his proud tradition of K Street outreach by planning a "fall retreat" for them at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. 

You thought Ol' Roy would keep tweeting about blue jeans and pretending his heart's really in Missouri?  Please. 

Blunt's upcoming "retreat" is just another entry in a long list of luxurious events by Blunt's Rely On Your Beliefs (ROYB Fund) and campaign committees far, far away from voters and reporters in the Show-Me State.  As you may have read during the 2010 Senate race when Blunt and his handlers were downplaying his nauseating ties to the influence peddling industry.

From The Hotline: Gregg Hartley "is one of the top lobbyists on Capitol Hill, currently working for Cassidy and Associates. He has deep ties to Missouri, having served as Sen. Roy Blunt's (R) chief of staff as he was ascending the leadership in the House. In an email to his personal email list -- obtained by Hotline On Call -- Hartley threw his weight behind Steelman. The email had the subject, 'Steel Magnolia from Missourah,' and in it Hartley wrote that he is ready to back Steelman even though it is unclear whether there will be a contested Republican primary."

In The Beacon's write-up of the Roy Blunt campaign's response to the DSCC's ad highlighting the Blunt's $1.5M+ property in Northwest Washington, we read the following:

Blunt's camp also challenges the DSCC's statement in the letter that building permits already had been obtained for the lot.

I have no idea what they're challenging.  Look at the land use code listed in the assessment record for the property on District of Columbia government website:

It reads "092-Vacant-With Permit."  And what does Code 092, "Vacant With Permit" mean?

Lot for which an unexpired building permit has been issued.

This seems very straightforward to me. An unexpired building permit has been issued.

The Missouri Democratic Party released a new episode of their "Washington Insiders" video series today - "Episode IV: Blunt Hires a Shady Lobbying Firm."

“When the King of Washington Insiders comes to Missouri to dine and promote Roy Blunt, one has to wonder just who’s lunch they plan on eating,”

Chuck Purgason on Karl Rove's trip to Missouri to raise money for Roy Blunt

In a new radio ad, Sen. Chuck Purgason directly connects his candidacy to uberconservative primary victories in Utah, Kentucky and Nevada.  "We're the Show Me State, and these states just showed us how it's done."

The AP story on the personal financial disclosure statements from Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan includes this interesting nugget: "Most of that value [Blunt's total assets] is from a piece of property in Washington, D.C. — worth about $1.6 million — that is listed as belonging to a trust under his wife's name. The Blunts are trying to sell the property, his campaign said."

Is it time for another upgrade?  Or time to unload a [politically] toxic asset?

A new analysis piece from MSNBC's Tom Curry says that "familiar Washington establishment figures like Rep. Roy Blunt...could very well be a 'buzz kill' for Republicans in their attempt to cut into the Democratic majority."

Steve Benen has an unsettling post over at the Washington Monthly about House Republicans' corporate fundraising efforts this year, and the "familiar ring of the K Street Project" in their pitch.  Roy Blunt, you may recall, was "the Republicans’ official K Street liaison" during Tom DeLay's Washington reign.  He doesn't talk about his role in this capacity very often these days, for obvious reasons. 

Benen points to a weekend Washington Post story, which reports that "House Republican leaders have met privately with corporate executives and lobbyists to argue that their giving has tilted too far toward Democrats and that they need to steer more money to industry-friendly GOP candidates in key races in 2010." Remembering that this culture of corruption is what "drove the GOP from power in 2006," Benen writes:

The notorious K Street Project became synonymous with Republican excesses of the Gingrich/DeLay/Bush era, and for good reason. Among its components was a heavy-handed scheme to "encourage" corporate PACs to contribute to Republican candidates, or face adverse consequences...

It would be an exaggeration to suggest these tactics have been brought back in earnest. But we're starting to see hints of the old, ugly, corrupt machine when Republicans leaders not-so-subtly remind business leaders that the party is "keeping score." In other words, GOP officials expect to be back in the majority in 2011, and if corporate lobbyists want to start writing legislation again, the way they did before there was a Democratic majority, they'll have to buy that influence again.

Five years ago today, Roy Blunt and "an adoring crowd" gathered at the Washington Hilton for a "high-profile" dinner to celebrate the glorious leader that was Tom DeLay. Majority Whip Blunt was a featured speaker at the celebration, which was scheduled "to inspire confidence in Tom DeLay" as he faced a brand-new ethics investigation. DeLay had already been "admonished repeatedly for ethics problems," of course, but Roy Blunt has never been one to let a few peccadilloes slow him down.

Note how he refers to himself as one of "those of us who are closest to Tom," and declares that "whether it's the well of the House or a well in any other fight, if I had to choose a man to go to the well with, it would be my friend Tom DeLay."

It is important to understand the context here.  Tom DeLay's problems were well known to Blunt and the general public at this point; this is how NPR set the scene the following day:

Roy Blunt's hometown paper, Politico, has video of yesterday's VIP gala at a Georgetown Safeway store, "where hundreds of well-known Washingtonians, members of Congress and the media flitted around." Incredibly, Blunt is the only Member of Congress dumb (or shameless) enough to appear in their video. 

"We live pretty close to here," Blunt explains.  True enough.

Yesterday, I wrote about how Roy Blunt and Abigail Perlman Blunt are fixtures "of the old-school Georgetown social establishment, which keeps them in the pages of Washington’s glossy society magazines." They're consistently listed among the most "notably social individuals" in Washington -- Abigail was even named one of the city's "Top 50 Party Animals" by Politico last year.

Right on cue, the couple appears in the Washington Post as notable guests at "an exclusive VIP gala awash in stiletto heels and Dom Pérignon" to celebrate the opening of a new supermarket near their Northwest DC mansion. 

Washington, meet the Socialtini.

The new signature martini debuted before Georgetown glitterati Wednesday night at an exclusive VIP gala awash in stiletto heels and Dom Pérignon. A Belvedere vodka fountain and brie were flown in from Paris. A white-jacketed sommelier dashed among 10 wine bars pouring Louis Roederer Cristal and Robert Mondavi Reserve to show off the host's 2,500-bottle, climate-controlled cellar...

The Social Safeway is back! After a year of remodeling, during which the city's elite had to buy their artisan breads and imported olives at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Giant and Dean & DeLuca, one of the District's most famous supermarkets is roomier, greener, foodier.

The company saw fit to throw a red-carpet celebration worthy of a state dinner, with a publicity budget that apparently rivals that of "Avatar." Glossy silver tri-fold invitations went out to 2,000 Important People. After all, this is the District's first 24-hour full-service grocery...

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) was an early arrival with his wife, Abby. "Wow!" the congressman said. "I like the food business. If I travel anywhere in the world, I usually take a walk through the grocery store."

This is from The Washington Post, not The Onion. I promise.

Today's entry: A Politico profile of a "PR maven" Gloria Dittus' 10,000-square foot mansion in Northwest DC.  Roy Blunt is mentioned by name as a guest at a "salon dinner" hosted by Dittus, who has a reputation for throwing some of "swankier" private parties in Washington for "Hill staff and K Street powerbrokers."

The staff at Dittus' "new game-changing public affairs firm" firm, Story Partners, includes Blunt's former spokesman, Amos Snead.

Blunt doesn't seem to miss many of these kinds of events.  He and his wife, Abigail Perlman Blunt, are "part of the old-school Georgetown social establishment, which keeps them in the pages of Washington’s glossy society magazines."

Washington Life magazine named "Representative and Mrs. Roy Blunt (Abigail)" to their 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 "Social Lists" for being "notably social individuals" inside the Beltway. And not everyone makes said lists, mind you.  "We include only a select few of the more sociable...members of the Congress," the magazine explains.

UPDATE: The Executive Director points out in the comments below that the luncheon isn't actually a fundraiser -- Emerson was just speaking to the group.  You can still meet her at Charlie Palmer's tonight -- just be sure to have your $1,000. 

This is a real paragraph from the Family Research Council Action PAC's press release announcing their endorsement of Roy Blunt in the U.S. Senate Race:

"Roy Blunt is a true friend of the family. He is a leader and proven champion of the values that make America the greatest country in history," said Tony Perkins, Chairman of FRC Action PAC. "We need conservative senators who will fight to defend our faith, family and freedoms against the radical anti-family leadership in the Senate and the corruption that affects so many Members."

Perkins must have been running the FRC from another planet for the last decade.  Blunt, as the House GOP's "official K Street liaison," was twice named as one of the "most corrupt members of Congress" by a nonpartisan watchdog group. "Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent," CREW wrote in 2006.  That same year, Public Citizen declared that Blunt's "ties to special interests leave him unfit to lead."  In fact, his GOP colleagues refused to make him the permanent GOP leader in 2006 precisely because he was directly connected to the scandalous leadership of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff.

Blunt has long been telling Missourians that he's the most ethical kind of politician. For instance, here's how he presented himself to voters in 1992:

But it's 2010, and we've seen what Blunt has done in Washington -- so it's hard to take the words in Perkins' endorsement seriously.

In a new statement, Chuck Purgason takes Roy Blunt to task for his failed leadership in Washington and well-documented record of serving the "Washington lobbyists and special interests."

It is easy to have great ideas when you are in the minority. The tough part is following through and solving problems when you have the opportunity to lead. If these ideas would have held down costs and protected our rights as citizens, then why, when we Republicans were in the majority from 2000-2006, did we not act upon these concerns?

With a record in Washington as long and troublesome as Roy Blunt's, it's a challenge for anyone to keep track of all the stories and scandals. Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, the K Street Project, special favors for Philip Morris....Blunt and his consultants hope you forget them all.

Remembering that bit of wisdom from George Santayana, we've begun to pull together key reports, articles and columns written about Blunt, Inc. into one place.  Check it out. 

What did you do last night?  If your name is Roy Blunt, you were among the "Washington superstars" rubbing elbows with executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Marathon, Valero and other corporations on Embassy Row in Washington, DC. 

The Washington Times reports today that Blunt was among the VIPs at the 2010 Kuwait-America Foundation Gala Dinner that "rivaled the Academy Awards celebration going on at the same time." The Hill paints us a picture:

The 144 guests at the intimate affair were also treated to musical selections by Motown singer-songwriter duo Ashford and Simpson, singing hits like “Solid as a Rock” and “You’re All I Need to Get By.” They ended their set with “Aint’ No Mountain High Enough,” which got the normally serious Washington crowd bobbing their heads and singing along.

Dr. Fareed Zakaria served as master of ceremonies during the four-course meal, which included: smoked salmon and sevruga caviar, a wild mushroom and foie gras terrine, New York sirloin strip steak, asparagus spears and wasabi mashed potatoes, salted caramel ice cream with chocolate crunch cake, and traditional Arabic coffee and sweets.

Roy Blunt would like you to believe that he's never actually been to his office in the Rayburn House Office Building.

Speaking with tea party darling Dana Loesch on 97.1 FM this week, Blunt said he had absolutely no idea if there's a members-only elevator in the House of Representatives -- and if there is, it's a bad thing. 

LOESCH:I wanted to ask, you know we heard what [Kentucky Senator Jim] Bunning** said about there being a Senator-only elevator. Is there a Representatives only elevator?

BLUNT: I don’t know if there is or not. I’ve never paid any attention to it. And actually, I don’t know that we should even think about getting ourselves where we’re so isolated that you can’t ride on the elevator with other people.

Listen to their exchange:

Roy Blunt is either the least observant person on the planet, or he's not being honest with Loesch and her radio audience. As even the casual tourist can tell you, there are members-only elevators in the House office buildings.  In fact, for at least part of Blunt's tenure in Washington, there were Capitol staff whose only job was to keep the general public off the designated carriages.

Politico's Josh Kraushaar asks an interesting question today about Roy Blunt's Washington baggage:

Rep. Mark Kirk is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois.