Blunt reunites with key aide from Delay/Abramoff era in DC office (updated)

UPDATE: Via KY3, Roy Blunt has announced that Burson Taylor Snyder "will become the Congressman's deputy chief of staff -- not the communications director of his U.S. Senate campaign, as reported earlier by The Washington Post."

The Washington Post reports today that Roy Blunt has brought on former staffer Burson Taylor Snyder to be his campaign's new communications director.

Snyder was the Communications Director for the Office of the Majority Whip when Roy Blunt was regularly under fire for his ethical lapses, collaboration with Tom Delay and ties to Jack Abramoff. Her experience in those tumultuous months before Delay was indicted and Abramoff went to jail may prove useful to Blunt again.

In her previous role, Snyder was asked to muddy the waters for Blunt with statements and op-eds like the one below, which was printed in the Palm Beach Post in January 2006:

BLUNT HAS NO TIES TO ABRAMOFF; DELAY CONTRIBUTIONS WERE LEGAL
Palm Beach Post
January 24, 2006

Never has an editorial page so aggressively attacked two members of Congress while so egregiously misrepresenting the facts ("Shaw passes on reform," Thursday editorial).

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has never traveled with Jack Abramoff; he never accepted contributions to his reelection effort from Abramoff, never held an official meeting with Abramoff, and never performed any legislative actions on Abramoff's behalf. Rep. Blunt signed a letter to the secretary of the interior consistent with his long history of opposition to the expansion of Indian gaming. He does not accept any gambling money, so your quid pro quo argument is a bit thin.

Rep. Blunt's wife is not a cigarette lobbyist. She represents Kraft Foods, and, because she and Rep. Blunt abide by the toughest ethical standards in the Congress, she does not lobby the House of Representatives.

Rep. Tom DeLay's ARMPAC did not "send hundreds of thousands of dollars to Missouri." Rep. DeLay and Rep. Blunt did not "swap donations." ARMPAC and the Rely On Your Beliefs Fund, of which Rep. Blunt is honorary chairman, collectively raised money to host events at the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia. Those contributions were completely legal and ethical.

You lampoon the connection between "stolen cigarettes and homeland security." Tell that to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, which called the sale of contraband cigarettes a "major priority," saying, "the deeper we dig into these cases, the more ties to terrorism we're discovering." Rep. Blunt and other leaders, including former Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, worked to include legislation to crack down on the sale of cigarettes to finance terrorism in the Homeland Security bill. That initiative has since passed both the House and Senate and was included in the conference report on the Patriot Act. Members of the House and Senate clearly agree that aggressively punishing those who use contraband cigarettes to finance terrorism is in the interest of our homeland security.

Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, is a great member of Congress, who serves his district ably in Washington. You did your readers and him a disservice by attacking him, questioning his motives for supporting Rep. Blunt's bid for majority leader, and using half-truths and outright mistruths to support your editorial.

BURSON TAYLOR
Communications Director
Office of the Majority Whip
Rep. Roy Blunt
Washington

The Palm Beach Post editorial to which Taylor was responding was critical of Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fort Lauderdale) for supporting Roy Blunt. "With Blunt", the Post wrote, "Republicans are headed for lobbying redux, not reform."

House Republicans say they want to put the Tom DeLay Era behind them and set a reform agenda in Congress. But look who's their acting majority leader and the front-runner to get the job permanently: a DeLay disciple, with links to the Jack Abramoff scandal, with a wife who's a cigarette lobbyist, and with a fondness for sneaking into budgets pork spending that even his own party finds unappetizing...

There's a lot Rep. Shaw has to forget in order to support Rep. Blunt. Start with Rep. Blunt's financial ties to Rep. DeLay. During the 2000 campaign, the two swapped numerous donations to each other's political groups. Rep. DeLay's unregulated ARMPAC convention fund sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Missouri to fuel the successful campaign of Rep. Blunt's son, Matt, for secretary of state.

Rep. Shaw also must try to forget how Rep. Blunt took $8,500 from Abramoff and promoted minimum-wage legislation to the disgraced lobbyist's liking. Rep. Blunt opposed construction of a Louisiana casino that might have competed with Abramoff's clients. Rep. Blunt often has used "earmarks" to stick self-serving provisions into legislation at the last minute. His son Andrew is a lobbyist, and so is his wife, Abigail Perlman, who works for Altria, parent company of Philip Morris. Four years ago, Rep. Blunt tried to insert tougher penalties on stolen cigarettes into a Homeland Security bill. Only Philip Morris and Ms. Blunt could see the connection between stolen cigarettes and homeland security.

Rep. Shaw says he is supporting Rep. Blunt because he already is filling the majority leader position, and Republicans will have to vote on it again next year when it comes up for renewal. By doing so, however, Rep. Shaw also is supporting corruption as usual in Congress.

It's not a pleasant description of Blunt, and it's not surprising that Taylor was tasked with crafting a response. But whatever Blunt wants people to think, he was very much a part of the Jack Abramoff scandal, did marry a Philip Morris lobbyist, did try to sneak a provision for Philip Morris into a Homeland Security bill, and did work with Tom Delay to move money between committees.

Some background: 

• Roy Blunt had documented connections to Jack Abramoff.
  • USA Today, 1/11/06: "Rep. Roy Blunt and the man he wants to succeed as House majority leader, Tom DeLay, shared similar connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and to corporate lobbyists. Blunt, R-Mo., wrote at least three letters helpful to Abramoff clients while collecting money from them. He swapped donations between his and DeLay's political groups, ultimately enriching the Missouri political campaign of his son Matt."
• Roy Blunt DID receive money from Jack Abramoff.
  • Washington Post 1/5/06: "Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) plans to shed the $8,500 that Abramoff and his wife donated to his political action committee."
• Roy Blunt DID use his office help Jack Abramoff's clients.
  • USA Today, 1/11/06: "Blunt, R-Mo., wrote at least three letters helpful to Abramoff clients while collecting money from them."
  • USA Today, 1/11/06: "Blunt and DeLay and their aides frequently met with Abramoff's lobbying team and even jointly signed a letter supportive of an Indian tribe client at the heart of the Abramoff criminal investigation, according to records published by The Associated Press over the past year."
• Roy Blunt and Tom Delay DID swap donations.
  • USA Today, 1/11/06: "Texas prosecutors recently subpoenaed records of a series of financial transactions in 2000 between DeLay and Blunt that were highlighted in a recent AP story. DeLay raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 Republican National Convention and sent some of the excess to Blunt through a series of donations that benefited the causes of both men. After transfers between political organizations, some of the money went to the campaign of Blunt's son, Matt, in his successful 2000 campaign for secretary of state. Now the Republican governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt eventually received more than $160,000 in 2000."

It's nice to see the band getting back to together again.

Image credit: Washington Post