Lobbying disclosure documents obtained from the Secretary of the United States Senate indicate that a lucrative state contract to lobby Congress on behalf of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission was steered to the firm of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and handled there by Abramoff's longtime lieutenants.
Over the course of eleven months, the now-indicted Abramoff and his close associates were the recipients of around $120,000 via a taxpayer-funded state contract.
One big question about this transaction remains. Which influential Republican member of Missouri's Congressional delegation pressured the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission to hire Casino Jack Abramoff's crew to do its Washington lobbying?
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 requires lobbyists or firms which advocate for clients before Congress to register with the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate, and to file periodic reports detailing revenues earned from the contracts and the legislation on which they have lobbied on a client's behalf. So when the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission hired Washington lobbyists to seek transportation dollars appropriated by Congress, those lobbyists filed registration documents describing the relationship. In May of 2004, the behemoth DC lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates registered as lobbyist for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission.
The initial registration filed by Cassidy & Associates [1] with the Secretary of the Senate indicated that the firm was registered as the Highway Commission's lobbyist effective May 21, 2004. The timing is important, as this contract between Missouri and Cassidy & Associates was consummated during the narrow period of months when Jack Abramoff was a partner at Cassidy and its biggest rainmaker. A Roll Call story excerpted in a previous Fired Up post [1] indicates that Abramoff's employment at Cassidy began on March 23, 2004. An item in Judy Sarasohn's Washington Post lobby industry column [2] indicates that Abramoff was cutting ties with Cassidy & Associates on or around July 8, 2004. Abramoff was still Cassidy's heavy-hitter when the Missouri Highways contract came into the firm.
The initial registration and subsequent [3] disclosure [4] filings [5] by Cassidy & Associates provide evidence that the Missouri Highways lobbying contract and Abramoff were connected by more than just the timeline. In fact, disclosure documents reveal that the Cassidy lobbyists handling the Missouri contract were individuals with documented histories as either close Abramoff friends or loyal Abramoff foot-soldiers.
Most conspicuously, the contact person listed on Cassidy's disclosure filings for the Missouri Highways contract is Todd Boulanger. Regular readers of Fired Up Missouri might remember Boulanger as a recurring character in the Jack Abramoff clown show. Boulanger, you'll recall, was responsible for drafting a threatening letter [5], signed by GOP leaders, to the Department of Interior on behalf of an Indian gaming client; is married to Roy Blunt Press Secretary [5] (currently on leave of absence) Jessica Incitto; and is more closely connected to Abramoff [5] than perhaps anyone beside Michael Scanlon.
Also listed on the report as active on behalf of Missouri Highways is Jim Hirni, another lobbyist with demonstrably close ties to Abramoff. Hirni, like Boulanger, worked beneath Abramoff at lobby shop Greenberg Traurig prior to his stint at Cassidy & Associates. Further, Hirni would later be implicated in the mismanagement of reporting of contributions of Abramoff's athletic-venue luxury suites, leading to the need for embarassing report amendments by the likes of Kansas GOP Congressman Todd Tiahrt [6].
Removing any doubt about just how close the mentor-protege relationship between Abramoff and both Boulanger and Hirni was, consider the way that the men came to be employed together at Cassidy & Associates. Abramoff came on board with Cassidy on March 23, 2004 according to Roll Call. The very next day, March 24, Cassidy & Associates issued a press release [7] which "announced that the firm would be welcoming several new hires over the next few weeks". Among those listed as new hires on the release --Todd Boulanger and Jim Hirni. Turns out that Abramoff was not hired alone at Cassidy, but was part of a package deal that mandated the hire of his right and left-hand men as well.
Given the well-documented relationships examined above, there is little question that the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission lobbying contract had Casino Jack Abramoff's fingerprints all over it. But who was responsible for making sure that the Highway Commission directed the lucrative contract to Abramoff and his firm? A continued look at the lobbyists listed on the disclosure reports provides pretty good hints.
The first three of four disclosure reports concerning the contract each list the same two familiar names as other lobbyists working the Capitol on behalf of the Highway Commission: Gregg Hartley and Jared Craighead. Hartley is, of course, the longtime confidant and former chief of staff to none other than Congressman Roy Blunt (R-K Street) and is also the man responsible for bringing Abramoff into Cassidy & Associates. Craighead, prior to joining Cassidy, had served as Special Assistant to Roy Blunt [8] while he held the position of Chief Deputy Whip. Craighead has since left Cassidy to serve as Senior Policy Advisor [9] in the office of Governor Matt Blunt.
The facts of the matter seem, at every turn, to point at Roy Blunt as the Congressional heavy who leaned on the Missouri Highway Transportation Commission to hire Abramoff and Cassidy & Associates for their federal lobbying gig. As Majority Whip, Blunt certainly had the necessary legislative lifting power to make sure the Commission took seriously any "advice" he had to offer.
Also significant is that Blunt, in addition having the power to shakedown the Highway Commission for the contract, had motive as well. After all, among those who would benefit from his careful steerage of largesse to Cassidy & Associates would be Abramoff (who had the ability to guide lots of cash to PAC's like RoyB [9]), Gregg Hartley (who was and remains a close Blunt advisor), and Craighead (a former staffer on his leadership team). No other member of the Missouri delegation has anywhere near the number of ties to the Cassidy contract team as did Roy Blunt.
Roy Blunt had both the means and motive to lean on the Missouri Highways and Transportation to hire Cassidy. Sure, it's certainly possible that Kit Bond or Jim Talent pressured the Commission, but it's also a sucker bet. Examination of the entirety of the circumstances make Ol' Roy Blunt the clear handicappers' favorite.
Update, 11/11/05 - 3:40pm: Jim Hirni was previously incorrectly identified as having worked with Abramoff at Preston Gates. Hirni actually worked under Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig. The post has been edited to reflect this fact.