 John
McCain
 2008
Election
 Russian
|
 Richard
H "Rick" Davis
RICK DAVIS News:
20080613
John
McCain - Rick
Davis -  Foreign
-  Money
-  Politician
-  Law
-  Ukraine
- Russia
-  US
- 2008
Election
"Alleged
Russia Ties Entangle McCain Campaign Manager." ...
"[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's presidential
campaign is blasting a New
York Times report suggesting that the candidate may have known since
2005 that his campaign manager's [lobbying] firm worked for a Kremlin[citadel
in Moscow, Russia's capital]-backed politician." ... "The McCain campaign
is strongly denying the paper's reporting that in 2005, a White House National
Security Council staffer called John McCain's Senate office to complain
that Rick Davis' lobbying firm was "undercutting American policy on Ukraine"
by representing a Kremlin-backed politician [Ukrainian politician Viktor
Yanukovich]." ... "If the account of the NSC [National Security Council]
staffer's call is true, it suggests McCain should have known about the
work by Davis' business -- but installed him as campaign manager anyway."
... "The story also raises the possibility that Davis' firm may have violated
the anti-espionage Foreign Agents Registration Act, by failing to register
work for Yanukovich with the [United States] U.S. government." -By
Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com
20080612
John
McCain - Rick
Davis -  Paul
J Manafort Jr - Foreign
- Money
- Politicians
- Russia
- Ukraine
-  Military
-  Intelligence
- Legislation
-  History
-  Germany
- US
-  New
York - 2008
Election
"Lawmakers
Seek to Close Foreign Lobbyist Loopholes." ... "Loopholes
that lobbyists for foreign clients sometimes use to keep their activities
under wraps would be closed under legislation that two Democratic senators
are expected to offer on Thursday." ... "“The idea you could lobby an American
citizen and that it would not be disclosed is really very troubling,” [New
York Democratic Senator Charles] Mr. Schumer said in a telephone interview."
... "The issue of foreign lobbying has flared up in the current presidential
campaign because of past dealings abroad by several former lobbyists working
for Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee." ... "For instance,
a lobbying firm owned by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, has worked
in recent years for a Ukraine politician, Viktor Yanukovich. Both Mr. McCain
and the [Republican President] Bush administration supported the opponent
of Mr. Yanukovich, who had close ties to Vladimir V. Putin, then the president
of Russia and now prime minister." ... "During this time, however, Mr.
Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, never registered as a lobbyist for Mr. Yanukovich
even though Paul Manafort, Mr. Davis’s business partner, had met with the
United States ambassador in Kiev [Ukraine's capital] on Mr. Yanukovich’s
behalf." ... "In a related development, Mr. McCain may have first become
aware of Davis Manafort’s activities in Ukraine as far back as 2005. At
that time, a staff member at the National Security Council called Mr. McCain’s
Senate office to complain that Mr. Davis’s lobbying firm was undercutting
American foreign policy in Ukraine, said a person with direct knowledge
of the phone call who spoke on condition of anonymity." ... "Such a call
might mean that Mr. McCain has been long aware of Mr. Davis’s foreign clients."
... "The current law governing foreign lobbying, the Foreign Agents Registration
Act, requires those representing a foreign government or foreign officials
in the United States to inform the Department of Justice. The act does
not cover meetings abroad with United States officials." ... "The law was
enacted in the late 1930s in an effort to flush out Nazi propagandists
working in the United States. As a result, several experts have said, the
law is outdated and fails to reflect the current global nature of lobbying.
" -By Barry Meier -NYTimes
20080609
John
McCain -  Tom
Loeffler - Susan
E Nelson - Rick
Davis - Illegal
- 2008
Election -  Accounting
- Politics
-  Federal
-  Investigation
"Group
files complaint against McCain campaign." ... "A
group that supports public financing of campaigns filed a federal complaint
against [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's
presidential campaign Monday, calling for an investigation into two financial
transactions involving two top McCain aides." ... "The Federal Election
Commission complaint by Campaign Money Watch, a group that has received
financing from Democratic leaning donors, questions payments from former
finance chair Tom Loeffler to campaign finance director Susan Nelson. It
also questions the reduction of a debt to a Web services firm co-owned
by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis." ... ""A campaign manager renegotiating
a debt with a company he partly owns raises serious conflict of interest
questions," said David Donnelly, the director of Campaign Money Watch."
... "Donnelly also questioned whether Loeffler's payments to Nelson amounted
to an illegal subsidy to a campaign staffer. Loeffler is a lobbyist and
former congressman and Nelson is a former associate of Loeffler's lobbying
firm." -By Jim Kuhnhenn
-AP via-AJC
20080608
John
McCain - Tom
Loeffler - Susan
E Nelson - Rick
Davis - Illegal
- 2008
Election - Politics
-  French
- US
- Military
-  Aircraft
-  Technology
-  EADS
Airbus
"McCain
Lobbyist Ties Questioned in Ad, Complaint." ... "The
TV ad from Campaign Money Watch, set to run on Washington, D.C., broadcast
and cable outlets starting Monday, focuses on [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate John] McCain's role in the awarding of an Air Force
contract that would eventually go to the French company Airbus [EADS] instead
of the American company Boeing." ... ""Seven of McCain’s staff and fundraisers
lobbied for Airbus," the
ad says. "And guess what? John McCain intervened, which helped
Airbus get that Pentagon contract. Tell John McCain to kick those lobbyists
off the Straight Talk Express."" ... "The group is also asking the Federal
Election Commission to investigate two other public reports that touch
on McCain's connections to lobbyists: That a lobbying company, the Loeffler
Group LLP, made payments this year to McCain's national finance director,
Susan Nelson; and that a company controlled in part by campaign manager
Rick Davis sliced
more than $100,000 off of McCain campaign's tab, when the campaign
was starved for cash last year." ... "While working for Loeffler, Nelson
lobbied on behalf of Airbus. Newsweek
reported last month that Nelson was rehired early this year as
a consultant for the company, while on the McCain campaign's payroll."
... "Campaign Money Watch alleges that the payments made by the Loeffler
Group and the discount arranged by the company 3eDC could amount to illegal
corporate contributions, according to an FEC complaint to be filed Monday."
-ABCNEWS.com
 WATCH:
"The McCain File" ad claiming, "Some straight talk about John McCain and
his lobbyists' involvement in a deal that landed a French defense contractor
a big-money contract." via FireTheLobbyists.com
and Public Campaign Action Fund's
Youtube
channel.
20080525
-
John
McCain - Rick
Davis - Criminal
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Foreign
- Military
-
 Satellite
- Imagery
- Technology
-  Israel
- Ukraine
- Russia
-  Switzerland
-  Arizona
- US
- 2008
Election - "Lobbying
labyrinth in McCain camp." ... "Rick Davis, the manager
of [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain's [2008 Election] presidential
campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked
as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of
politics, policy and money." ... "Take Davis's involvement with one of
his lesser-known lobbying clients, an Israeli company, Imagesat, which
sells satellite imagery. Along with lobbying for it, Davis became a consultant
to a private investment firm that had a financial
stake in it. That connection opened the door for him to get in on the ground
floor of other investments made by the firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors."
... "... Davis's business partner, Paul Manafort
[of the Davis Manafort lobbying firm], has met with the United States ambassador
in Ukrain e, a time when he was advising Viktor Yanukovich,
that country's onetime prime minister, a State Department official said.
Yanukovich's party was opposed by both the [Republican President] Bush
administration and McCain because it was closely tied to Vladimir Putin
[Russia's former President]." ... "Davis Manafort
received $120,000 from late 2004 to mid-2005 to lobby for Imagesat on both
defense and domestic security issues. Davis and Christian Ferry,
now McCain's deputy campaign manager, were the two lobbyists on the project,
the records show." ... "Along with his work as a lobbyist, Davis at the
time was also drawing a salary as the part-time president of the Reform
Institute, a Washington group that McCain helped found to reduce "the influence
of special interests" in politics and government." ... "In November 2005,
Pegasus bought a stake in a company called Traxys, which trades in industrial
metals." ... "In January 2006, just two months later, the subject of metals
trading came up in association with a social meeting Davis helped arrange
near Davos, Switzerland. At that meeting, first reported by The Washington
Post, McCain met the Russian aluminum magnate, Oleg Deripaska, who has
been barred from entering the United States apparently because of alleged
criminal ties." (1, 2)
-By Barry Meier with contributions by Kate Zernike
and Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
20080519
-
John
McCain -
 Charlie
Black - Tom
Loeffler - Rick
Davis - 2008
Election - Politicians
- "Top
McCain Adviser Defends His Lobbyist Past." ... "[Lobbyist]
Charlie
Black, a senior adviser to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]
John
McCain who has come
under fire in recent days for his lobbying past, today sought to
put an end to calls from the left for his resignation." ... "Tom Loeffler,
a major fund-raiser for the McCain campaign and former U.S. representative
from Texas, left the campaign on Sunday over his active lobbying firm The
Loeffler Group." ... "Black said he has no income from either his firm
or the campaign but joked about an allowance from his wife, Judy Black,
who is a lobbyist." ... "When a reporter asked him if there was a possible
conflict of interest with his wife, following reports suggesting she received
clients because of Black’s ties to the McCain campaign, Black became agitated."
... "Black also defended [McCain's] campaign manager Rick Davis,
who still holds a stake in his [lobbying] firm, Davis Manafort." -By
Elizabeth Holmes -WSJ.com
20080511
-
John
McCain - Rick
Davis -
 Myanmar
[Burma] - Military
- Money
- Politics
- DCI
Group - US
- 2008
Election - "A
Second McCain Aide Resigns." ... "Doug Davenport,
the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain's] regional
campaign manager for the mid-Atlantic states, founded the DCI Group's lobbying
practice and oversaw the contract with Myanmar [Burma] in 2002." ... ""Doug
has tendered his resignation and we have accepted it," Jill Hazelbaker,
McCain's communications director, wrote in a e-mail." ... "He joins former
DCI Group CEO Doug Goodyear, who resigned yesterday from the post of convention
CEO after Newsweek reported that DCI was paid more than $300,000 to represent
Myanmar's ruling junta." ... "Goodyear and Davenport were recruited by
McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, who has been accused by some current
and former McCain advisers of take insufficient care of McCain's reformer
brand by appointing lobbyists to key positions. Ironically, as Newsweek
reported, Goodyear was asked to become convention CEO after Davis's lobbying
firm partner, Paul Manafort, was nixed because of his own close ties to
foreign governments and controversial companies."
-Marc Ambinder -TheAtlantic.com
20080312
-
John
McCain
-
 European
- Planes
- Manufacturing
Plant -  Jobs
- US
- Military
- Lawmaker
- Politics
- Arizona
-  Washington
-  Kansas
- 2008
Election - "McCain's
Role in Plane Pact Spotlights Ties to Lobbyists."
... "To show that he's a crusader against wasteful spending and congressional
corruption, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona
Senator] Sen. John McCain repeatedly brags about his leading role in stopping
a scandal-plagued air tanker contract between the Air Force and Boeing
in 2004." ... "Four years later, a $35 billion contract has been awarded
to Europe's Airbus consortium to build the latest generation of tanker
planes. The decision has sparked anger from Boeing's congressional supporters
and critics of outsourcing. It has also focused attention on McCain's reliance
on lobbyists in his campaign for president because his finance chairman
and several other top advisers lobbied for Airbus last year when it was
in fierce competition with Boeing for the Air Force contract." ... "McCain
has spoken out for years against the influence of special interests in
Washington, but his campaign includes a number of prominent Washington
lobbyists, including campaign manager Rick Davis, who founded a lobbying
firm, and top political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., chief executive
of a well-known Washington firm. Neither of them lobbied for Airbus." ...
"McCain finance chairman Thomas G. Loeffler and Susan E. Nelson, who left
Loeffler's lobbying firm to be McCain's finance director, both began lobbying
for Airbus's parent company in 2007, Senate records show. William L. Ball
III, a former secretary of the Navy and frequent McCain surrogate on the
trail, also lobbied for Airbus, as did John Green, who recently took a
leave from Ogilvy Public Relations to serve as McCain's legislative liaison."
... "Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington state, where Boeing
has long had a significant presence, have lambasted McCain for laying the
groundwork for a decision that will cost their economy thousands of aerospace
jobs. Lawmakers in Kansas, where Boeing has a plant, have also been critical."
(1, 2)
-By Michael D. Shear and Matthew Mosk with contributions
by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost
20080222
-
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politician
- Lawmaker
-
-
-
- 
- 
- 
- 2008
Election - Ariz
- "The
Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists." ... "For years,
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen.
John McCain (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona]) has railed against lobbyists
and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his
campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers
and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists
for the special interests they have aided."" ... "But when McCain huddled
with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map
out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington
lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis,
co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC
Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr.,
is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates,
which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways." ...
"Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have
lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae." ...
"[Charles] Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies,
JPMorgan and AT&T." ... "In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists
are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers
-- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric."
... "McCain's reliance on lobbyists for key jobs -- both in the Senate
and in his presidential campaign --extends beyond his inner circle. McCain
recently hired Mark Buse to be his Senate chief of staff. Buse led the
Commerce Committee staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was until
last fall a lobbyist for ML Strategies, representing eBay, Goldman Sachs
Group, Cablevision, Tenneco and Novartis Pharmaceuticals." (1, 2)
-By Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with
contributions by Glenn Kessler, Alice Crites and Chris Cillizza -WashingtonPost
20080221
-
John
McCain
- Rick
Davis - Money
- Politics
- History
-
- Telecommunications
- Federal
- Law
- 2008
Election - Arizona
- "CBS'
Smith failed to challenge claim by McCain's campaign manager -- a former
lobbyist -- that McCain "is probably most feared by every lobbyist"."
... "Summary: While discussing a New York Times article about [2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain's relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist, CBS Early
Show host Harry Smith did not challenge McCain campaign manager Rick
Davis when Davis asserted that McCain "is probably most feared by every
lobbyist in this town of Washington"; he did not note that Davis is a registered
lobbyist who, the Times reported, "represented companies" before
McCain's [Senate Commerce] committee." ... "A July 11, 2007, Politicoarticle
reported that Davis, who also served as McCain's campaign manager in 2000,
"founded a lobbying firm -- Davis, Manafort Inc. -- which has made at least
$2.8 million lobbying Congress since 1998." According to a disclosure report
filed with the Senate, Davis registered to lobby the Senate from 1998 to
2005 for Davis Manafort. A March 2000 report
by the Center for Public Integrity noted that Davis represented two telecommunication
companies, COMSAT and SBC Communication, Inc., that "had major (and controversial)
mergers pending before the Federal Communications Commission in 1999, and
both mergers were approved (the Commerce Committee has legislative oversight
authority, and therefore quite a bit of political influence, over the FCC
[Federal Communications Commission])." A February 3, 2007, National
Journal article (accessed via the Nexis database) reported that "Davis,
a longtime lobbyist and financial consultant," is "on leave" from Davis
Manafort to work for McCain's campaign." ... "Additionally, Davis served
as the president of the Reform Institute, an institute that the Times
wrote was founded by McCain "to promote his cause and, in the process,
his career." A July 28, 2005, Roll Call article (accessed via Nexis)
by staff writer Paul Kane reported that Davis, who had been earning "$110,000
a year," "dropped his title of Reform Institute president" in July 2005."
-By Eric H. Hananoki -MediaMatters.org
20080125
-
John
McCain - Rick
Davis - Russian
- Crime
- Money
- Politics
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
-
 Canada
-  Britain
- Lawsuits
-  Ga
-  NH
-  Virginia
- Arizona
- 2008
Election - US
- International
- "Aide
Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain: Davis,
Then a Lobbyist, Has Spurred Debate in Reform-Focused Campaign." ... "A
top political adviser in [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped
arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire
whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are
so controversial that the U.S. [United States] government revoked his visa."
... "Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the
encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in
[World Economic Summit at Davos] Switzerland during an international economic
conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking
to do business with the billionaire." ... "With a net worth of more than
$13 billion, Deripaska is one of the richest men in Russia and a close
ally of President Vladimir Putin." ... "When Deripaska met McCain, Davis
was part of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm that was being paid to provide
political advice to pro-Russian and oligarch-funded candidates in Ukraine,
according to interviews and news accounts." ... "Davis, who has been a
political adviser to McCain on and off since 1999, was part of a lobbying
firm that worked not only for Ukrainian politicians but also for telecommunications
firms, a lottery services provider and freight companies." ... "Davis's
firm provided political advice to a pro-Russian party in Ukraine during
the parliamentary elections of 2006." ... "He [Oleg Deripaska] has been
accused of shady business practices in lawsuits in the United States and
Britain, and his multiple-entry U.S. visa was yanked by the State Department
in the summer of 2006." ... "The first gathering that brought McCain and
Deripaska together occurred in January 2006, when McCain was part of a
congressional delegation trip. He and a small group of senators, including
[Georgia Republican Senator] Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.[Republican-Georgia])
and [New Hampshire Republican Senator] John E. Sununu (R-N.H.[Republican-New
Hampshire]), met for a drink near Davos, Switzerland, at an apartment where
they were greeted by Davis and Deripaska. The group then went to a dinner
at the ski chalet of Peter Munk, founder of Barrick Gold, the world's largest
gold-mining company, based in Toronto [Canada]. Participants at the buffet
dinner said Munk complimented his sometime business partner Deripaska during
his brief remarks to the 40 or so guests." ... "Later that month, Deripaska
wrote to Davis and his partner, GOP political consultant Paul J. Manafort,
to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting
up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting
to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting.""
... "The letter was sent to Davis at the Reform Institute, a Virginia-based
nonprofit group that McCain helped start to promote many of his trademark
reform efforts, including increasing the transparency of lobbying and campaign
financing." ... "Davis was the institute's president from January 2003
until December 2005. During that time, he was also a registered lobbyist
at Davis Manafort. The institute was located at the Davis Manafort offices
until January 2006." ... "Seven months later, in August 2006, Davis was
present again at a social gathering that was also attended by McCain and
Deripaska, this time in Montenegro, another Eastern European country in
which Davis's firm was working." (1,
2,
3)
-By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon with contributions
by Peter Baker -WashingtonPost
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