Lobby Group's 'No Dough' Strategy Stops at Executives' Doors

It turns out that the group never lobbied on Iraq matters for CACI -- it tried to help CACI with government contracts in the United States, and Livingston ended its relationship with the company in June 2004, by coincidence a month after it first came to light that a CACI interrogator had worked at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.

More importantly, Hugo never lobbied for CACI.

Livingston attacked the mailer as "the ultimate dirty trick" and said, "We are considering litigation."

But the party, asked about the mailer last week, backed away from its words. "The piece should have been more clear about Tim Hugo and his lobbyist connections," Danae Jones of Virginia's Democratic Party said via e-mail. "It was a company represented by Hugo's firm that has come under investigation. We apologize for the confusion."

Ethical Reconsiderations

Ethics rules continue to stir controversy, especially now that a new lobbying law is in place. One lobbying gimmick I mentioned in last week's column, for example, caused a red flag to be raised.

Jan W. Baran, an ethics expert at the law firm Wiley Rein, said that the Air Conditioning Contractors of America might want to rethink its "Hot Team" idea. You may remember that the group proudly dispatched local air-conditioning contractors to the homes of lawmakers in need, and then asked its lobbyists to stop by the grateful lawmakers' offices to chat with them about legislative matters.

Baran said it might be better in the future for the lobby group to ask its contractors to charge the lawmakers who get the quick service a little extra beyond the normal retail price to compensate for showing up so quickly. Regular folks have to buy a special contract to get that kind of rapid service, and lawmakers should be charged roughly the same amount to avoid a breach of the gift ban, Baran said.

Kenneth A. Gross of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom agreed: "Sending out air-conditioning servicemen on a special basis could indeed be a problem."

The other ethics item in last week's column -- the one that said a lobbyist who wants to give an engagement ring to a Senate staff member should first seek permission from the staff member's boss and maybe the ethics committee -- also created a dispute. Fred Wertheimer of the gadfly group Democracy 21 and Gross said no permission is needed; the rules already exempt such a special gift from the ban. But Baran and the original tipster, Darryl D. Nirenberg of Patton Boggs, say that asking in advance is the wiser course.

Luckily, now there's a place where such disagreements can be hashed out. The law firm Perkins Coie has started a new ethics law Web site, http://www.lawandethicsonline.com. Essays and blogs will be all the rage there. Go to it, gang!

Hire of the Week

Gain one, lose one -- that seems to be pattern these days with all the comings and going between Congress and K Street.

It's not been announced yet, but Dean Aguillen, a multipurpose aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), will soon be employed by Ogilvy Government Relations, a fast-growing and formerly all-Republican lobbying shop.

Coming the other direction, I hear, is Jesse McCollum, a lobbyist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association. McCollum will soon join the office of Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) as chief of staff. McCollum was hired by the beer wholesalers in February after nearly four years as a legislative assistant to Rep. Ed olphus Towns (D-N.Y.).

Why so quick a turnaround? "Public service is what I moved to Washington . . . for, and I'm incredibly happy to get back to it after a brief hiatus in the private sector," McCollum said via e-mail.

Please send e-mail to kstreet@washpost.com.