McCain's Rules on Lobbying Face Test

There is no way to know whether her efforts on behalf of McCain's campaign will ultimately serve the interests of clients who could need his help, either as president, or as a high-ranking member of the Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecom industry and the Federal Communications Commission.

McCain has supported telecom industry-backed legislation, particularly during his second stint as committee chairman from 2003 through 2005. His efforts to eliminate taxes and regulations on telecommunications services won him praise from industry executives.

Charles and Judy Black have deep Republican ties. She worked in the Reagan administration before registering as a lobbyist in 1988, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Wall Street Journal asked Charles Black last week whether his wife's lobbying creates a possible conflict of interest. "That is utter nonsense," he said. "My wife has never gotten a client from her relationship with me."

He was a pioneer of the revolving door between campaign consulting and lobbying, having served as a senior adviser on President Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign before returning to K Street. His clients, as often as not, were foreign leaders eager to burnish their reputations.

In addition to Jonas Savimbi of Angola, Black and his partners were registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as American conservatives embraced their opposition to communism. They included Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre.

Research editors Alice Crites and Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.