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October 28, 201

FAILED PROMISES: Obama and

LobbyistsObamas Ethics Promises Have Proven To Be Just

Words

LOBBYISTS AND THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN

PROMISE: CANDIDATE OBAMA: "We Will Not Take A Dime From WashingtonLobbyists Or Special Interest PACs - We're Going To Change How WashingtonWorks. They Will Not Fund My Party ..." (Sunlen Miller, "Obama Commends DNC For Cutting LobbyistContributions,"ABC News' "Political Radar" Blog, 6/5/08)

FAILURE: Obama Is Ignoring His Pledge To Not Take Money From Lobbyists,Raising Millions From Prominent Supporters Who Are Active In The LobbyingIndustry. Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama hasrelied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions ofdollars for his re-election bid. (Eric Lichtblau, Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,The New York Times,10/27/11)

At Least 15 Of Obamas Bundlers Are In The Lobbying Industry And HaveRaised Over $5 Million For Obamas Reelection Campaign. At least 15 of Mr.Obamas bundlers supporters who contribute their own money to his campaignand solicit it from others are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shopsor private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for thecampaign. (Eric Lichtblau, Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,The New York Times,10/27/11)

The Bundlers Show The Obama Ethics Policies Do Not Match The On-The-Ground Practices. But the prevalence of major Obama fund-raisers who alsowork in the lobbying arena threatens to undercut the presidents ethics push, raisingquestions about whether the campaigns policies square with its on-the-groundpractices, some of those same watchdogs say. (Eric Lichtblau, Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies RaiseMillions, The New York Times,10/27/11)

Obama Has Brought A Former Lobbyist Onto His Campaign Staff

Obama Hired Former Lobbyist Broderick Johnson As A Senior Advisor On His 201Campaign. President Obamas reelection campaign has hired a former lobbyist to serveas a senior adviser to the 2012 team. The Obama campaign announced Monday the hiringof Broderick Johnson, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Sen. John Kerrys (D-Mass.2004 presidential campaign.(Kevin Bogardus, Obama Campaign Brings On Ex-Lobbyist As Senior Advisor, The Hill,10/24/11)

Johnson Has Previously Worked As A Lobbyist For Bryan Cave LLP, Vice Presiden

Of Congressional Affairs For AT&T And Bell South, And Deputy Assistant For

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/189357-obama-campaign-brings-on-ex-lobbyist-as-senior-advisorhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/189357-obama-campaign-brings-on-ex-lobbyist-as-senior-advisorhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1

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Legislative Affairs In The Clinton White House. (Broderick Johnson,The Collins Johnson Group,Accessed 10/24/11)

In 2008 Broderick Johnson Lobbied On Behalf Of Fannie Mae And Bank OfAmerica. (Center For Responsive Politics,opensecrets.org, Accessed 10/24/11)

Broderick Johnson Was a Registered Lobbyist On The Keystone Account.Broderick Johnson, a former Bryan Cave LLP lobbyist registered on the Keystone XLaccount, reported lobbying President Obama's legislative affairs staff in 2010, a post he'sfamiliar with, having served in the Clinton administration in the White House Office of

Legislative Affairs from 1998-2000. (Brendan DeMelle, Hillary Clintons Keystone XL Crony Lobbyists Problem,TheHuffington Post, 10/6/11)

Environmental Groups Outraged With Obamas Support For KeystonePipeline Protest At The White House. Hoping to garner more publicity, pipelineopponents are planning a Nov. 6 protest surrounding the White House, with activistsholding up signs inscribed with pro-environment quotations from Obama during the2008 campaign. (Darren Samuelsohn, Left Sees Solyndra Coverage And Asks, Wheres Keystone? Politico,10/18/11)

LOBBYISTS WORKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE

PROMISE: Obama Promised That Lobbyists Would Not Find A Job In [His] WhiteHouse. President Obama promised during his campaign that lobbyists won't find a jobin my White House. Formalized in a recent presidential executive order, it forbidsexecutive branch employees from working in an agency, or on a program, for which theyhave lobbied in the last two years. (Kenneth P. Vogel & Mike Allen, Obama Finds Room For Lobbyists,Politico,1/30/09)

Obamas Anti-Lobbyist Promise Is The Cornerstone Of President Obama'sCampaign Theme About Limiting The Influence Of Special Interests. Of th513 promises we're tracking, this one has become the most controversial. It is the

cornerstone of President Obama's campaign theme about limiting the influence ofspecial interests. During the campaign, Obama said many times that lobbyists woulnot run his White House, and the campaign delighted in tweaking rival John McCainfor the former lobbyists who worked on McCain's campaign.(Angie Drobnic Holan, FormerLobbyist In The White House? It's Okay If They Say It's Okay, Politifact, 3/17/09)

FAILURE: President Obama Has Granted Numerous Exceptions To His LobbyistBan. Yet in the past few days, a number of exceptions have been granted, with theadministration conceding at least two waivers and that a handful of other appointees willrecuse themselves from dealing with matters on which they lobbied within the two-yearwindow. (Kenneth P. Vogel & Mike Allen, Obama Finds Room For Lobbyists, Politico, 1/30/09)

Politifact: We Rate Obama's Revolving Door Policy For Former LobbyistsHis Biggest Broken Promise. (Angie Drobnic Holan, Not So Fast On Obama Revolving Door Policy,Politifact,1/23/09)

Politifact Gives Obama A False On His Claim To Have Excluded LobbyistsFrom Policymaking Jobs. Obama said that he has excluded lobbyists frompolicymaking jobs. But that's not the case. We know of at least four that have takenon policymaking roles in the Obama administration -- Frye's title even contains the

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word policy. While these appointments may be few and far between, and whilethose who made the cut have signed special waivers, we give Obama a False on thisclaim. (Obama Says Lobbyists Have Been Excluded From Policy-Making Jobs, Politifact,10/7/11)

The Center For Responsive Politics Finds Over 300 Individuals In The ObamAdministration Who Have Been Through The Revolving Door, With 98Individuals Who Are Current Or Former Registered Lobbyists. (Center For ResponsivPolitics, Opensecrets.org, Accessed 10/7/11)

LOBBYISTS MEETING HUNDREDS OF TIMES OFF WHITE HOUSE

GROUNDS

PROMISE: When Announcing His Campaign For Presidency, Obama Pledged ToEnd Special Interest Access. Special interests have turned our government into a gamonly they can afford to play They get the access while you get to write a letter Thetime for that kind of politics is over. Its through. (Sen. Barack Obama, , Springfield, IL, 2/17/07)

FAILURE: White House Officials Have Met "Hundreds Of Times" With Lobbyists AA Coffee Shop Across The Street From White House. "Here at the Caribou onPennsylvania Avenue, and a few other nearby coffee shops, White House officials have mehundreds of times over the last 18 months with prominent K Street lobbyists -- members o

the same industry that President Obama has derided for what he calls its "outsizedinfluence" in the capital." (Eric Lichtblau, "Across From White House, Coffee With Lobbyists,"The New York Times, 6/24/10

The White House Also Met With Lobbyists In A Complex Just Off The White HouseGrounds. Caught between their bosss anti-lobbyist rhetoric and the reality of governingPresident Barack Obamas aides often steer meetings with lobbyists to a complex just offthe White House grounds and several of the lobbyists involved say they believe thechoice of venue is no accident. (Chris Frates, Lobbyists: W.H. Hides Meetings Off-Site,Politico, 2/24/11)

By Holding The Meetings With Lobbyists At Jackson Place, The ObamaAdministration Is Able To Evade Their Own Transparency Rules And TheSecret Service Background Checks. The Jackson Place townhouses are a

different story. There are no records of meetings at the row houses just off LafayetteSquare that house the White House Conference Center and the Council onEnvironmental Quality, home to two of the busiest meeting spaces. The White Housecant say who attended meetings there, or how often. The Secret Service doesnt login visitors or require a background check the way it does at the main gates of theWhite House. (Chris Frates, Lobbyists: W.H. Hides Meetings Off-Site, Politico, 2/24/11)

The Meetings "Reveal A Disconnect Between The Obama Administration's PublicRhetoric ... And The Administration's Continuing, Private Dealings With Them.""But because the discussions are not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they arenot subject to disclosure on the visitors' log that the White House releases as part of its

pledge to be the 'most transparent presidential administration in history.' The off-sitemeetings, lobbyists say, reveal a disconnect between the Obama administration's publicrhetoric -- with Mr. Obama himself frequently thrashing big industries' 'battalions' oflobbyists as enemies of reform -- and the administration's continuing, private dealings withthem." (Eric Lichtblau, "Across From White House, Coffee With Lobbyists,"The New York Times, 6/24/10)

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