Blunt's Ties To The Special Interests Including Jack Abramoff

Blunt is notorious for his ties to the special interests in Washington. His behavior has proven embarassing to fellow members of the GOP caucus on more than one occasion.

Just days after ascending to the #3 leadership post in the House, Blunt got caught slipping in a special provision to benefit Phillip Morris, a longtime contrbutor to Blunt, and the employer of his then-girlfriend, Abigail Perlman.

He has also be caught up in scandals involving Westar, and has numerous ties to the scandal-plagued DeLay fundraising operation.

Blunt has also been know to do major favors for UPS, and has received large contributions and other favors in return.

In addition, Blunt has performed numerous official acts that favored Jack Abramoff and his Indian gaming clients.

Blunt Has A Liaison To K Street On His Official Staff

Rep. Roy Blunt's ties to K Street lobbyists are so cozy that he has a staffer on his official payroll, whose job it is to serve as Blunt's liaison to K Street.

Sam Geduldig makes no bones about his role. In fact, he proud enough of it, he includes a reference in his official bio.

Blunt's Ties To And Favors For Jack Abramoff

Rep. Roy Blunt has performed numerous official favors for GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

He has written three letters to the Department of Interior. In one case, he was joined by the entire GOP House Leadership.

In addition, he requested a GAO study, which Blunt subsequently used as the basis for a letter to the DOI that benefitted an Abramoff tribal gaming client.

On the same day Blunt joined Rep. Wolf in calling for the GAO study, Wolf sought a six-month moratorium on tribal recognition by the DOI, which would have benefitted those tribes who already had casino operations, as did Abramoff's clients.

Blunt's Ties To And Favors For Phillip Morris

See also, Abigail Perlman

Mr. Blunt's Efforts On Behalf Of Phillip Morris

In June of 2003, the Washington Post reported that one of Rep. Blunt's first acts as Majority Whip was to attempt to secretly insert a provision into the Homeland Security Bill, that would have benefitted Ms. Perlman's company, Phillip Morris. Mr. Blunt's actions were so outrageous, not even Majority Leader Tom DeLay could stomach them.

Only hours after Rep. Roy Blunt was named to the House's third-highest leadership job in November, he surprised his fellow top Republicans by trying to quietly insert a provision benefiting Philip Morris USA into the 475-page bill creating a Department of Homeland Security, according to several people familiar with the effort.

The new majority whip, who has close personal and political ties to the company, instructed congressional aides to add the tobacco provision to the bill -- then within hours of a final House vote -- even though no one else in leadership supported it or knew he was trying to squeeze it in.

Once alerted to the provision, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, quickly had it pulled out, said a senior GOP leader who requested anonymity. Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) also opposed what Blunt (Mo.) was trying to do, the member said, and "worked against it" when he learned of it.

This is how the Washington Post characterized Blunt's ties to Perlman at the time.

Several Republicans who learned of the November effort have privately expressed concern that Blunt pushed the provision partly because of his personal relationship with Philip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman. Blunt, who several Republicans said spends considerable time with Perlman, would not discuss their relationship or whether the two had talked about the provision.

Phillip Morris' Efforts On Behalf Of Mr. Blunt

According to a May 17, 2005 Washington Post story, Altria, the parent company of Phillip Morris, and the company that employs Ms. Perlman, is Mr. Blunt's largest contributor. In recent years, Altria has given Mr. Blunt more than $270,000.

Mr. Blunt's son, Andy, a lobbyist in Missouri, also represents Altria.

Phillip Morris, The American Turkish Council, and Blunt Staffer's Junkets To Turkey

Phillip Morris, the company that employs Ms. Perlman, has a seat on the board of a group called the American Turkish Council (ATC). Mr. Blunt has taken significant official actions that have benefitted the interests of the ATC.

But the ATC has also been very good to Mr. Blunt's staff. At least three staffers of Mr. Blunt have made junkets to Turkey, courtesy of the ATC. On some occasions, aside from its role on the board of the ATC, Phillip Morris additionally directly sponsored the trips.

Mr. Gregg Hartley--Mr. Blunt's then Chief of Staff, Ms. Amy Field--Mr. Blunt's current Chief of Staff, and Mr. Jared Craighead--a then-Blunt staffer who is now Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party all took such trips. Here is a link to the travel disclosure forms, signed by Mr. Blunt.

Mr. Hartley is now a lobbyist with Cassidy and Associates. Mr. Hartley hired Jack Abramoff at Cassidy, after a February 2004 Washington Post story about Mr. Abramoff's bilking of Indian gaming clients forced his departure from Greenberg Traurig.

The Campaign for a Cleaner Congress outlined the details of the Blunt-ATC ties in a press release

Blunt's Ties To And Favors For UPS

Mr. Blunt has had long and substantial ties to shipping giant UPS.

Blunt's Favor For UPS

CQ reported in April 2003, that Blunt was pushing a provision that would have prevented DHL, an international shipping company and a competitor to UPS, from competing for certain contracts.

A provision that has quickly come to symbolize the use of must-pass spending bills as vehicles for special-interest legislating is running into a wave of op-position.
The language, which could effectively bar cargo carrier DHL Worldwide Express from winning Pentagon airlift contracts in postwar Iraq, was inserted without debate into the Senate version of the wartime supplemental appropriations bill (S 762) on April 3.

But on Tuesday, as negotiations on the bill's final form intensified, House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., signaled his resis-tance to the language -- which was pushed by the Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens R-Alaska, and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

"That's an issue," Young said. DHL's headquarters for North and South America is in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Young said Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida told him he opposed the provision.

The White House also opposes it, arguing in a statement that it would have an "immediate and adverse effect on our nation's airlift capabilities." House Ma-jority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, also opposes the rider, according to industry officials.

DHL is a subsidiary of German-owned Deutsche Post AG, and domestic rivals FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. have argued for years that DHL does not meet foreign ownership requirements for U.S. air carriers.

In conference, Stevens strengthened language in the Senate bill that would effectively bar DHL from Pentagon airlift contracts and could complicate DHL's pending acquisition of Seattle-based Airborne Express.

Blunt's son Andrew is a UPS consultant, and FedEx and UPS have major pres-ences in Missouri. Alaska is home to Lynden Air Cargo LLC, which recently lost out to DHL on a Pentagon contract.

If the provision is retained, it also could complicate DHL's pending acquisition of Seattle-based Airborne Express Inc.

Favors By UPS For Blunt

UPS-A Generous Contributor To Blunt

According to a May 17, 2005 Washington Post story, UPS is one of Blunt's most generous contributors.

Over the years, seven companies with business before Congress stand out as the most reliable Blunt supporters: Altria, SBC Communications, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, Verizon, United Parcel Service and BellSouth have together given more than $1.2 million to political committees tied to Blunt. Altria is the largest contributor, giving more than $270,000. Blunt, a vocal social conservative, divorced Roseann Blunt, his first wife, to marry Altria lobbyist Abigail Perlman in October 2003.

UPS has contributed more than $153,000 to Blunt controlled political entities during his tenure in Congress.

In addition, a September 22, 2000 Washington Post story reported on a "thank you" event that Rep. Tom DeLay sponsored in appreciation for those special interests who had helped fund the events co-sponsored by DeLay and Blunt at the 2000 Republican National Convention. UPS was once again very generous.

Jim Ellis, executive director of DeLay's PAC, Americans for a Republican Ma-jority, said DeLay organized the trip to raise money and accommodate some donors to the GOP convention who had not been able to participate in the golf tournament there. Some participants paid $ 5,000 and the weekend netted $ 50,000, Ellis said, adding that it cost roughly $ 20,000 to sponsor.

UPS spokesman Ted Segal said the company donated the plane as an "in-kind" contribution to DeLay's PAC and was still tabulating the costs based on compara-ble commercial flights. He added that the contribution would likely range be-tween $ 30,000 to $ 50,000.

At that time, Jim Ellis was also the director of Roy Blunt's Rely On Your Beliefs PAC. An exhaustive review of the campaign finance reports filed by both DeLay and Blunt fail to reveal any disclosure for the costs of the plane trip referenced above.

Roy Blunt's Son, Andy, Was Hired By UPS

As noted in the CQ story above, Rep. Blunt's youngest son, Andy, is a registered lobbyist for UPS in Missouri.

This April 9, 2003 editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch raises serious questions about the ties between Rep. Blunt, UPS and Andy.

ANDREW BLUNT would seem an unlikely choice to be a legislative lobbyist for a $30 billion Atlanta-based worldwide express corporation. After all, he is only 27 years old, fresh out of the University of Missouri School of Law, and a newly-minted partner in a new law firm in distant Jefferson City, Mo.

But according to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Blunt had a special attraction for United Parcel Service, Inc., when UPS decided to hire him as a lobbyist. Mr. Blunt's father is the third-ranking Republican in the United States House of Representatives, where -- by the sheerest of coincidences -- UPS had a key piece of legislation pending.

What can Brown do for you? It can give your kid a job. And what can you do for Brown? If you're Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Stafford, you can quietly urge Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, to secretly amend the $79 billion emergency appropriation for the war in Iraq in a way that benefits U.S. shippers like UPS and FedEx Corp.

If you're Roy Blunt, the amendment has the added political benefit of punishing a German-owned rival of UPS. The amendment requires that military cargo be carried only by companies with no more than 25 percent foreign ownership. These rules on foreign ownership of U.S. air carriers date to the 1920s, but have been honored more in the breach than the observance.

Mr. Blunt and Mr. Stevens want to enforce them on war-related cargo, in part to punish the German government for refusing to join the U.S.-led war coalition and in part to benefit UPS and FedEx. The Stevens amendment effectively squeezes the German-owned firm DHL Worldwide Express out of billions in war cargo and re-construction business.

Not only that, it threatens DHL's plans to acquire Airborne Express of Seat-tle, which could create a formidable challenger to the UPS and FedEx strangle-hold on all U.S. air-express business. If the Transportation Department were to enforce rules limiting U.S. air carriers to no more than 25 percent foreign ownership, that merger would be dead.

This is protectionist legislation that makes no sense in a global economy (even if it does scratch a patriotic itch). It panders to Congress' worst xeno-phobic instincts, punishes U.S. trading partners and stifles competition. House and Senate conferees should remove Mr. Stevens' amendment.

This affair also carries the unpleasant aroma of peddled influence. Andy Blunt is a bright young man who ran big brother Matt's successful race for Mis-souri Secretary of State in 2000. He might well run Matt Blunt's race for governor next year. He can look forward to a long and successful career in business and politics. He shouldn't need -- or accept -- freebies from Dad's friends.

In fact, Andy did run his brother Matt's campaign for Governor in 2004, and Andy's lobbying practice has only grown from that point forward.

Gregg Hartley

Gregg Hartley served as Rep. Roy Blunt's longtime Chief of Staff on the Hill. In 2003, Hartley left Blunt's office and joined the K Street firm, Cassidy & Associates.

Hartley was very active with Blunt's leadership PAC, the Rely On Your Beliefs Fund (ROYB). In turn, Blunt's PAC was closely intertwined with DeLay's ARMPAC, the U.S. Family Network, the Alexander Strategy Group, and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

During his tenure with Blunt, Hartley went on a junket sponsored by the American Turkish Council (ATC). Phillip Morris, the company for whom Blunt's wife, Abigail Perlman lobbies, is represented on the ATC board.

According to a report in Roll Call, in January of 2004, Hartley was one of a handful of lobbyists, including Jack Abramoff, who attended a secret meeting with Rep. Tom DeLay at Abramoff's Signatures restaurant, to plan a strategy to extract larger sums of money from GOP-leaning K Street lobbyists.

In March of 2004, when Jack Abramoff was forced out at Greenberg Trauring after disclosures by the Washington Post that he had bilked his Indian gaming clients out of millions of dollars in fees, Hartely recruited Abramoff to join Cassidy and Associates.

In 2005, the DOJ and FTC wrote Governor Matt Blunt urging him to veto a bill because it was anti-competitive and created an unfair advantage for the realtors.

After Blunt received the letters from the DOJ and FTC urging a veto, the Missouri Realtors Association hired Hartley's firm for a one month contract for a fee of $50,0000.

Hartley's firm was charged with urging Governor Blunt to sign the bill over the objection of the DOJ and FTC. Blunt ultimately signed the bill.

Jared Craighead, a former staffer to Rep. Roy Blunt, and a former lobbyist at Cassidy & Associates under Hartley, served as Governor Blunt's Deputy Chief of Staff at the time Hartley was lobbying Blunt to sign the bill over the objection of the DOJ and FTC.

Here is a link to more background on the Hartley's $50,000 contract to lobby the Governor.

According to a profile of Hartley in The Hill, reprinted on the Cassidy & Associates website, as of November 2003, Hartley's daughter Hallie was employed at Alexander Strategy Group. It is unclear whether she worked there while Hartley was working on the Hill for Blunt.

Other Alexander Strategy Group Alumni include Ed Buckham, Jim Ellis, Tony Rudy, and Christine DeLay.

During Hartley's tenure with Blunt's office, the Alexander Strategy Group was the recipient of several hundred thousand dollars in fees from Roy Blunt's leaderhip PAC, the Rely On Your Beliefs fund.

Blunt, Inc.

A recent WP story outlined Blunt's extensive ties to the special interests on K Street.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that extends from Missouri deep into Washington's K Street lobbying community.

Here in Washington, Blunt has converted what had been an informal and ad hoc relationship between congressional leaders and the Washington corporate and trade community into a formal, institutionalized alliance. Lobbyists are now an integral part of the Republican whip operation on par with the network of lawmakers who serve as assistant whips.

And still more:

Over the years, seven companies with business before Congress stand out as the most reliable Blunt supporters: Altria, SBC Communications, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, Verizon, United Parcel Service and BellSouth have together given more than $1.2 million to political committees tied to Blunt. Altria is the largest contributor, giving more than $270,000. Blunt, a vocal social conservative, divorced Roseann Blunt, his first wife, to marry Altria lobbyist Abigail Perlman in October 2003.