Lobbying Reform

Former überlobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff says he’s a new man. Some people don’t believe him.

Abramoff was flying high during the G.W. Bush administration, when suddenly in 2006 he was convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion in connection with the Native American casino lobbying scandal.

According to Wikipedia:

Abramoff and [Michael] Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multimillion-dollar profits. In one case, they were secretly orchestrating lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists were accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations to legislators in return for votes or support of legislation. Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) and two aides to Tom DeLay (R-TX) have been directly implicated; other politicians have various ties.

Abramoff, who pled guilty, was sentenced to six years in prison and was paroled after serving four. He has spent the past year writing a book: Capitol Punishment. The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America’s Most Notorious Lobbyist.

In his book, he insists he’s a good guy, with what his publicist calls “a staunch moral streak.” He says he gave away much of the money obtained from the Indian casino interests to charities.

In an interview with the Daily Texan of UT-Austin, Abramoff calls for hard reform of America’s lobbying laws “to the derision of some pundits who claim he has yet to change,” as the newspaper puts it.

Daily Texan: What kind of message are you hoping to bring to the students at UT?
Jack Abramoff: I’m telling people what’s happening with your government. The special interests have a special sway in Washington that’s not good for the Republic, and I’m educating citizens, legislatures and students about what goes on behind the closed doors of Washington power politics.
DT: Could you describe what’s going on to me? How do you know that corruption
is happening?
Abramoff: First of all, I used to participate in it, second of all, I met and worked with the organizations that are still participating in it and third of all, you see it in the dysfunction that is currently affecting our federal government. The government is unable to stop reaching out and touching our lives in every possible way, and in many cases we see special interest with significant sway in Washington in a way that is detrimental to people’s lives….
DT: What should people ask for in order for that actual change to come about?Abramoff: Well, we are looking at four points that would have a fairly significant impact on the system. One is a combination of barring special interests from giving any money politically, or conveying any financial interests of benefit to a public servant. We are hoping to create and voucher/tax credit that allow people to give contributions at a much lower level, maybe $50. That would entice more people to get involved rather than just the special interests, who have something to get back. Second is the revolving door [between K Street and the Hill]. Three is to create a term limit to stop people from spending their entire life in Washington, either as a representative or a lobbyist. Step four is to change and affirm the rule that Congress cant pass any legislation that doesn’t apply to itself, and that would go a long way to curbing insider trading.

Abramoff was also interviewed recently in The Huffington Post, which was skeptical of his reform message:

HuffPost: Now you're working with Larry Lessig. (See clarification below: Abramoff works with United Republic, a group that in part funds a group founded by Lessig, Rootstrikers.)
Abramoff: United Republic. I don't think my position is a non-conservative position. I don't agree with everything they stand for. They don't agree with everything I stand for. I think what I'm trying to do, reform-wise, is completely consistent with conservative philosophy. It may not be consistent with some so-called conservatives who live in Washington and make their living like I used to.
HuffPost: People seem to be having a hard time telling if you're sincere.
Abramoff: This attitude of 'how do we know if you're sincere.' Why do I care if you think I'm sincere? I'm not trying to win your approval. I'm not trying to run for something. What's my agenda? To reform all these things. Is that a bad agenda? Make money off this? There's no money to be made off this.
People don't understand business. They don't understand the book business. My book, it did OK. It's not going to return me anything significant. I get to subsist live. That's it….

CLARIFICATION: This post has been updated to reflect that Jack Abramoff is not directly working with Harvard University's Lawrence Lessig. Abramoff is working with United Republic, an organization which in part funds Rootstrikers, a group founded Lessig.

We discussed Lessig’s reform efforts in our previous post.

Abramoff is clearly miffed that his reputation has been damaged, and that it prevents some people from taking him seriously. Wonder whose fault, and whose problem, that is?….