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McCain's national finance co-chair exits over lobbyist ties
May 18, 8:19 PM (ET)
By JIM KUHNHENN
WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain's national finance co-chairman has stepped down, the latest casualty of a presidential campaign eager to cauterize damage caused by its ties to lobbyists.
Former Texas Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, one of McCain's key fundraisers, resigned in the wake of a new McCain policy on conflicts of interest that required campaign volunteers to disclose their lobbying connections
"Mr. Loeffler has resigned from his position with the campaign," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Sunday.
Loeffler, who runs the lobbying shop The Loeffler Group, is the highest profile departure from McCain's inner circle since a summer 2007 shake-up cost McCain his campaign manager and chief strategist.
Among Loeffler's clients is the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of plane manufacturer Airbus. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and EADS won a lucrative contract to provide air refueling tankers for the Air Force. McCain helped scuttle an earlier contract in 2004 that would have gone to a competitor, Boeing Co. (BA)
Loeffler's firm also has lobbied for other foreign interests and foreign governments. Newsweek reported over the weekend that Loeffler's firm was paid $15 million by Saudi Arabia. The news magazine also said Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations," even though Loeffler told a reporter last month that he had not discussed his clients with McCain.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080519/D90OCGQO0.html
May 18, 8:19 PM (ET)
By JIM KUHNHENN
WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain's national finance co-chairman has stepped down, the latest casualty of a presidential campaign eager to cauterize damage caused by its ties to lobbyists.
Former Texas Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, one of McCain's key fundraisers, resigned in the wake of a new McCain policy on conflicts of interest that required campaign volunteers to disclose their lobbying connections
"Mr. Loeffler has resigned from his position with the campaign," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Sunday.
Loeffler, who runs the lobbying shop The Loeffler Group, is the highest profile departure from McCain's inner circle since a summer 2007 shake-up cost McCain his campaign manager and chief strategist.
Among Loeffler's clients is the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of plane manufacturer Airbus. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and EADS won a lucrative contract to provide air refueling tankers for the Air Force. McCain helped scuttle an earlier contract in 2004 that would have gone to a competitor, Boeing Co. (BA)
Loeffler's firm also has lobbied for other foreign interests and foreign governments. Newsweek reported over the weekend that Loeffler's firm was paid $15 million by Saudi Arabia. The news magazine also said Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations," even though Loeffler told a reporter last month that he had not discussed his clients with McCain.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080519/D90OCGQO0.html