CA: Lawmaker-turned-lobbyist at center of `earmarking' probe

AP - The Bakersfield Californian ^ | Jul 16 2006 | ERICA WERNER

[calcowgirl]

When then-Rep. Bill Lowery dropped his re-election bid in 1992, he was caught up in a House banking scandal and facing a tough opponent with an effective slogan: "A congressman we can be proud of."

Fourteen years later, that opponent - ex-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham - is in prison for taking bribes. And Lowery, now a lobbyist, is back in the spotlight.

This time Lowery is at the center of a federal investigation that grew from the Cunningham probe to focus on a more powerful member of Congress - House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, a good friend of Lowery's and a fellow Southern California Republican.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are investigating the close and mutually beneficial relationship between the two men, focusing on Lowery clients who have gotten tens of millions of dollars for projects in the annual spending bills Lewis' committee approves. Lowery and his associates have been top donors to Lewis' campaigns, and the two men have swapped key aides.

Lewis, 71, and Lowery, 59, have been close since Lowery, the son of southeast San Diego hardware store owners, came to Congress in 1980 at age 33 and found a mentor in Lewis, who was elected two years earlier.

Both declined to comment for this story. They have not been charged with any crime and have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have issued at least 10 subpoenas and are seeking details on why counties, towns and businesses in Lewis' inland Southern California district chose to hire Lowery's lobbying firm, how much they paid, and what kind of communications the company and Lewis had.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles declined to comment on the probe.

Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for Lowery and his firm Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton, & White, said "All of our work was consistent with the laws and regulations that govern Capitol Hill lobbying."

He also defended Lowery.

"Everyone who knows Bill knows him as an ethical guy and a good person who works extremely hard for his clients," Dorton said.

Lowery, a former San Diego city councilman, became a lobbyist after giving up his re-election bid in 1992 while embroiled in an ethics scandal. He was among the top offenders in the House banking scandal, writing 300 overdraft checks from an account at Congress' in-house bank, and was criticized for taking overseas junkets and for accepting yacht parties and trips from a crooked savings and loan executive.

Lowery was an aggressive fundraiser while an elected official and is an aggressive dealmaker as a lobbyist. On one occasion he reportedly hit up an acquaintance for a campaign donation while they stood next to each other at urinals.

"Bill was a highly effective fundraiser and was one of those people who was not afraid to ask anytime and anywhere," said Cynthia Vicknair, a college acquaintance and political communications consultant in San Diego who said a friend of hers was the target of the men's room request.

Along with Lowery's energetic pursuit of campaign dollars came aggressive advocacy for his constituents. He used his post on the Appropriations Committee - where he served alongside Lewis - to bring federal dollars to San Diego for a sewage treatment system, Navy housing, a trolley line extension and other projects. When he left Congress local officials bemoaned his departure.

"For all his political problems - and they were legion - Lowery was widely viewed at home and on Capitol Hill as the most effective lawmaker in the San Diego County delegation," the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in April 1992.

After leaving Congress, Lowery put his expertise to work as an appropriations lobbyist, a growing branch of the profession. As Lewis climbed the ranks on the Appropriations Committee, the fledgling firm Lowery joined added clients.

Lewis' hometown of Redlands paid Copeland Lowery about $30,000 a year starting in 2000 and credits the firm with securing more than $36 million in federal funding, an investment return city manager John Davidson has described as "very beneficial."

Business from clients like Redlands, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in Lewis' district and defense contractor ADCS Inc. - the company started by Brent Wilkes, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Cunningham case - helped make Copeland Lowery a top lobby shop. The firm ranked 32nd nationwide in the second half of 2005 in terms of client revenue.

The growth also made Lowery a very wealthy man. He now owns two homes - a townhouse on Capitol Hill and a 14.3-acre, waterfront property in King William County, Va.

Lewis also has benefited. Copeland, Lowery employees contributed at least $54,000 to his political action committee over the current and past two election cycles, according to reports compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.com, and employees of the firm's clients donated tens of thousands more.

The money helped Lewis prove his fundraising prowess to House GOP leaders as he sought the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee, a job he got last year.

The Lowery-Lewis relationship seemed to benefit everyone - Lewis got campaign cash, Lowery got clients and his clients got federal money. But since the investigation became public in May, that tight circle has loosened.

Redlands and Riverside and San Bernardino counties are among the Copeland Lowery clients that have confirmed getting subpoenaed for records of their contacts with Lewis or the firm. The publicity has forced Copeland Lowery to split into two. Clients are leaving - the Redlands City Council voted this month not to renew its contract.

The investigation has even reached into Lowery's private life. One of his two ex-wives, Melinda Morrin, was been interviewed twice by the FBI about her ex-husband's dealings, her attorney said last week.

To Lowery's defenders, he's being unfairly scrutinized for doing his job well.

"I don't think there's a lobbyist in D.C. worth anything if they don't look for creative ways to solve problems for their clients," said Dan Greenblat, Lowery's former chief of staff.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

Duke Cunningham, a true American hero rots in prison, his name and family fortune in ruins. He may in fact deserve some of that.

A Democrat in Louisana has a $100K in bribe money stashed in his freezer, and maybe more elsewhere. He's still serving in office.

I don't much like Lewis - I think he's a corrupt RINO, but isn't it funny that the Justice department has trouble finding let alone prosecuting Democrat graft, but seem entirely focused on Republicans.

I think most of Congress is corrupted by money, but this is probably just another pre-election Democrat op, run by Clinton Justice department politico hold-overs who Bush just couldn't bear to fire. The Bush family is above that sort of thing, while the Clinton Democrats fired every last U.S. Attorney, and politicized the entire Justice Department. The Clintonistias made certain that while a Republican might one day occupy the Oval Office after Clinton, that NO Republican would every again be able to run the federal government with the political operatives the Clinton's installed there. From CIA, to State, to Commerce, to Justice, the Democrats are being paid by taxpayers to run full-time anti-Bush operations, using the authority of their positions. We might as well abolish civil service altogether, and just do a "clean sweep" every election.

But what do I know ..

SFS