Posted on 07/13/2007 7:48:24 AM PDT by pissant
Fred Thompson is backing off his flat denial that he once lobbied for an abortion-rights group. He now says he doesn’t remember it, but does not dispute evidence to the contrary.
The climb-down could be a significant embarrassment for a prospective candidate with a plain-spoken appeal and who has courted the GOP’s anti-abortion base, although Thompson and his advisers had signaled for several days that it was coming.
Realizing that opponents in both parties are mining his legal career for damaging ammunition, Thompson also is engaging in a bit of preemption. He writes in a column posted Wednesday by the conservative Power Line blog: “[I]f a client has a legal and ethical right to take a position, then you may appropriately represent him as long as he does not lie or otherwise conduct himself improperly while you are representing him. In almost 30 years of practicing law I must have had hundreds of clients and thousands of conversations about legal matters. Like any good lawyer, I would always try to give my best, objective and professional opinion on any legal question presented to me.”
The abortion-rights issue arose when the Los Angeles Times reported last week that Thompson had “accepted a lobbying assignment” from the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which wanted the administration of President George H.W. Bush to relax a restriction on federal payments to clinics that offered abortion counseling.
Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo told the Times in an e-mail: “Fred Thompson did not lobby for this group, period.” The Times said minutes from a board meeting of the group suggested otherwise.
On Thursday, Corallo offered a less sweeping comment about Thompson and the group: “He has no recollection of doing any work for this group. And since he was of counsel and not a member of the firm, it was not unusual for the firm’s partners to trot their clients in to meet him, get his views and even some advice.”
So the difference may boil down to how you define “lobbying.” It has been clear for several days that Thompson was not going to stick with a complete denial. When an Associated Press reporter asked him about the matter this weekend at the Young Republicans National Convention, he deflected with one of his folksy observations: “I’d just say the flies get bigger in the summertime. I guess the flies are buzzing.”
Then in an interview with Sean Hannity that was reported by Thomas B. Edsall of The Huffington Post, Thompson was even more evasive: “You need to separate a lawyer who is advocating a position from the position itself.”
The former “Law and Order” actor has an anti-abortion voting record as a U.S. senator from Tennessee, but some statements he made early in his political career have led some conservatives to question whether he once had favored abortion rights.
The lobbying controversy illustrates the harsh scrutiny that awaits Thompson when he formally kicks off his campaign, and shows the difficulty of trying to answer high-stakes questions without a full campaign infrastructure.
Thompson aides say they do not believe the brouhaha has hurt him with Republican voters. “Consider the source,” said one Thompson adviser. “Conservatives don’t pay much attention to liberal groups that say they want to help, and tell them why their guy isn’t as great as they think.”
The lobbying story is one of several recent pieces criticizing Thompson, and advisers are now considering pushing back his announcement even further. They had planned to schedule the announcement before an Aug. 5 debate in Des Moines, Iowa, but now are considering jumping in even later than that.
The advisers say they realize how searing the scrutiny will be and want to be ready. And they want to have more of their staff in place. Thompson has to convince skeptics he’s ready for the race and ready for the job, and hopes that a top-flight campaign operation will help make that case. The announcement date will be based on factors that include IRS regulations governing when Thompson will have to disclose the millions of dollars he has already raised.
Thompson says in the Power Line column that he had “half dozen or so lobbying clients.” His column concludes: ‘I’m certainly not surprised that such a diverse career is being mined by others. As we get further into this political season we will undoubtedly see the further intersection of law, politics and the mainstream media.”
For something that allegedly happened 16 years ago, is denied by all the principals involved, has no documentation to show otherwise, and is based solely on the word of a Hillary Clinton operative? Yes, I would.
What troubles me about this is that if Fred is such an abortion foe, why wasn't he immediately and greatly conflicted? This should have been a moral dilemma of first rank;
Except that it isn't. He never lobbied for the group in question. It is possible (but as of now, not proven) that he indirectly assisted them by providing legal advice to one of his partners, a responsibility he was ethically bound to fulfill as part of his partnership. In that respect, Thompson may be vague on his denials simply because he doesn't remember one way or another, and doesn't want this to be used as a "gotcha" later if he did happen to forget. I mean, look what happened to Scooter Libby as a result of inconsistent memories. ;)
This is probably just the opening salvo. Why would the opposition open fire until the candidate is clearly in the race?
Because too many people fear him getting in the race in the first place -- from both parties. They want to derail him before he truly gets started.
That is truly an amazing twisting of words and jumps-to-conclusions analysis. See my previous.
mnehrling wrote: “I agree, if Duncan’s supporters don’t completely turn everyone off to him.. God protect Duncan from his supporters.”
Congressman Hunter’s campaign is aware of what is going on on FR and some other sites. They do not approve of the type of “campaigning” some alleged Hunter supporters have been doing on the Fred threads here on FR.
A Duncan Hunter spokesperson said that Duncan did not campaign that way and would not approve of that type of campaigning. Also said that they could not control the blogosphere but wished they could do something to promote harmony among Hunter and Thompson supporters.
And now it is over the same issue.
I do too, but I don’t remember every meal I cooked in the restaurant.
These guys have permanently soured me on Hunter at this point.
I think that if Hunter saw some of the crap being done in his name, he'd start kicking asses and taking names.
Those supporters are giving him money and volunteering and exposing the tapdancing of his opponents. I think Hunter approves just fine.
Speaking of distortions, have you asked Fred yet when he first decided he didn’t like parts of McCain Feingold?
Ya’ll know about this issue more than me. Any “inconsistencies”?
Even today, his position doesn't square with the GOP platform's pro-life plank. Fred opposes a human life amendment and has indicated he would appoint justices who would not extend protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the unborn.
Fine, then he should be honest about it and not pretend he was just opposing the embargo. I can respect, but not agree with, an honest admission that he was just putting bread on the table.
FR helps AFTER the primaries and its help to the conservative cause was on display a few weeks ago, when we helped flatline the amnesty bill.
No, I wasn't here for the 2000 primaries. But my memory is that McCain got nasty first, so it reasons that supporters of either would follow suit.
I'm not advocating we just accept everything from the RNC, but what really good candidate would want to run and try to represent and satisfy all-or-nothing constituents?
I fail to see how FR helps after the primary if the candidate is someone who has already been dumped all over by the "base". The DNC is just tap into work already done by others.
Finally, FR does get credit for halting the amnesty bill, but talk radio is the powerhouse of spreading conservative philosophy. People like Rush nationally and Jeff Katz on WBT locally are the ones I give the most credit to.
I heard Peach and Howlin use that same argument.
Fred is going to be our next president.
Say it loud and proud BABY! AMEN!!!
How nice for you.
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