New Bush Adviser Has Vast Lobbying Ties
Forbes/AP
By DIBYA SARKAR
June 13, 2007

The line between lobbying the federal government and running it just got blurrier.

A new high-ranking adviser to President Bush will enter the White House with lobbying ties to dozens of companies seeking the federal government's help on everything from proposed acquisitions to patent disputes.

Ed Gillespie, named Wednesday as the next White House counselor, is a partner in Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC, a lobbying firm whose clients include: Sirius Satellite Radio, which needs antitrust approval to acquire a rival; Qualcomm, which wants Bush to veto a federal agency's ban on imported cell phones made with its chips; and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group trying to limit drug industry regulation.

Consumer advocates lamented Bush's decision to put Gillespie in his inner circle, fearing that the interests of average citizens would be trumped by those of corporate America.

"It's very disappointing that the president, given his lack of public support these days, has not reached out for someone more independent who has a better understanding of the needs of people," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a liberal government watchdog group.

Gillespie, a former head of the national GOP, will leave his post as Virginia's Republican chairman to become a senior presidential adviser, beginning June 27. He replaces outgoing counselor Dan Bartlett.

Despite the potential for conflicts of interest, Gillespie will not be forced in his new role to recuse himself from all matters related to the companies he has lobbied for, said Ken Gross, a Washington-based attorney and former associate general counsel with the Federal Election Commission.

Instead, Gillespie will have to decide on a case-by-case basis if his activities could violate federal ethics standards.

"It may be that the Qualcomm issue has so many implications within telecommunications that he could possibly participate in part of it, I don't know," Gross said. "It's always hard to prejudge these things."

Gross added that he knew of no legal restriction on Gillespie being lobbied by his former colleagues.

Quinn Gillespie did not return a call seeking comment.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. hired Quinn Gillespie in April to lobby the federal government on their proposed combination, which faces an uphill battle in Washington.

One agency that needs to sign off on Sirius's $4.6 billion bid for XM is the Federal Communications Commission, which a decade ago granted each company a license on the condition that one could not acquire the other.

Gillespie's firm also represents Qualcomm Inc., which last week said it would seek help from a federal court and President Bush to overturn a ban on U.S. imports of new cell phones made with company's semiconductors.

The U.S. International Trade Commission imposed the ban because the Qualcomm chips violated a patent held by Broadcom Corp. The ban is also a blow to service providers, including AT&T Inc. - another Quinn Gillespie client - which relies on Qualcomm's technology for the phones it sells.

From 2005 to 2006, Qualcomm paid Quinn Gillespie $840,000 to lobby on the digital TV transition, immigration reform and telecom and technology issues, according to a federal disclosure form.

Gillespie co-founded the firm with former Clinton White House counsel Jack Quinn in 2000. The firm has lured several other former congressional and White House staffers - both Republican and Democratic - including Jeff Connaughton, who was special assistant in the Clinton administration.

In 2006, the firm earned $16.8 million, according to the Web site, OpenSecrets.org, which tracks political fundraising and lobbying.

Other Quinn Gillespie clients include:

_ Amgen Inc. and Genentech, biotechnology drug makers trying to put the breaks on legislation that would allow generic drug companies to sell cheaper versions of their medicines.

_ DaimlerChrysler AG, part of an auto industry trade group that is fighting efforts in Congress to raise fuel-economy standards.

Tim La Pira, a researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, which compiles the OpenSecrets.org data, said when congressional staffers or White House employees leave the government for the private sector, they are usually prohibited from lobbying the federal government for up to a year. La Pira was not aware of any restrictions when someone from the private sector enters government.

Still, under federal law, Gilliespie will have to submit a financial disclosure form to the Office of Government Ethics, addressing any potential conflicts of interest, such as holding stock in companies that might have business before the White House. In such an instance, Gillespie may be required to sell the stock, or recuse himself from the matter, experts said.

AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.

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