DNC Releases New Video: 'McCain's Lobbyist Friends'

WASHINGTON, June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Democrats are joining
together to reduce the influence of lobbyists on our political process, the
Democratic National Committee today issued a new web ad highlighting Senator
McCain's hypocrisy on lobbying reform and transparency. The new video,
entitled "McCain's Lobbyist Friends," outlines the degree to which Senator
McCain's inner circle has been dominated by the sort of Washington lobbyists
he once railed against and the disturbing array of foreign clients they have
represented --including companies doing business in Iran, the oppressive
regime in Myanmar, and some of history's most brutal tyrants.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO )

Out on the campaign trail, Senator McCain has promised to "set a new standard
for transparency and accountability" and attempted to position himself as a
champion of lobbying reform. But back in Washington, Senator McCain and his
lobbyist advisors are running one of the least transparent campaigns in
history. Not only does Senator McCain refuse to allow reporters to cover his
fundraisers, but he has released fewer tax returns than any party nominee in
decades.

"While Senator McCain talks about transparency and accountability on the
campaign trail, back home in Washington he and the lobbyists in his inner
circle refuse to apply those same standards to his own campaign," said DNC
Communications Director Karen Finney. "Senator Obama and the Democratic Party
have promised to change the way business is done in Washington and are taking
real steps to ensure that the American people's priorities dominate the agenda
in Washington. If Senator McCain is serious about his call to clean up
Washington, he should join us. Otherwise, Senator McCain is once again showing
why he is the wrong choice for America's future."

To view the DNC's new video, "McCain's Lobbyist Friends," click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGXIuNthJ7Q

DNC Web Ad:"McCain's Lobbyist Friends"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGXIuNthJ7Q
SCRIPT:
John McCain says he'll take on lobbyists.
But, his inner circle is full of lobbyists:
Charlie Black, Chief Campaign Advisor
Doug Goodyear, Convention CEO
Tom Loeffler, National Co-Chair
Rick Davis, Campaign Manager
Randy Scheunemann, Top Foreign Policy Advisor
And who have they represented?
Anti-Western Political Parties...
Mob-Connected Russian Oligarchs...
The Saudi Royal Family...
Companies doing business in Iran...
The Brutal Myanmar Junta...
...and some of history's Most Brutal Tyrants.
John McCain and His Lobbyist Friends: The Wrong Choice for America's Future.

AD BACK UP: JOHN MCCAIN'S LOBBYIST FRIENDS

Anti-Western Political Parties...

Campaign Manager Rick Davis's Firm Represented Anti-Western Political Party in
Ukraine. "A consultant to Sen. John McCain hired a public-relations firm last
year to burnish the U.S. image of a Ukrainian political party backed by
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to documents filed with the Justice
Department. The lobbying firm of Davis Manafort Inc. arranged for the
public-relations firm's work through an affiliate last spring, at the same
time Davis Manafort was being paid by the Republican presidential candidate's
campaign. The firm is co-owned by lobbyist Rick Davis, manager of Sen.
McCain's presidential campaign, and longtime Republican strategist Paul
Manafort." [Wall Street Journal, 5/14/08]

Mob-Connected Russian Oligarchs...

Davis Introduced McCain to Putin-Ally, Mafia-Linked Russian Oligarch. While
seeking to do business with him, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis - while
simultaneously at the Reform Institute and lobbying for Davis Manafort -
introduced McCain to Oleg Deripaska, a Putin ally whose U.S. visa was revoked
due to suspicions over his ties to Russian organized crime. McCain, Deripaska
and Davis rendezvoused at least twice - first in January 2006 in Davos, then
during a codel in Montenegro in August 2006. [Washington Post, 1/25/08]

The Saudi Royal Family...

Former Campaign Finance Chair Tom Loeffler Lobbied McCain for Saudi Clients.
"But the fallout may not be over. One top campaign official affected by the
new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas
congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi
Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate
interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts.
Loeffler last month told a reporter 'at no time have I discussed my clients
with John McCain.' But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show
that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi
ambassador to 'discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations.'" [Newsweek,
5/26/08: http://www.newsweek.com/id/137522]

Companies doing business in Iran...

McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis Represented Ukrainian Companies Doing
Business in Iran. "Before Rick Davis began serving as John McCain's campaign
manager, his lobbying firm had a pretty cosmopolitan set of clients. For
example, Ukranian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who has several business links
to Iran... Davis Manafort was helping Akhmetov's conglomerate, System Capital
Management Holdings, to develop a "corporate communications strategy" between
the beginning of 2005 through the end of summer 2005, the company said. The
company's subsidiary, Metinvest, a steel company, has one of its 11 offices in
Tehran. And another subsidiary, Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant, sells large pipes to
Iran. Those business ties go back to at least 2005, when Davis Manafort was
working for the company, according to a handful of stories in business
publications like the Russia & CIS Metals and Mining Weekly and the Mining and
the Metals report, which we found on Nexis." [TPM, 5/30/08:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/before_rick_davis_began_servin.php]

The Brutal Myanmar Junta...

Doug Goodyear Left Campaign After Revelations His Firm Represented Myanmar
Regime. "The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican
National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm
used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as
coordinator of the Twin Cities convention and issued a two-sentence
statement." [Associated Press, 5/11/08]

Goodyear and Doug Davenport, Regional Campaign Manager, Tied to Oppressive
Myanmar Junta. "ABC News' Jan Simmonds reports: Two of Sen. John McCain'
campaign aides resigned this weekend after media reports brought to light
their ties to a lobbying group that once represented the military junta of
Burma, which the regime calls Myanmar. The aides, Douglas Goodyear, who was
tapped as the GOP Convention Coordinator, and Doug Davenport, a regional
manager focusing on the mid-Atlantic states, both worked for DCI. The firm was
hired in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta to try to begin a dialogue
of political reconciliation with the United States." [ABCNews.com, 5/11/08]

... and some of history's Most Brutal Tyrants.

Charlie Black Pioneered the "Revolving Door Between Campaign Consulting and
Lobbying." "Then in his 30s, Black already had established himself as a
pioneer of the revolving door between campaign consulting and lobbying, having
been a senior adviser on President Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign before
returning to K Street. And his clients, as often as not, were foreign leaders
eager to burnish their reputations... The lobbying shop represented Bethlehem
Steel, the Tobacco Institute and the government of the Philippines. The
political consulting firm helped elect a slew of lawmakers -- including Sens.
Phil Gramm, Jesse Helms, Charles McC. Mathias Jr., Arlen Specter, Paula
Hawkins and David F. Durenberger -- who worked on legislation that directly
impacted the firm's clients." [Washington Post, 5/22/08]

"Longtime Uber-Lobbyist" Helped Burnish Reputations of Some of the World's
Worst Tyrants." "Longtime uber-lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. is John McCain's
man in Washington, a political maestro who is hoping to guide his friend, the
senator from Arizona, to the presidency this November. But for half a decade
in the 1980s, Black was also Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His
lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and
took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House."
[Washington Post, 5/22/08]

Black's Client List a Whose Who of Repressive Rulers. "In addition to Savimbi,
Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a
remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights
records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as their opposition to
communism was embraced by American conservatives. They included Philippine
President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim
Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and
Equatorial Guinea, among others." [Washington Post, 5/22/08]

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This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Damien LaVera of the DNC, +1-202-863-8148