Organizing for America | Endorsing Barack Obama: JOHN MCCAIN’S LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS TO DICTATORS, OIL REGIMES, AND CHILD ENSLAVERS THE WORLD OVER

JOHN MCCAIN’S LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS TO DICTATORS, OIL REGIMES, AND CHILD ENSLAVERS THE WORLD OVER

By tefta "hussein" "sweetie" - counting down to the change we need! - May 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am EDT

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For those of you who associate McCain with experience, safety, and American values - here's a little glimpse into the type of people that the Senator maintains close ties to - Do you want a president with ANY KIND of ties to these types of people?

OH - A LITTLE NOTE - THE MONEY REFERENCED BELOW HAS NOT AND MORE THAN LIKELY WILL NOT GET REFUNDED TO THESE PEOPLE. IF YOU CHECK OUT THE FEC ON MCCAIN YOU'LL NOTICE THAT INSTEAD OF HAVING ONE MAIN CAMPAIGN TO TAKE IN HIS FUNDS, HE STRANGELY HAS ABOUT 8 - DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS (OH - AND I INCLUDED REFERENCES TO SHOW WHERE THE INFO CAME FROM FOR THOSE WHO WANNA CHECK =))

JOHN MCCAIN’S LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS TO DICTATORS, OIL REGIMES, AND CHILD ENSLAVERS THE WORLD OVER

Three other lobbyists, Charlie Black, Tom Loeffler, and Peter Madigan, and their firms’ clients, have generated at least $3.5 million in campaign donations to Sen. McCain over his career, according to Campaign Money Watch analysis of campaign finance data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics DCI Group, which employed Davenport and Goodyear, and their clients provided less than a quarter as much campaign money -- $817,685 — to McCain’s elections. Charlie Black, McCain’s senior counsel and spokesman, began his lobbying career by representing numerous dictators and repressive regimes

Black’s firm represented the governor of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos. According to a 1985 report, the firm Black, Manafort & Stone earned $950,000 plus expenses for its work to provide “advice and assistance on matters relating to the media, public relations and public affairs interests.”1

Black’s firm lobbied on behalf of Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire, earning $1 million a year for his efforts.2

Black’s firm lobbied on behalf of Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.3

Black’s firm represented Nigerian dictator Ibrahim Babangida, earning at least $1 million for his efforts.4

Black’s firm has represented Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich state “best known for the outlandish brutality of its rulers.”5

Black represented Angolan rebel and “classical terrorist” Jonas Savimbi, a job that earned him $600,000.6 “We have to call him Africa’s classical terrorist,” Makau Mutua, a professor of law and Africa specialist told the New York Times. “In the history of the continent, I think he’s unique because of the degree of suffering he caused without showing any remorse.”7

In recent years his client list has also included the Iraqi National Congress 8, Friends of Blackwater 9, and the China National Off-Shore Oil Corp.10

Since 2005, BKSH has received more than $700,000 in fees from foreign entities.11

Thomas Loeffler, co-chairman of McCain’s campaign, has represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia paid the Loeffler Group “a whopping $7.9 million from December 1, 2005, though November 2006 -- the largest fee collected from a foreign government by any lobbying firm in 2006,” according to National Journal.12 The Washington Times reported that “Mr. Loeffler's firm has received more than $10 million since 2006 from the Saudi Embassy and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”13 Much of this work was centered on gaining admission for the Kingdom to the World Trade Organization.14

Since 2005, according to the Washington Times, “the Loeffler Group reported more than $11 million in fees from foreign lobbying clients.”15

Peter Madigan, a leading McCain fundraiser, lobbies on behalf of the king of Dubai

Madigan has earned upwards of $800,000 to improve the United Arab Emirates’ reputation in the face of a class action lawsuit over the enslavement of boy camel jockeys.16

1. “PR firm is linked to Marcos,” The Globe and Mail, December 20, 1985. 2. Steve Burkholder, “On the Town With Jonas Savimbi,” Common Cause Magazine, Winter 1993; Department of Justice FARA database, accessed February 26, 2008. 3. Burkholder, 1993. 4. William Safire, “The Age of Access, The New York Times, February 17, 1986; Department of Justice FARA Database, accessed February 26, 2008.5. Ken Silverstein, “The Crude Politics of Trading Oil,” The Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2002.6. Evan Thomas, “The Slickest Shop in Town,” Time Magazine, March 3, 1986.7. Nicholas D. Kristof, “Our Own Terrorist,” The New York Times, March 5, 2002.8. Kate Zernike, “'Steady Hand' Helps McCain On a New Path,” The New York Times, April 13, 2008.9. Felicia Roberts, “Food Offerings a Big Part of MultiFest,” Charleston Daily Mail, August 5, 2005 10. Tory Newmyer and Kate Ackley, “K Steet Files,” Roll Call, July 18, 2005.11. Jim McElhatton and Jerry Seper, “McCain Advisers Tied to Foreign Lobbying,” The Washington Times, April 11, 2008.12. James A. Barnes and Peter H. Stone, “Batten Down the Hatches,” The National Journal, April 7, 2007 13. McElhatton and Seper, 2008.14. Ibid. 15. Ibid. 16. Peter H. Stone, “Persian Gulf Connection,” The National Journal, December 1, 2007.

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