Harper's: More allegations about connections between defense contractor Trident Systems Inc. and Letitia White, former aide to Appropriations committee chairman Jerry Lewis turned lobbyist. Among them, that she got directly compensated by Trident for lobbying work which she did on behalf of the company:

Both [Letitia] White and [Trident founder and president] Karangelen have said that they each put up $500,000 when purchasing the million-dollar house, but some of the Trident officials have said that Karangelen actually put up the entire amount, along with additional monies for furnishings. Some of them have further alleged that White was rewarded financially by Trident for her work on behalf of the company with compensation related to the amount of money she brought into the company.

Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for White, vehemently told me that she and Karangelen have put equal amounts of money into the house and that “the purchase was not related in any way to work for Trident.” Dorton did not deny that White was compensated by Trident but said any money she received “was for work done after she left the Hill.” He declined to comment on the nature or amount of the compensation.

Go read.

Update I: A lawyer says the law on this is clear and unambiguous: one's compensation as a lobbyist cannot be tied in any way to the amount of money your client is awarded from the government. "The client can't use federal money to pay their lobbyists." There's also a prohibition on charging contingent fees for obtaining federal funds -- for us civilians, anything that sounds like a commission. (He's citing from the ABA's federal lobbying manual, federal law governing lawyers and lobbyists, 3rd edition.)

Update II: Via TPM, the AP reports that 2005 financial disclosure forms released today indicate that Lewis aide, Jeff Schockey, deputy staff director to the House appropriations committee, took $1.9 million in severance compensation from his old lobby firm last year -- while he was working at the Appropriations committee.

A lawyer source says that it is his understanding that the House ethics committee told Shockey that no one from his old firm can lobby Shockey directly. The agreement doesn't impose any restrictions on anyone from his old lobbying firm meeting with any people working under Shockey's supervision -- which this source says, obviously, is a pretty big loophole.

Whatever the House ethics committee determination, the lawyer says, the FBI may see it differently, if it sees it as part of a larger system of compensating Mr. Shockey (or his wife) in exchange for his help in obtaining earmarks.

Posted by Laura at June 9, 2006 03:47 PM