Advice from CREW: "you can either work for a presidential campaign or be a lobbyist, but not both."

crew — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:37:32 -0500

USA Today reports that Randy Scheunemann continued his job as a lobbyist while advising the McCain for President campaign. CREW's Melanie Sloan was asked to untangle the ethical conflicts and offered some sage advice:

Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal-leaning watchdog group, said Scheunemann still has a conflict of interest because his small firm continues to represent foreign clients. The records that show Scheunemann ceased representing foreign countries as of March 1 also show his partner, Michael Mitchell, remains registered to represent the three nations. Mitchell said Tuesday that Scheunemann no longer has any role with Orion Strategies but declined to say whether Scheunemann still is receiving income or profits from the firm.

"I can see why the firm wouldn't want to give up the income," Sloan said. "But you can either work for a presidential campaign or be a lobbyist, but not both."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Randy Scheuneman

Advice from CREW: "you can either work for a presidential campaign or be a lobbyist, but not both."