DEMOCRAT DIRTY LAUNDRY: Top Pelosi Ally George Miller Amasses History of Helping Lobbyist Son’s Clients
Independent Watchdog Group Calls for Ethics Investigation on the California Democrat, Says These Developments Seem “Inappropriate” and “Quite Serious”
SPIN CYCLE: Then-Speaker Pelosi Promised That Democrats Would “Demand the Highest Ethics From Every Public Servant”:
“Our goal is to restore accountability, honesty and openness at all levels of government. To do so, we will create and enforce rules that demand the highest ethics from every public servant, sever unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, and establish clear standards that prevent the trading of official business for gifts.” (Nancy Pelosi’s “A New Direction for America,” Page 21)
RINSE CYCLE: Citizens For Responsibility And Ethics In Washington (CREW) Is Recommending A Congressional Ethics Investigation After Three Instances Of Top Pelosi Ally George Miller (D-CA) Helping His Lobbyist Son’s Clients Were Revealed:
In 2004, Rep. George Miller, D-CA, and his lobbyist son George Miller IV raced to stop a pending county effort to close down the small Buchanan airport in Concord, California.
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The congressman demanded a “prompt” answer from the FAA. Three months later, federal officials vowed to keep Buchan open. It is open today.
Federal lobbying disclosure reports show that in January 2004 George Miller IV represented a powerful Concord developer, Albert Seeno, Jr. who maintained a 10-seat Citation II corporate jet at the Buchanan field. When it was new, the jet retailed for $3.9 million.
Seeno owned 1 million square feet of office space in three large buildings adjacent to the airfield. Closing the airport could cost Seeno tenants, so he wanted the air field to remain open. Federal reports show Seeno paid Miller IV at least $60,000 in lobbying fees to keep it open.
The Buchanan airport saga was at least the third case in which Miller is now known to have intervened in a manner that benefitted one of his son’s lobbying clients. In total, Miller IV personally received $320,000 to represent Albert Seeno in Washington, D.C.
A spokesman for the congressman did not return a reporter’s telephone call seeking comment. A call to George Miller IV’s firm was also not returned.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of the non-partisan watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said the father-son relationship seems inappropriate.
“If he took action on behalf of one of his son’s clients, that would be inappropriate,” Sloan told The Washington Examiner.
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The second case was in 2005 when Miller intervened on the side of the Seeno family on a ballot measure to alter the boundary of Pittsburg, California, which allowed the developer to build a sprawling 1,400 residential subdivision. Miller endorsed the proposal three days before it passed by a narrow margin, over the opposition of California environmentalists.
In 2007, after he sided with the Seeno family, Albert and Sandra Seeno contributed $4,870 to Miller’s re-election campaign. Seeno family members have contributed more than $500,000 to Democrat and Republican congressional candidates and campaign committees, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The third instance of favoritism was Miller’s 2010 support for a $1.2 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee to SunPower. Miller publicly endorsed the loan guarantee and escorted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar around the SunPower facility with SunPower CEO Tom Werner that year.
And from 2009 to 2011, SunPower hired Miller IV’s lobbying firm, Lang, Hansen, O’Malley, paying it $176,000 in lobbying representation fees.
All told, the congressman’s son has earned nearly a half a million dollars representing clients who benefited from his father’s official actions.
Congressional rules are lax about conflicts of interest when family members lobby. The U.S. House Committee on Ethics imposes some restrictions on spouses who lobby. But it does not set limitations concerning other family members such as a son.
The Ethics Committee ethics manual, however, does warn members about lobbying by family members: “Special caution must be exercised when the spouse of a Member or staff person, or any other immediate family member, is a lobbyist.”
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Sloan agreed there are problems when family members lobby. “CREW has been very critical of family members lobbying Congress. We are always concerned about family members who receive a lot of money for those who have interests before their parents.”
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CREW’s Sloan said many relatives trade their family relationships for big lobbyist dollars. In 2011, George Miller IV reported his California lobbying income topped $6.1 million.
“Children and spouses often tell potential clients they have a familial relationship with a Member of Congress,” Sloan told the Examiner.
“I always think it’s a problem when family members are trading on their connections with members of Congress,” she said. (Richard Pollock, “Miller helped three of lobbyist son’s clients,” The Washington Examiner, 4/10/12)
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