Lobbyists

In 2005, California real estate mogul Terry Fancher wanted to entice public pension systems to place hundreds of millions of dollars in investment funds he managed. Bypassing seasoned Wall Street advisors such as Morgan Stanley or Credit Suisse First Boston, he turned to Darius Anderson, a young and ambitious Sacramento lobbyist known in the Capitol for his political connections and fundraising prowess.

The leading candidate to head the Justice Department office that oversees legal policy and judicial nominations recently has been a lobbyist for several business clients, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and would require a waiver from the Obama administration's recently imposed ethics rules.

A onetime top aide to former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to defraud the House as part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. John Albaugh, 41, admitted accepting perks from lobbyists in exchange for official favors. More than a dozen former officials and lobbyists have pleaded guilty in the scandal, as has Abramoff himself.

Artie Samish never ran for public office, but for decades he was one of the most powerful -- and colorful -- players in California politics. Before California had a full-time Legislature and when special interests could quietly give unlimited amounts of money to elect favored candidates, he was a consummate string-puller, a hired gun working for the highest pay.

Even though he has come under investigation for his ties to a lobbyist whose clients have benefited from millions of dollars in congressional earmarks, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) was among the top lawmakers securing money for special projects in this year's spending bills, a watchdog group's analysis has found. Lewis, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, secured $137 million in earmarks on his own or working with other lawmakers.

Aides to Sen. John McCain confronted a telecommunications lobbyist in late 1999 and asked her to distance herself from the Arizona senator during the presidential campaign he was about to launch, according to one of McCain's longest-serving political strategists. John Weaver, who was McCain's closest confidant until leaving his presidential campaign last year, told the Washington Post that he met with Vicki Iseman at a cafe in Union Station in Washington and urged her to stay away from McCain.

Sen. John McCain strongly denied allegations Thursday that he was warned during his first White House campaign, in 2000, to avoid meetings with a female telecommunications lobbyist who allegedly claimed to have special access to the senator and his aides. McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, denied any improper relationship with the woman, Vicki Iseman, whom he called a friend.

Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson on Friday contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist Vicki Iseman before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf. Paxson said he talked with McCain (R-Ariz.) in his Washington office several weeks before McCain wrote the 1999 letters urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

The Justice Department's corruption probe into the far-flung dealings of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has ensnared one of its own. Robert E. Coughlin II was charged in federal court Monday with violating federal conflict-of-interest laws by aiding a lobbyist and an unnamed lobbying firm -- believed to be Abramoff's -- while serving in the department's office of legislative affairs between 2001 and 2003. According to the document filed in U.S.

A top fundraiser and advisor in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has resigned, becoming the latest of five aides to leave in recent days as McCain moves to sever ties with lobbyists. Thomas G. Loeffler, a lobbyist whose clients have included Saudi Arabia, stepped down as national finance committee chairman, the senator's campaign said Sunday.