'Democracy' group chaired by McCain caters to lobbyists, executives David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Tuesday July 29, 2008





Print This Email This Among the more obscure items on Republican presidential candidate John McCain's resume is his chairmanship since 1993 of a "democracy-building" group called the International Republican Institute (IRI). That relationship has now taken on fresh significance, with both the New York Times and CNN raising questions about whether donations to the group by lobbyists and business executives have given then unacknowledged influence over McCain's policies. "To hear John McCain tell it, he's your guy in Washington, fighting against the unchecked influences of big businesses and their lobbyists," began CNN's Joe Johns. "But how does that McCain rhetoric square with this -- a fancy 2006 soiree of the little-known but well-respected International Republican Institute in Washington." "The video from the group's own website," Johns continued, "shows the chairman of AT&T, which has just donated $200,000 to the Institute, introducing none other than John McCain, who is still chairman of the Institute's board. McCain was fresh off a term as chairman of the Senate committee that regulates telephone companies -- like AT&T. AT&T says there were no strings attached to the donation, but that's not always the point." "Access is the name of the game," political analyst Larry Sabato told CNN. "It's getting in the door." The Times story reported at greater length on that same fundraising event, noting that "AT&T at the time was seeking political support for an $80 billion merger with BellSouth. ... When Mr. McCain finally took the podium, he expressed 'profound thanks' to AT&T before presenting the institutes Freedom Award to the president of Liberia, a lobbying client of Charlie Black, an institute donor and McCain campaign adviser." "Certainly the institutes mission is in keeping with Mr. McCains full-throated support for exporting American democratic values," the Times story continues. "Yet the institute is also something of a revolving door for lobbyists and out-of-power Republicans that offers big donors a way of helping both the party and the institutes chairman, who is the only sitting member of Congress  and now candidate for president  ever to head one of the democracy groups." "So which is it?" Johns asked. "Is he the scourge of the system in Washington that rewards lobbyists and their wealthy bosses? Or is he the guy who hobnobs with -- and therefore might somehow be influenced by -- the very interests he says he's trying to root out? Answer: Both. Smart politicians know that tough talk on lobbyists sounds good to the public, but the reality is players at this level can't live without them." Todd Harris, a Republican strategist who has worked for both McCain and IRI, denied there has been any overt quid pro quo, telling CNN, "There has never been a single time when someone gave money and said, 'This is what I want in exchange.'" However, although CNN called IRI is "a cause McCain believes in," they never mentioned that the group is "well-respected" in all circles nor unambiguously committed to democratic values. As RAW STORY reported two years ago, "the organization, nominally dedicated to nurturing free institutions in emerging democracies, has also been associated with unscrupulous and undemocratic campaign practices both at home and overseas." IRI has frequently been accused of inappropriate partisanship in the countries where it is nominally building democratic institutions, concentrating its support on extreme right-wing and pro-Bush parties rather than on improving the electoral process overall. It had close connections with the groups that attempted to oust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a 2002 coup and helped destabilize Haiti prior to the violent ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Its work on elections in Iraq and Afghanistan has been carried out through Republican PR and polling firms that have been associated with campaign dirty tricks in the US. The IRI also appears to have ties to questionable foreign policies. McCain's chief foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, who serves on the board of IRI, was closely linked with Ahmed Chalabi prior to the invasion of Iraq. The Times, which did touch lightly on the charges by IRI's critics, further noted that one of McCain's first acts as chairman in the 1990's was to replace IRI's former president with Bruce McColm. Although the Times calls McColm a "human rights expert," since leaving IRI he has done PR work for the dictatorial leader of Equatorial Guinea and has been an active member of the Iran Policy Committee, which advocates regime change through destabilization and supports the terrorist MEK. This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast July 29, 2008.

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