It’s bad enough that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has helped spearhead the congressional Republicans’ “K Street Project.” But if Santorum thinks he can play dumb about it now, and expects anyone to believe him, he’s in worse shape than his supporters feared.
Yesterday, Santorum claimed the K Street Project “has not been about putting pressure on people to hire individuals. We never did that. We don’t do that and we wouldn’t do that.” Santorum also claimed to have no memory of Jack Abramoff. And for good measure, despite having led the Senate project for years, Santorum added that he’s just taken part in some harmless gatherings once or twice a month for years.
QUESTION: Senator Santorum, you have been the Senate’s liaison for the so-called K Street projects. It’s been reported you hosted monthly meetings with lobbyists, the top lobbyists in town. What makes you the correct person to lead this charge to reform?
SANTORUM: Well, I don’t know what you mean by Senate liaison to the, quote, “K Street Project.” I’m not aware of any Senate liaison job that I do for the K Street Project. What I’ve done is I do host meetings, you know, once or twice a month with members who represent a variety of different groups in Washington, D.C.
Sounds harmless, right? Like Santorum is pure as the driven snow? Hardly.
First, in response to the notion that Santorum never had any interest in pressuring K Street employment practices, the senator admitted just a couple of months ago that, “the K Street project is purely to make sure we have qualified applicants for positions that are in town.”
Second, with regards to Santorum and Abramoff, Amanda Terkel explained that when Santorum launched the K Street Project in 2001, “the first meeting was held with an ultra-exclusive group of D.C.’s ten most influential lobbyists. Santorum can play forgetful now, but back then, he chose Abramoff as one of the ten.”
And third, Santorum’s K Street Project is anything but routine meetings with “members who represent a variety of different groups in Washington, D.C.”
When presidents pick someone to fill a job in the government, it’s typically a very public affair. The White House circulates press releases and background materials. Congress holds a hearing, where some members will pepper the nominee with questions and others will shower him or her with praise. If the person in question is controversial or up for an important position, they’ll rate a profile or two in the papers. But there’s one confirmation hearing you won’t hear much about. It’s convened every Tuesday morning by Rick Santorum, the junior senator from Pennsylvania, in the privacy of a Capitol Hill conference room, for a handpicked group of two dozen or so Republican lobbyists. Occasionally, one or two other senators or a representative from the White House will attend. Democrats are not invited, and neither is the press.
The chief purpose of these gatherings is to discuss jobs — specifically, the top one or two positions at the biggest and most important industry trade associations and corporate offices centered around Washington’s K Street, a canyon of nondescript office buildings a few blocks north of the White House that is to influence-peddling what Wall Street is to finance. In the past, those people were about as likely to be Democrats as Republicans, a practice that ensured K Street firms would have clout no matter which party was in power. But beginning with the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, and accelerating in 2001, when George W. Bush became president, the GOP has made a determined effort to undermine the bipartisan complexion of K Street. And Santorum’s Tuesday meetings are a crucial part of that effort.
Every week, the lobbyists present pass around a list of the jobs available and discuss whom to support. Santorum’s responsibility is to make sure each one is filled by a loyal Republican — a senator’s chief of staff, for instance, or a top White House aide, or another lobbyist whose reliability has been demonstrated. After Santorum settles on a candidate, the lobbyists present make sure it is known whom the Republican leadership favors. “The underlying theme was [to] place Republicans in key positions on K Street. Everybody taking part was a Republican and understood that that was the purpose of what we were doing,” says Rod Chandler, a retired congressman and lobbyist who has participated in the Santorum meetings. “It’s been a very successful effort.”
In light of the scandals on the Hill, Santorum’s uphill re-election fight, and the notoriety the K Street Project has received of late, I can understand why Santorum would try and pretend he’s engaged in nothing but ethical, above-board behavior. That won’t, however, make it true.