Day By Day by Chris Muir January 27, 2009 – The One Is Too Many

Barack Obama does not like anyone questioning him. Remember the other day when he was upset with Jonathan Martin of the Politico when he asked the President about William J. Lynn III who Obama nominated as a Deputy Defense Secretary. It seems Lynn had lobbied the Defense Department for Raytheon, a defense contractor in violation of Obama’s strict lobbying rules.

There was never an answer. Martin received a hand on the shoulder and a cold shoulder from the President.

Now, it has come out that former Democrat Senator George Mitchell, appointed as a Middle East Envoy also has lobbying activities that are suspect.

George Mitchell, President Barack Obama’s special Middle East troubleshooter, was chairman of a law firm that was paid about $8 million representing Dubai’s ruler in connection with a child-trafficking lawsuit.

The DLA Piper law firm did legal and lobbying work on the case, which alleged that Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al- Maktoum and another official used children kidnapped from other countries to ride as jockeys in camel races. The firm lobbied federal agencies, members of the U.S. House and about two dozen Senate offices, including those of Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2006 and 2007, according to Justice Department foreign-agent disclosures.

Mitchell, 75, who isn’t a registered lobbyist, didn’t lobby either on this issue or for Dubai generally. DLA Piper partner Bill Minor said in an e-mail that Mitchell, a former Democratic senator from Maine, mainly focused on growth and management at the firm of almost 4,000 attorneys and 65 offices worldwide, and high-profile projects such as an investigation of steroid use in Major League Baseball.

Mitchell’s firm had extensive lobbying clients and offices in the Middle East ranging from the leader of Dubai to a Kuwait construction firm contracting in Iraq. The firm also has offices in Egypt, Oman, Qatar and Abu Dhabi and has an affiliation with a law firm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mitchell traveled to Dubai and spoke to the press there about the issue.

Will anyone DARE question “The One” on this apparent breach of his strict lobbying rules? Or is George Mitchell another exception to the rule?

PLUS CA CHANGE