19 February 2019

Round-and-Round We Go! Lobbyist Jon Kyl Don't Disclose

Here in Mesa we are blessed to have not one but two "Revolving-Door Lobbyists" - one former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and one former U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon. Both have become highly-paid Influence-Peddlers capitalizing on their in/out times holding elected office and the public trust for their own wealth creation. Just one thing both share are salaries by ASU hiring them as lobbyists - those out-of-office jobs have earned high returns in campaigns to get Mesa taxpayers to foot the bill for a new ASU start-up satellite campus here in downtown when there's already $3B to finance new construction for Arizona's three state institution's of higher education. Here's more about Jon Kyl:  
Revolving Door on Steroids: Lobbyist Jon Kyl, Who Served Four Months in the Senate, Won’t Disclose Some Clients
January 8 2019, 8:49 a.m.
"Republican Jon Kyl, whose second Senate tenure concluded on December 31, is keeping secret nine clients he advised while working at a powerful corporate lobbying and law firm in 2017 and 2018. Kyl was supposed to reveal the clients in his mandatory Senate financial disclosure, but he cited a D.C. bar rule to keep them confidential. . . 
Critics have charged that Kyl returned to the Senate temporarily to refresh his contacts and gain clout from the inside, only to then spin back out to influence the institution.
On Monday, Covington & Burling announced that Kyl would return to his lobbying job, swinging through the revolving door only one week after leaving the Senate.
“Given his profile and depth of experience in Washington, we expect he can make important contributions in a range of matters, particularly for clients in the technology, life sciences, and defense sectors who may face numerous policy challenges in Congress and the executive branch,” said Timothy Hester, Covington’s chair, in a statement.
Kyl cannot lobby former colleagues directly for two years due to Senate ethics rules, but he can provide behind-the-scenes advice for corporate clients.
Kyl’s annual disclosure was due September 28, a few weeks after he was sworn in. But he got a 90-day extension, and he waited until the last possible day, January 3, to file the form.

. . . It’s unclear whether anyone in government will now demand that Kyl release the names of the clients. However, some experts believe the public has a right to know, a belief made even more urgent with Kyl’s speedy return to lobbying.
“Without knowing who has paid his way until he joined government service, we can’t ascertain what his conflicts might have been while in office,” said Delaney Marsco of the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington-based watchdog group. “Even though he’s no longer a senator, it’s important for the public to have this information.”
> The disclosure form Kyl filed last week indicates that he earned $1,859,852.82 at Covington & Burling in 2017 and 2018, and it names 23 lobbying clients from whom he earned $5,000 or more in those years
> Kyl also noted that he advised Facebook during the reporting period, which was already public information (he was brought in to examine claims of conservative bias on the social media site).
> He added five other clients who he hadn’t previously named in earlier disclosures:
  • Arizona Public Service/Pinnacle West Capital Corporation
  • Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company,
  • MGM Resorts International,
  • Republic Services Inc.
  • Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement
  • Power District/Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association.
 
> The clients we already know Kyl to have served just before entering the Senate cover a wide range of subjects

The question is how that information can now be released. The Senate Select Committee on Ethics administers the chamber’s financial disclosures. 
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READ MORE from the source > https://theintercept.com/2019