Dem Super PAC’s Top Aides Evade Lobbyist Hiring Ban

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Free Beacon:

A leading Democratic super PAC says it will no longer employ lobbyists in the wake of a scandal involving contributions to the group, but one of the executives who announced the move directs a politically connected nonprofit whose corporate supporters have landed billions in federal subsidies.

 

Senate Majority PAC fired a staffer in April after an indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) alleged that the unnamed individual earmarked $300,000 in contributions from Salomon Melgen, a Democratic mega-donor, to be spent on Menendez’s behalf in exchange for gifts.

 

“We take our separation from official government action very seriously and do not advocate legislation before the Senate,” a Senate Majority PAC spokesperson said after the indictment was announced.

 

The group’s lobbyist prohibition, announced in an executive board memo reported by CQ Roll Call last week, is an effort to address the scandal. However, one of the memo’s authors works for a lobbying firm and another serves on the board of a corporate-backed nonprofit that engages in policy advocacy.