This morning, on the front page of the Washington Post was the following article
Wife, Friend Tie Congressman to Consulting Firm it goes into detail about how Tom Davis is corrupt, while sitting as chair of the Government Reform Committee.
The article itself is about 2.5 full pages long. So I will try and recap it here, along with the E-mail that I received from the Hurst Campaign.
Sorry about the cut-and-paste diary, but I am really under the weather here and needed to get this out, and Andy Hurst's press release really sums it up nice and includes his response.
Background: Tom Davis is Chairman of the Government Reform Committee of Congress and has been caught lying about his money before, and today the Washington Post Exposed him being involved in a scam selling influence and access to certain firms represented by his friends firm for $1.1 million dollars in donations to him and his wife's campaigns.
Andy Hurst, Tom Davis's opponent in 2006, is running a campaign based on ethics reform in Washington (to note here, Andy won the DC Bar Association Lawyer of the year for community service)
For better analysis of the article and the ramifications of this scandal, head on over to
Raising Kaineor to
TPM Muckraker
Here are some snippets of Andy's response
Springfield, VA -- Democrat Andrew Hurst, candidate for the 11th congressional district of Virginia, criticized Congressman Tom Davis (R-11) for selling unique access in return for campaign contributions and a job for his wife. The Washington Post reported today ("Wife, Friend Tie Congressman to Consulting Firm," 7/28/06) that Davis and his wife, State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-VA), are involved in an influence-peddling scheme where access and assistance procuring federal contracts are traded in return for contributions to their respective campaigns and a lucrative part-time consulting position.
"I want to be careful not to comment too closely on what is likely to trigger a criminal investigation into Congressman Davis' activities," said Hurst. "But this is exactly the type of thing that got me involved in this race. Congress is corrupt and we need real reform to change it."
According to the Washington Post, Donald W. Upson, founder of ICG Government, a consulting company for technology firms seeking government contracts, has used his relationship with Davis to give his clients unique access to the lawmaker, his staff, and the resources of the Government Reform Committee. ICG has arranged for clients to meet privately with the Congressman, set up dinners and receptions, and arranged for clients to testify before Davis's committee. In the past five years, technology and telecommunications companies, like those ICG serves, have contributed $1.1 million to the campaigns of Davis and his wife.
Davis' wife, State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, is employed by ICG as a "consultant" at a rate of $6,500 per month, despite the fact that she does only "10 to 20 hours a week" of work from her cell phone. Despite Davis' claims that his wife "doesn't touch the federal sector," it was revealed that three of her four assignments involve reaching out to federal officials."
"Its absolutely outrageous for Congressman Davis' wife to be employed by ICG when their clients have business before him and his Committee," said James Walkinshaw, Hurst's campaign manager. "This is a direct conflict of interest and needs to be investigated fully. Davis has a personal financial interest in ICG's success and it appears he's doing everything he can to ensure that success."
It was also revealed today that ICG client Artel Inc., its lobbyist and ICG crafted a letter to the Pentagon intended to avoid the loss of a defense contract. That letter was copied nearly word for word, and sent out on Congressman Davis's official stationery with his signature. When asked about the practice of allowing lobbyists to ghostwrite official government correspondence, Davis responded, "So what?"
"This is obviously just the tip of the iceberg here," said Walkinshaw. "We'll be calling for a full and complete investigation into Congressman Davis' activities. The people of the 11th district deserve to know the whole truth about the fact that their Congressman uses his position to help his special interest buddies and land cushy jobs for his wife."
"Our campaign has been focused on reform from the start," said Hurst. "That's why we have concrete proposals to create an Inspector General for Congress, institute public financing of campaigns and tighten ethics regulations."
So what are you going to do to help out Andy Hurst root out corruption at the very center of our government?
Here are three options
1. Hit the Recommend button over on the right side, to let the world know that you will not stand for this.
2. VOLUNTEER Andy has been out knocking on doors since August 2005 with his volunteers, if you live in Northern Virginia, DC or Maryland, consider joining his team.
3. CONTRIBUTEwe just saw how Tom Davis is getting all his dirty money. Andy is refusing to take PAC money for this very reason, please consider helping him out.
Update [2006-7-28 18:51:0 by Pitin]:The proof is in that Davis and his wife are breaking the law!!
Everyone who read the WaPo article about Davis remembers this line the House Ethics Committee told Davis
...they told Davis that the rules could be violated if his wife invoked his name or position when "soliciting clients or conducting other activities on behalf of the firm, whether or not the client was previously known to you or your wife"
Here is the proof that they were breaking the law,
if you go to
Devolites-Davis official ICG bio, the very last line indicates quite clearly that is invoking her husbands name!
She is a partner with ICG Government, a
technology consulting group. A resident of Fairfax County for 25 years, Jeannemarie and her husband, Congressman Tom Davis, reside in Vienna.
Bolding is mine.
