The Washington Post is leading with a lengthy tale of Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and his relationship with a consulting firm.
It is a complex tale of friends, Davis' wife, and a startup consulting firm.
Coming from WaPo (not online yet:
WASHINGTON--Two months before Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., became chairman of the powerful House Government Reform Committee in January 2003, one of his close friends formed ICG Government, a consulting company for technology firms seeking government contracts.
Donald W. Upson had risen with Davis through the burgeoning Northern Virginia technology community, where they worked side by side as executives at a company that sold computer systems to the government.
This story is too convoluted to get into here at length, but a couple more snips.
WaPo is running this as their lead story, across the top of Page One.
Davis went on to Congress, where he became a leading voice on government contracting and an advocate for his technology industry constituents in Fairfax and Prince William counties. Upson became the top technology official for the Virginia state government before re-entering the private sector and starting ICG.
From the beginning, Upson worked with Davis and his staff as he built his consulting business, which holds seminars on procurement and advises clients on winning government technology contracts worth billions of dollars. Those contracts often came under the oversight of Davis' committee. One of Upson's first hires was Jeannemarie Devolites, a Virginia politician who later married the congressman.
ICG has a record of satisfied clients, who say the firm has provided them with access to the congressman and his staff.
I can only imagine ... and here is how it worked:
ICG's relationship with Davis has played out on a number of levels. The firm has arranged for clients to meet with Davis in his congressional office. Upson has set up dinners and receptions with the lawmaker for his clients. And ICG has arranged for clients to testify before Davis' committee. In one case, Upson's team wrote the testimony. Some of those clients, who pay ICG about $8,000 per month, have told The Washington Post that their testimony was a part of marketing strategies developed by ICG to bolster the clients' ``clout'' and ``visibility'' on Capitol Hill and with government contracting officials.
The House Ethics Committee, in an opinion issued this week, told Davis that his wife can work for the consulting firm as long as the couple does not personally benefit from any official acts by the congressman. The committee told them to take care to "avoid a claim that you are allowing your official title to be used for private gain."
Did Mr. Davis get the message?
On one occasion, Upson helped a client write a threatening letter to the Pentagon that was then sent out on Davis' official letterhead with his signature.
Want access? Pay to play.
Davis' wife, a part-time ICG consultant, has contacted senior government technology officials on behalf of clients, including an undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Upson paid her $78,000 last year for working ``10 to 20 hours a week,'' primarily at home on her cellphone, she said. She makes $18,000 a year as a Virginia legislator.