Did Axelrod's PhRMA Work Violate White House Lobby Ban?
Today's Politico reports that a coalition of groups supporting President Obama's health reforms have hired the former firm of Obama adviser David Axelrod.
On his first day in office, Obama unveiled a strict ethics policy barring officials from working on issues “directly and substantially related” to their former clients or employers for two years.
The White House vigorously denied that Axelrod violated the spirit of that policy. And, in fact, Axelrod's buyout agreements were cleared by the independent Office of Government Ethics, which is headed by a director appointed in 2006 to a five-year term by former President George W. Bush.
“David Axelrod has fully complied with the toughest ever ethics rules for administration officials, including divesting from AKPD before the administration began,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. “The notion that Mr. Axelrod should decline to participate in all health care policy work because his former firm—from which he has divested himself—has retained a single client which he has had no contact with is absurd.”
Nonetheless, the selection of Axelrod’s former firm to push the president’s top initiative raises appearance questions, particularly since Axelrod’s son Michael still works there, said Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for stricter government disclosure and ethics rules.
“The big issue seems to me whether there is a quid pro quo with PhRMA,” said Allison, adding “there’s no evidence that Axelrod steered the business to the firm. But the fact that special interests like PhRMA and the American Medical Association working hand in glove with the White House picked a firm that is so close to the White House shows how incestuous Washington can be.”
Two questions:
1. Has Axelrod received clearance from the White House Counsel's office to work on healthcare -- despite the fact that he is still owed his buyout by his old firm and despite the fact that his old firm is retaining pharmaceutical clients?
2. Is the administration slacking on vetting? Tim Geithner failed to pay taxes and went to Treasury. Axelrod gets PhRMA bucks and gets to be a face of healthcare reform.