Ginni Thomas' Lobbying Work

UPDATED: People who raise eyebrows over Ginni Thomas' lobbying work might want to refresh their memories of the career of Linda Hall, aka Mrs. Tom Daschle.

People who raise eyebrows over Ginni Thomas' lobbying work might want to refresh their memories of the career of Linda Hall, aka Mrs. Tom Daschle.

In 2002, the Washington Monthly offered a short survey of the lobbying work of the wife of the then Senate Majority Leader.

The landmines in Linda Daschle's professional portfolio will make Hillary Clinton's pork futures and law-firm billings look like mousetraps. For instance, among Linda Daschle's clients is American Airlines, which has had six fatal crashes since 1994 (not even including the World Trade Center flights). The airline has incurred thousands of dollars in federal fines for a host of safety violations, and its employees have been caught in embarrassing drug smuggling stings. Even as its planes have crashed, American has lobbied for years to water down safety and security regulations that might have helped foil the World Trade Center attacks. Yet thanks in part to lobbying efforts by Daschle---and support from her husband---American Airlines got a free pass in the recent airline bailout bill, escaping most legal liability for the hijackings and getting $583 million in cash grants---taxpayer money it will never have to repay.

Mrs. Daschle insists that she has consulted with congressional ethics staff and is in violation of no rules by lobbying on behalf of American and other clients. She voluntarily recuses herself from any business with the Senate, which she strictly does not lobby.

And I'm sure that was all absolutely on the level, and that Linda Hall did everything in her power to banish from all minds any recollection of her husband's role and power. Why isn't it assumed that Ginni Thomas is capable of at least equal integrity?

UPDATE: A number of commenters have objected that as a Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas is much more important than was a mere Senate Majority leader. From the cosmic point of view, that could be right. But from the point of view of a lobbyist - and Linda Hall was a bigger, richer, more successful lobbyist than Ginni Thomas could or will ever aspire to be - a Senate Majority leader can deliver many, many more of the things your clients want, and much more often. A Supreme Court justice remember cannot initiate any action. He or she only decides the cases brought before them, and it's up to litigants to determine what those will be.

I wasn't making an "everybody does it" defense. I agree with commentators who have little patience for those.

I was making this point: If you are concerned about spousal lobbying, Ginni Thomas' activities are an absurd place to start. Linda Hall is the case that raises the question in its most intense form. Yet by and large, that case got a bye.

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