McNerney calls for lobbyist ouster following MajorityAP.com report

SEE YOU LATER - U.S. Representative Jerry McNerney, second from left, circled, with DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen and members of the Democrat Freshmen class at a reception for the Democratic Freshmen PAC, the fundraising arm of McNerney's class. He has called for the removal of a controversial lobbyist as custodian of that PAC following a MajorityAP.com report.

U.S. Representative Jerry McNerney, D-CA, this week called for the ouster of the head of the freshmen class’ fundraising arm, the Democratic Freshmen PAC, after majorityap.com broke the news that the group is being led by uber-lobbyist William Oldaker.

In only its second day on-line, majorityap.com reported exclusively that Oldaker, a longtime appropriations lobbyist, was quietly named custodian of the PAC, whose mission is “the reelection of freshmen Democratic Representatives in 2008.”

Oldaker was the subject of a scathing 2005 report compiled by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), which questioned whether he used his fundraising prowess to influence members of Congress. Four U.S. Senators – Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Byron Dorgan and Blanche Lincoln – removed Oldaker as treasurer of their respective political committees following the CPI study.

“While Mr. Oldaker’s involvement with the Democratic Freshmen PAC may technically be legal,” McNerney wrote in calling for his removal, “it surely does not meet the standard of rising above any hint of impropriety.”

McNerney also demanded his “photograph…which currently appears on the Democratic Freshmen PAC’s web site be replaced immediately. The photograph is (his) official House photograph and was paid for at taxpayer expense.”

In another MajorityAP.com exclusive, it was reported earlier this week that McNerney and many other House freshmen had “their official House of Representatives portrait, funded by U.S. taxpayers, on the PAC’s fundraising website.” The official photographs of 22 Democrat freshmen, including McNerney, were replaced within hours of the MajorityAP.com report.

“McNerney appears to have had little or nothing to do with the organization of the PAC,” wrote Lisa Vorderbrueggen, political editor of the Contra Costa Times, in reporting McNerney’s call for Oldaker’s ouster, “although ignorance is rarely considered a viable defense in politics.”

In a strange twist, McNerney made his appeal for Oldaker’s removal to another Washington, DC, lobbyist, James Smith, who serves as the PACs treasurer. While McNerney wrote to Smith, a host of Democrat lawmakers, including Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel, hold official positions with the PAC.

McNerney’s letter references a May 31 story about Oldaker and the PAC in the Washington Times, even though the Times noted in a May 2 report that “in just over a week, the Majority Accountability Project has already published several original stories, including a report on freshman House Democrats who named lobbyist William Oldaker head of their political action committee. Mr. Oldaker was singled out in a 2005 study by the Center for Public Integrity, which questioned whether he was using his fundraising ties to influence members of Congress.”

Other House freshmen, most notably Connecticut’s Chris Murphy and New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand have attempted to distance themselves from the PAC following the controversies; but only McNerney has called for Oldaker’s removal.