Pharmaceutical lobbyist to head House Leaders’ office

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, left, has named a controversial drug-company lobbyist to run his Leadership office.

As part of their pledge to make the 110^th Congress “the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history,” House Democrats have turned to a former pharmaceutical lobbyist once investigated by the federal government to run the office of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that Hoyer named Terry Lierman, currently Chair of the Maryland Democrat party, to serve as the office’s Chief of Staff. The Majority Leader is the second in command of the U.S. House of Representatives, responsible for the “scheduling of legislation for Floor consideration and the planning of daily, weekly and annual legislative agendas.”

In 1999, Lierman, then a lobbyist with Capitol Associates Inc., made a $25,000 low-interest loan to U.S. Representative James Moran, D-VA8., who he described as “a dear, close friend.”

“Five days later,” the Washington Post reported, “Moran signed on as one of more than 70 co-sponsors to a bill sought by a Lierman client, drugmaker Schering-Plough, which sought to extend the patent on its allergy product Claritin. Consumer groups were lobbying against the bill, saying it would be costly for consumers and would delay access to cheaper, generic drugs.”

The Post further reported, “Moran also sent a letter to moderate Democrats seeking their support for the bill.”

Following news of the loan, two government watchdogs, Ralph Nader’s Congressional Accountability Project and the National Legal and Policy Center, filed complaints with the Justice Department and the Federal Elections Commission to investigate Lierman’s loan.

"They both should investigate," the Congressional Accountability Project’s Gary Ruskin told the Post in 2000. "I think Congressman Moran has shown he has no integrity. Basically he put a 'for sale' sign on his forehead."

Added Charles Lewis, then executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, “Moran has the appearance of being a yo-yo on a string, especially because the loan can be called in at any time by this lobbyist.”

After launching a “preliminary investigation” into the loan, the Justice Department closed the case, leading critics to claim the Department was being politically-manipulated by the Clinton White House.

“The public integrity section protects the rich, the powerful and the politically connected,” Larry Klayman, chairman of Judicial Watch, charged in June, 2001, accusing the Department of protecting Democrats during the Clinton Administration. “They've whitewashed everything for the last eight years.”