A National Journal reporter found that Coleman pays just $600 a month to live in the Capitol Hill townhouse that belongs to his longtime friend and Republican political operative Jeff Larson. And he's missed a couple months rent, too.

Apparently the scenario didn't pass the smell test with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who have filed just an ethics complaint.

Just who is this political operative? Well, his company "is a go-to shop for the Republicans nationwide for fund raising and providing 'robo-calls.'"

In fact, the firm was targeted by the attorney general in Indiana for violating that state's automated call laws. The firm is also linked to The DCI Group, a lobbying firm that came under scrutiny for its work in Myanmar and its ties to the John McCain campaign. They're known for "Astroturf" organizing as well as robo-calls.

"With advisors like this, it's no wonder John McCain doesn't understand the economy," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "His campaign co-chair helped fuel rampant oil market speculation; his Victory 2008 chair defends the outsourcing of American jobs and overseas tax shelters; and his key economic advisor has squandered his credibility defending McCain's fuzzy math. Unless shipping jobs overseas, staggering deficits and reckless handouts for special interests are your idea of sound economic policy, John McCain's incompetent circle of advisors is one more reason he is the wrong choice for America's future."

To see the DNC's new ""McCain's Economic Advisors: With Advisors Like These..." website, click here: http://www.democrats.org/EconAdvisors.

Finally, Fiorina claimed Senator McCain would also expand renewable energy technologies, saying "we must very much motivate investment in those new technologies." Fiorina failed to explain why Senator McCain has repeatedly voted against incentives aimed at promoting renewable energy during his 25 years in Washington.

"Carly Fiorina's misleading rhetoric can't hide the truth that John McCain's idea of a 'new' energy plan is recycling the failed and flawed Bush policies that cost American jobs, drive up energy prices, and do nothing to make America less dependent on foreign oil," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Once again, on a critical issue facing America, Senator McCain has changed his position to advance his political agenda rather than offer the new ideas America needs."

FIORINA VS. THE FACTS

FIORINA TODAY: Senator McCain is "approaching the subject of off-shore drilling in a sensible way." [CBS Face the Nation, 6/22/08]

MCCAIN SURROGATE YESTERDAY: Cites Cuba's Beachfront Oil Rigs As Example of How Other Countries Do To Meet their Energy Needs. "MAYOR GRECO: I want to tell you all something. Five years ago I went to Cuba and visited Fidel Castro, something I always wanted to do, some people thought it was the wrong thing to do. Guess what I saw when I was there? We drove from Havana to Varadero Beach and not out in the water not fifty, sixty, seventy or eighty miles like we're talking about here, but on the beach itself oil wells along the beachfront. And guess what he said, Castro, before we mentioned it? He said, I know you saw those oil wells which looks pretty damn bad on a beachfront piece of property. He said I had to do that because we need the fuel. Now, that's not what we're talking about doing, and that's a pity, but other countries do whatever they want. We must think about all kinds of alternatives to solve our problems. This is not a done deal, its just one of the things that they're exploring." [McCain Campain Conference call, 6/21/08: http://blip.tv/file/1011633 or http://youtube.com/watch?v=SR7BjXunjZE]

FLASHBACK: MARCH 1998 ---- OIL SPILL ON CUBA'S NORTHERN COAST. "The Cuban government says two foreign-registered oil tankers have collided, causing an oil spill which has polluted parts of the island's northern coastline. The accident happened at Matanzas Bay, where thick black slurry has washed up on the shore. Workers have been using bulldozers to clear the spillage away. The area is only about thirty kilometres from the beach resort of Varadero, which is visited by thousands of foreign tourists every year." [BBC, 3/28/98: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/70779.stm]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION ADMITS THE IMPACT OF MCCAIN'S PLAN ON OIL PRICES WOULD BE INSIGNIFICANT. "As many reports have noted, the McCain/Bush policy on offshore drilling doesn't make sense as a response to $4-a-gallon gas: the White House's own Energy Information Administration says that exploiting the outer shelf wouldn't yield noticeable amounts of oil until the 2020s, and even at peak production its impact on oil prices would be 'insignificant.'" [Paul Krugman column, New York Times, 6/20/08]

BUSH AND MCCAIN IN LOCKSTEP. "Republican John McCain is trying to appeal to independent voters by saying he's no President Bush…And yet, the president and McCain are marching in lockstep on how to deal with $4 a gallon gas. They're demanding Democrats end the federal ban on off-shore drilling, claiming it could lead to a drop in oil prices, given the expectation of increased supply." [CNN, 6/19/08]

FORMER MCCAIN ADVISOR SAYS PLAN WON'T MAKE OIL CHEAP. "Bush says he'll drop the executive order if Congress first lifts its 26-year-old ban. But even if lawmakers acted tomorrow, it would be years before the infrastructure could be put in place to support additional drilling…What sounds so simple in theory--opening offshore areas to increase oil production for the energy-price-shocked U.S. populace--turns out to be incredibly complex. And to top it all off, the plan can't resolve the supply and demand problem that is at the core of the run-up in fuel prices. Anthony Cordesman, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former national security assistant to McCain, says trying to solve the problem by focusing on supply or demand won't help the U.S. achieve energy independence. And it won't make oil cheap. 'It may just make it less expensive,' he says." [Forbes, 6/18/08]

FactCheck.org: McCain Gas Tax Holiday Will Not Drive Prices Down; Would "Give Federal Funds To Oil Refineries." "But economists say that the proposal is unlikely to actually lower the price of gasoline. McCain's plan would essentially give federal funds to oil refineries… But the nonpartisan American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that the total savings for the average American motorist works out to about $28; for a two-car household, that would be $54. That's IF prices actually dropped 18.4 cents per gallon. However, there's every indication that they wouldn't. Here's why: According to the basic principles of supply and demand, cutting the price of an item causes people to buy more of it. That's why stores put items on sale. But when something is priced too low, consumers will buy it faster than it can be manufactured, which leads to shortages. [Factcheck.org, 5/2/08: http://www.factcheck.org/gas_price_fixes_that_wont.html]

FIORINA TODAY: "We cannot take control of our own energy future by only relying on these new technologies, although we must very much motivate investment in those new technologies."

McCain Repeatedly Voted Against Tax Credits For Renewable Energy Production. McCain voted against several amendments aimed at encouraging renewable energy production. [2006 Senate Vote #42, 3/14/2006; 2005 Senate Vote #158, 6/28/2005; 2001 Senate Vote #125, 5/21/2001]

McCain Says He Would Veto The Farm Bill -- $300 Million in Renewable Biofuels Funding. The farm bill "provides $300 million in mandatory funding for payments to support production of advanced biofuels including cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel." There is also "$250 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy and energy efficiency systems for agriculture and rural small businesses." [McCain Prepared Remarks, 5/19/08; Reuters, 5/15/2008]

McCain Opposed $290 Million For R&D On Renewable Energy, Including Wind Power. McCain voted against an amendment to extend the renewable energy production tax credit and clean renewable energy bonds programs for four years including $290 Million for renewable energy R&D on Solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydropower. [2006 Senate Vote #42, 3/14/2006]

McCain Cast Deciding Vote to Cut Funding For the Rural Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program From $23 Million To $3 Million. McCain voted for a motion to concur in the House amendment with the Senate amendment on the bill that made changes to programs for a net savings of $39.7 billion over five years. [2005 Senate Vote #363, 12/21/2005]

McCain Missed Vote To Require Utilities To Produce 20 Percent Of Energy From Renewable Sources. McCain missed a vote on an amendment that would require utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity from clean or renewable energy sources by 2020 in favor of an alternative amendment would require utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. [2007 Senate Vote #211, 6/14/2007]

McCain Voted Repeatedly Against Establishing National Renewable Energy Standards. McCain voted against an amendment that would mandate that renewable energy sources must produce at least 10 percent of the electricity sold by electric utilities by 2020, a minimum of 2.5 percent must be produced beginning 2008 through 2011. [2005 Senate Vote #141, 6/16/2005; 2002 Senate Vote #50, 3/14/2002; 2002 Senate Vote #55, 3/21/2002; 2002 Senate Vote #59, 3/21/2002]

http://www.democrats.org/page/-/pdf/CanadaTripFOIA.pdf

SKIRTING THE HATCH ACT…

McCain Campaign Asked Ambassador to Skirt Hatch Act. "A Canadian newspaper reported Thursday that Friday's scheduled $100-a-plate luncheon speech by Sen. John McCain in Ottawa was organized in part by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, a former South Carolina lawmaker whom President Bush appointed in 2005…The article in the Edmonton Sun, and an earlier one in the Globe and Mail, says that Wilkins contacted Thomas d'Aquino, the president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, to help set up what they described as a fundraiser before McCain's visit. McCain is scheduled to give a speech at the the Chateau Laurier Hotel and to meet with several Canadian officials… The Hatch Act circumscribes political activity for government employees. According to the American Foreign Service Association Web site, the State Department's ethics office prohibits fundraising activities for its presidential appointees." [The Trail blog, Washington Post, 6/19/08: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/19/democrats_question_ambassadors.html#more ]

McCain Campaign Approached Canadians Seeking Visit & CEO Reception Hosts. Two weeks ago, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins telephoned big-business lobbyist Tom d'Aquino, head of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Wilkins had been contacted by the McCain campaign about a Canadian visit, and the ambassador wanted to know if some of d'Aquino's group of corporate chief executives might be interested in meeting the Republican presidential candidate. Almost instantly, d'Aquino jumped at the opportunity, and an additional $100-a-plate luncheon organized by the Economic Club of Canada sold out in 30 minutes with tickets now reselling at up to $1,000 a pop. [Edmonton Sun, 6/19/08: http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2008/06/19/5921326-sun.html]

Coming to Canada McCain's Choice; Visit Arranged By Lindsey Graham Who Passed Word that McCain Was Interested in Coming to Canada. Mr. McCain's visit came together very quickly. About two weeks ago, his organization contacted the Economic Club of Canada, whose president, Mark Adler, has strong business connections. Coming to Ottawa was the McCain organization's choice, club spokeswoman Nicolee Tattersall says. As well, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, who is from South Carolina, is a close friend of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who is very close with Mr. McCain. According to the U.S. source, Mr. Graham called the ambassador to tell him that Mr. McCain was interested in coming to Canada. He asked for advice about logistics, venues and cities that would be appropriate for the presidential nominee. [Globe & Mail, 6/13/08: http://ago.mobile.globeandmail.com/generated/archive/RTGAM/html/20080613/wmccain13.html ]

MISUSE OF CORPORATE JETS…

Wall Street Journal: McCain Campaign Fails to Reimburse For Up To Four Campaign Flights. "She used the jet on several trips last year that included campaign-related activity but never got campaign reimbursement, according to flight-tracking records and campaign-finance reports verified by the McCain campaign. At the New York fund-raiser, she spoke on stage, warming up the audience for her husband. If the campaign had paid for Mrs. McCain's trip to New York and three others that appear to have included some campaign work, it would likely have cost a total of about $15,000, the equivalent of first-class fare for the trips combined." [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html ]

Republican Expert: McCain Should Have Paid for the Flights. "Jan Baran, a Republican campaign lawyer, said the campaign should have paid. 'I don't know why they want to fight it,' he said. 'The chutzpah is not that they're not paying for this trip, it's that they're using a corporate airplane at a highly discounted rate.'" [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html ]

New York Times: McCain Used Unresolved Loophole in His Own Reform Law to Get Discounted Flights. "Mr. McCain's campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates. The senator was able to fly so inexpensively because the law specifically exempts aircraft owned by a candidate or his family or by a privately held company they control. The Federal Election Commission adopted rules in December to close the loophole -- rules that would have required substantial payments by candidates using family-owned planes -- but the agency soon lost the requisite number of commissioners needed to complete the rule making. Because that exemption remains, Mr. McCain's campaign was able to use his wife's corporate plane like a charter jet while paying first-class rates, several campaign finance experts said. Several of those experts, however, added that his campaign's actions, while keeping with the letter of law, did not reflect its spirit." [New York Times, 4/27/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/politics/27plane.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]

SKIRTING THE FEC…

FEC Did Not Grant McCain Permission To Withdraw From Public Financing System in the Primary. According to the Washington Post, "The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall… Mason notified McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]

FEC Raised Questions About A Loan the McCain Received. According to the Associated Press, "The government's top campaign finance regulator says John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kickstart his once faltering presidential campaign… Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason, in a letter to McCain this week, said the all-but-certain Republican nominee needs to assure the commission that he did not use the promise of public money to help secure a $4 million line of credit he obtained in November." [AP/MSNBC, 2/21/08]

THE SPENCER HOUSE FUNDRAISER…

Judicial Watch Files Complaint Over London Fundraiser. "Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a formal complaint, dated April 22, 2008, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) related to a fundraising luncheon held at London's Spencer House to benefit Senator John McCain's presidential campaign. The venue for the event was apparently donated to the campaign by foreign nationals, in violation of federal campaign finance laws." [Judicial Watch release, 4/24/08: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS256624+24-Apr-2008+MW20080424 ]

Basically, we're filing a FOIA request looking for information about possible violations of the Hatch Act connected to McCain's events in Ottawa today. Reportedly, the McCain campaign requested assistance in arranging the $100-a-plate luncheon.

A Canadian newspaper reported Thursday that Friday's scheduled $100-a-plate luncheon speech by Sen. John McCain in Ottowa was organized in part by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, a former South Carolina lawmaker whom President Bush appointed in 2005.

Democrats pointed out the article late Thursday night, and alleged that Wilkins's actions could be construed as a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits many kinds of political activities by government employees.
[...]
According to the Sun: "Wilkins had been contacted by the McCain campaign about a Canadian visit, and the ambassador wanted to know if some of d'Aquino's group of corporate chief executives might be interested in meeting the Republican presidential candidate..."

You can view our FOIA request here (PDF).

Today's report follows the revelation in April that McCain used the Hensley corporate jet at a discounted rate campaign by exploiting an "unresolved exemption in a recent campaign finance law that Mr. McCain backed" to pay well below market rates for the flights.

McCain's hypocrisy on the use of corporate jets is part of a troubling pattern of ignoring the law when it stands in the way of his campaign. Earlier this year, the DNC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission after McCain unilaterally withdraw from the FEC's matching funds program despite using the program to financially benefit his campaign, which is clearly against the law.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement on John McCain's latest attempt to skirt election law:

"John McCain's refusal to pay for his campaign's use of a corporate jet is the latest evidence that Senator McCain thinks his campaign is above the law. Senator McCain poses as a reformer, but time and time again he has chosen to ignore the rules when they are inconvenient to his campaign. America cannot afford another four years of A Bush Republican President who thinks the law applies to everyone but him. Illegal corporate contributions are not what the American people thought Senator McCain had in mind when he promised to bring a new standard of accountability to government."

Wall Street Journal: McCain Campaign Fails to Reimburse For Up To Four Campaign Flights. "She used the jet on several trips last year that included campaign-related activity but never got campaign reimbursement, according to flight-tracking records and campaign-finance reports verified by the McCain campaign. At the New York fund-raiser, she spoke on stage, warming up the audience for her husband. If the campaign had paid for Mrs. McCain's trip to New York and three others that appear to have included some campaign work, it would likely have cost a total of about $15,000, the equivalent of first-class fare for the trips combined." [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html]

Republican Experts: McCain Should Have Paid for the Flights. "Jan Baran, a Republican campaign lawyer, said the campaign should have paid. 'I don't know why they want to fight it,' he said. 'The chutzpah is not that they're not paying for this trip, it's that they're using a corporate airplane at a highly discounted rate.' Cleta Mitchell, another Republican lawyer, said she would have advised her clients to pay for such a trip, but that the McCain campaign had a solid legal basis for not doing so. 'That advisory opinion is something of an outlier,' she said, 'but I think it is probably appropriate that they are relying on that to say that, under the circumstances, it would have been inappropriate to pay for her air travel.'" [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html]

McCain Campaign Fails to Reimburse for Use of Corporate Jet. "Sen. John McCain's wife flew in her company's private jet last year from Phoenix to New York City, where she spent three hours of the two-day trip at a fund-raiser for her husband's presidential campaign. The rest of her visit was devoted to personal matters, according to the campaign. The campaign didn't reimburse Cindy McCain for the March 7-9, 2007, trip, which included the event near Times Square that brought in an estimated $100,000." [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html]

New York Times: McCain Used Unresolved Loophole in His Own Reform Law to Get Discounted Flights. "Mr. McCain's campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates. The senator was able to fly so inexpensively because the law specifically exempts aircraft owned by a candidate or his family or by a privately held company they control. The Federal Election Commission adopted rules in December to close the loophole -- rules that would have required substantial payments by candidates using family-owned planes -- but the agency soon lost the requisite number of commissioners needed to complete the rule making. Because that exemption remains, Mr. McCain's campaign was able to use his wife's corporate plane like a charter jet while paying first-class rates, several campaign finance experts said. Several of those experts, however, added that his campaign's actions, while keeping with the letter of law, did not reflect its spirit." [New York Times, 4/27/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/politics/27plane.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]

I wrote to you in late February asking that you sign on in support of a complaint we made to the Federal Election Commission regarding John McCain.

The complaint was fairly simple. John McCain decided to break a promise he made to the American people -- he said that he would accept federal matching funds for his primary campaign, but then backed out of the pledge after he started receiving staggering amounts of lobbyist and special interest money. We asked the FEC to enforce the agreement he had made.

When they didn't act on our complaint -- one that thousands of Americans signed on to support -- we sued them. Recently, a federal judge said that we had to give the FEC at least 120 days to act.

Their time runs out in one week, on June 24.

You can put pressure on John McCain to honor his agreement with the FEC by signing your support -- we need 100,000 Americans to stand up and demand that he keep the promise that he made the American people. If we're ever going to have truly clean campaigns, it's going to take all of us fighting for them.

Click the link to add your name:

http://www.democrats.org/FECcomplaint

I know that lawsuits, FEC rulings, and the intricacies of campaign finance law can be a little dry.

But consider this: while both Senator Obama's campaign and the DNC have unilaterally rejected lobbyist and special interest money, John McCain's campaign is blatantly breaking campaign finance law to raise as much of it as they can.

John McCain -- the self-branded "maverick reformer" -- is the exactly the same kind of Republican we've seen for decades. He breaks the rules to fit his own interests, and he does it at the expense of the American people and the integrity of the electoral process.

He knew exactly what he was doing when he signed the pledge with the FEC, because that used the money he was promised in return as collateral on a loan.

Be one of the 100,000 people to send a message to John McCain -- the law matters, and we're not going to let McCain and his lobbyist supporters ignore it.

Click the link to add your name:

http://www.democrats.org/FECcomplaint

My February email is below. It explains in detail why we're taking this action.

It's time to put an end to this, and I hope you'll help.

Howard Dean

You can add your name here.

Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) invited former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan to testify before the Committee at a June 20th hearing about reported efforts to cover up the role of the White House in the Valerie Plame leak. “In his book, Mr. McClellan suggests that senior White House officials may have obstructed justice and engaged in a cover-up regarding the Valerie Plame leak,” Conyers said. “This alleged activity could well extend beyond the scope of the offenses for which Scooter Libby has been convicted and deserves further attention.”

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a "proposed" report this morning finding that Jack Abramoff did indeed have "personal contact with President Bush" and that Abramoff and cohorts were "held in high regard" by White House officials.

The proposed report also finds that Abramoff and his associates "influenced some White House actions" and gave White House officials "expensive tickets and meals."

Among those who accepted gifts from Abramoff, the report finds, was Carlos Bonilla, then-Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He currently serves served as an economic adviser for John McCain.

On October 18, 2001, Kevin Ring sent an unknown number of tickets to an unknown event to Mr. Bonilla by courier. In addition, in response to an offer from Kevin Ring, Mr. Bonilla requested and was provided with two tickets to sit in the Abramoff suite for the November 20, 2001, Washington Wizards game.

The report also confirms the politically-motivated removal of the Alan Stayman at the behest of Abramoff's team.

One action that White House officials took at the request of Mr. Abramoff was to intervene to force the removal of a State Department official, Alan Stayman. In a previous position at the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior, Mr. Stayman had advocated positions opposed by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, then a client of Mr. Abramoff. Mr. Stayman was appointed to his position at the Department of State during the Clinton Administration.

In a recent Committee deposition, Monica Kladakis, then-Deputy Associate Director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (OPP), confirmed that OPP became involved in Mr. Stayman's removal after White House officials were contacted by Mr. Abramoff's team.

Also in the report: White House aides sought the "fruits" of their labor for Abramoff. "Fruits" was the code word for sports tickets or other gifts.

McCain Changes Position on Warrentless Wiretapping. "A top adviser to Senator John McCain says Mr. McCain believes that President Bush's program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team. In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said Mr. McCain believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, despite a 1978 federal statute that required court oversight of surveillance." [New York Times, 6/6/08]

A one-time chief of staff to former Rep. Ernest Istook is being charged with conspiracy to defraud the House of Representatives in a lobbying scandal.

John Albaugh is accused of accepting gifts in return for official favors. The charge is outlined in a criminal information filed in federal court on Friday. Such documents are normally entered as part of a plea deal. A court hearing was set for Monday afternoon.

A former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, Istook accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates. Istook also used the lobbyist's skybox at concerts.

The latest:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show.

“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” reported Tuesday night that lobbying disclosure forms, filed by the giant Swiss bank UBS, list McCain’s campaign co-chair, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, as a lobbyist dealing specifically with legislation regarding the mortgage crisis as recently as Dec. 31, 2007.

Talking Points Memo has been on the case, and he makes a couple of noteworthy points. The most interesting of which is, where does UBS stand to benefit?

Forbes says that UBS is among the banks worst hit by the global credit crisis, particularly in their direct exposure to the US subprime market. According to Forbes, UBS has some $37 billion in write-downs on assets tied to bad US mortgages. In other words, the bank's very life appears to be on the line in how the US government chooses to handle the matter.

More later.

But for half a decade in the 1980s, Black was also Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House.

Justice Department records that Black's firm submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act detail frequent meetings with lawmakers and their staffs and lavish spending by Black and his partners as they attempted to ensure support for Savimbi, whose UNITA movement was fighting the Marxist Angolan government.

In addition to Savimbi, Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as their opposition to communism was embraced by American conservatives. They included Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others.

The top McCain lobbyist/advisor’s client roster reads like a who’s who of notorious foreign leaders.