Kerry discloses meetings with lobbyists

The disclosures go beyond what is required by law and is in response to criticism.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- John Kerry disclosed Wednesday nearly 200 meetings he has held with lobbyists since 1989, including dozens having business before his Senate committees, as the presumptive Democratic nominee sought to draw a sharp contrast with what he describes as the Bush administration's more secretive and expansive dealings with corporate lobbyists.
No member of Congress-turned-presidential candidate has ever listed in such detail contacts with lobbyists, who are paid to influence policy decisions.
In an 11-page document provided to The Washington Post before wider release today, Kerry detailed the participants and dates of private meetings in his Senate office with lobbyists representing everything from labor unions, trial lawyers and environmental groups to Microsoft, IBM and other well-known corporations seeking the Massachusetts senator's assistance.
The records highlight Kerry's relationship with this city's most influential Democratic lobbyists such as Thomas Hale Boggs Jr. of the powerhouse firm Patton Boggs, who was granted several personal meetings, and telecommunications, high technology and banking companies.
Telecommunications issue
In 1999, for instance, Kerry, who was working on several telecommunications issues, met twice with Bell Atlantic's (now Verizon's) Ivan Seidenberg and lunched with Gerald Cassidy, a top lobbyist who represented several companies affected by the senator's actions on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Several lobbyists who met with Kerry, including John A. Merrigan of the law firm Piper Rudnick, have raised $50,000 or more for his presidential campaign. Merrigan has contributed $8,000 to Kerry campaigns since 1992 and Boggs, $5,000, according to Federal Election Commission data. The lobbyists who met with Kerry gave at least a combined $230,000 to his various campaigns over the last decade.
Kerry's records indicate that he tended mostly to traditional Democratic backers such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and home-state interests such as Raytheon Co., a defense contractor.
Response to criticism
Kerry is moving quickly to address criticism from President Bush and others that he is refusing to provide voters a fuller view of everything from his personal finances to his combat and medical records. Since Tuesday night, Kerry has been posting his military records on his Web site and promised additional medical information soon.
The campaign also is rethinking its decision to keep secret the tax records of the candidate's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, a top aide said.
After days of playing defense on the disclosure issue, Kerry is going on the offensive by releasing these records. The extraordinary disclosure, which goes well beyond public disclosure laws, was an implicit and strategically timed challenge to Bush to prove that he is not in lobbyists' thrall, as Kerry often portrays him.
Kerry came under attack from Bush and Democratic rivals earlier in the campaign after it was reported he had received more money from lobbyists than any other senator over the past 15 years.