McCain Pushing Lockheed-Made Weapon Deal ($6 Bill) Despite Advisers' TieS

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McCain Pushing Lockheed-Made Weapons for Taiwan, Despite Advisers' Ties

By Zachary Roth - October 8, 2008, 1:39PM
It looks like John McCain's foreign policy advisers are back in the news -- and not in a good way.

Yesterday, McCain issued a statement urging the Bush administration to enlarge a $6 billion package of military equipment for Taiwan, announced earlier this week. McCain wants submarines and F-16 aircraft added to the package.

But as the Washington Post notes, the lobbying firm run by Randy Scheunemann, McCain's top foreign policy adviser, in June renewed a $200,00 contract to lobby on behalf of Taiwan. And in 2005, Scheunemann had personally signed the original contract between his firm, Orion Strategies, and the Taiwanese government. (Scheunemann took a leave of absence from the firm to work on McCain's campaign.)

The Post reports:

The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether Randy Scheunemann, his foreign policy coordinator, had a role in drafting the statement or if he had recused himself.

But that's not the only potential conflict of interest here. As Think Progress points out, Scheuenemann has also lobbied for Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-16s that make McCain wants to give to Taiwan.

And here's something else worth noting. Another McCain foreign policy adviser, Bruce Jackson, is a former Lockheed vice president.

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WHAT A MAVERICK!