MCCAIN'S TRANSITION CHIEF AIDED SADDAM HUSSEIN link Huffington post

[gabeana]

EXCLUSIVE... MCCAIN'S TRANSITION CHIEF AIDED SADDAM HUSSEIN

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html

The two lobbyists who McCain aide William Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.

[eleny]

1. lol with a hiccup

:rofl:

[nichomachus]

2. So McCain not only pals around with terrorists -- he hires them.

[grannylib]

32. That's perfect! Well-phrased!

[KathieG]

3. And the hits just keep on coming!

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

4. Holy shit--Tongsun Park!

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008678

[npincus]

5. a tad more relevant than an old hippie.

[AlCzervik]

6. way more, oil for food profiteers.

[SuperTrouper]

7. We have a saying in Spanish: "When you spit upwards, it falls on your face"

in English is: "Don't spit up into the air because it lands on your face"

McSpit is such a joke :rofl:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Why, it is almost as if McCain "pals around with terrorists."

Can't wait to hear what Princess Yep Yep has to say about this. My guess is that it will be "nothing."

[libnnc]

34. !!

:applause:

:kick:

[WallStreetNobody]

9. An indication of where his allegiances are? (n/t)

[Vinca]

10. I hate to say it, but a Hollywood screenwriter couldn't make this stuff up.

:rofl:

[ogneopasno]

11. Hmmm...AM I sure I want to recommend this thread?

I dunno...let me think about it...hmmmm....

[SuperTrouper]

12. Go ahead! Do it! ! A good day: Saddamgate and AIP-gate!!

[ogneopasno]

13. I think my rec button is broken.

It's letting me recommend it only once! CRAP!

[AllexxisF1]

14. OMFG

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[libnnc]

15. Poor, poor McWrinklyscrotum...

PWNED once again.

:kick:

[AlCzervik]

16. Hey i sent your link here-and they posted the story.

http://politicalwire.com/

just popped up.

[ej510]

19. The MSM will never cover this.

[AlCzervik]

23. if Ayer's is brought up at the debate i would think this story will also be brought up

by Obama.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

17. I wonder how long it will be before McCain realizes

that his strategy (tactic?) of "guilt-by-association" is coming up "snake eyes" for him?

[MagickMuffin]

18. McCain Transition Head Lobbied for Freddie Mac Before Takeover

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation's financial crisis.

Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month, when the federal government took over both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Newly available congressional records show Timmons's firm received $260,000 this year before its lobbying activities were barred under terms of the government rescue of the failed mortgage giant. Timmons, 77, is listed as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac on the company's midyear financial-disclosure form.

While Republicans say Timmons is making plans for the transition if McCain wins in November, the campaign wouldn't confirm his role. Timmons didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

McCain has labeled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as prime culprits in creating the financial storm that has roiled Wall Street and Washington.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080923/pl_bloomberg/aqioor9klone

***********************************************************************

Isn't it amazing that Timmons WAS "palling around with a KNOWN TERRORIST!" and McCain is wanting him on his Team.


I'll post more about Timmons lobbying efforts, after I've finished my research.

[MagickMuffin]

25. More Lobbying

William E. Timmons Sr. is a Washington institution, having worked in the Nixon and Ford administrations as an aide for congressional relations and having assisted the transition teams of both Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W. Bush in 2000. He was also a senior adviser to both Vice President George Bush in 1988 and Senator Bob Dole in 1996.

Timmons is the chairman emeritus of Timmons and Company, a small but influential lobbying firm he founded in 1975 shortly after leaving the White House. According to Senate records, he registered to lobby in 2008 for a wide range of companies and trade groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, the American Medical Association, Chrysler, Freddie Mac, Visa USA and Anheuser-Busch.

His registrations include work on a number of issues that have become flashpoints in the presidential campaign. He has registered to work on bills that deal with the regulations of troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, a bill to provide farm subsidies and bills that regulate domestic oil-drilling.

By tapping Timmons, McCain has turned to one of Washington's steadiest and most senior inside players to guide him in the event of a victory — but also to someone who represents the antithesis of the kind of outside-of-Washington change he has recently been promising. One Republican familiar with the process said the decision to involve Timmons could become a political liability for the campaign's reformist image, especially in the wake of the controversies over the lobbying backgrounds of other McCain staffers, including campaign manager Rick Davis. "It's one more blind spot for Rick Davis and John McCain," the person said.

Under the McCain campaign's conflict-of-interest rules, announced in May, lobbyists who volunteer for the campaign must disclose their clients, agree not to lobby the campaign or McCain's Senate office and refrain from "involvement in any campaign policy-making on the subjects for which they are registered."

Timmons, who is not leading the effort, is working on the McCain transition-planning with former Navy Secretary John Lehman Jr., a friend and traveling companion of McCain's who runs an investment bank and recently served on the national commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1840722,00.html

*********************************************************

Lil' Cindy-Lou's Anheuser-Busch.

Notice the third paragraph that mentions how Timmons was registered to work on bills that deal with the regulations of troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, a bill to provide farm subsidies and bills that regulate domestic oil-drilling.

[Hope And Change]

20. Kick!

[cal04]

21. TPMuckraker has more

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/testimony_timmons_knew_lobbyis.php

At TPMmuckraker, we've acquired a copy of the court documents from the 2006 trial of Tongsun Park, one of the lobbyists involved, on which Waas' report was in part based.

And they shed some crucial light on a key point about Timmons' involvement in the scheme.

As Waas notes:
Timmons previously told investigators that he did not know that either Vincent or Park were acting as unregistered agents of Iraq. He also insisted that he did not fully understand just how closely the two men were tied to Saddam's regime while they collaborated.
But testimony and records made public during Park's criminal trial, as well as other information uncovered during a United Nations investigation, suggest just the opposite.


For instance, court records examined by TPMmuckraker show that Samir Vincent, the other lobbyist involved in the scheme, testified at Park's trial about a trip he took to Iraq during which he met with Saddam personally, and listened as the Iraqi dictator expressed his desire to have sanctions lifted and normal relations with the U.S. restored.
The prosecutor then asked Vincent: "When you returned to the U.S., did you tell anyone about your visit with Saddam Hussein?"

Vincent replied: "I told Bill Timmons and Tongsun Park."

Prosecutor: "Why did you tell Bill Timmons about your visit with Saddam?"

Vincent: "To let him know that we were talking to the leader of Iraq, and in essence we have access, and assure him that any messages we were relaying between Iraqi (sic) and Tariq Aziz and anyone else, it was being transmitted to the president, Saddam Husssein, in Iraq."

[libnnc]

22. kicking

[starroute]

24. Timmons turns up in Susan Trento's "The Power House"

That's a book I've just been reading which describes the lobbying career of Robert Keith Gray, whose Gray and Company was linked in the 80's to Iran-Contra and other of Bill Casey's off-the-books intelligence operations.

Gray was friends with both Tongsun Park and Ed Wilson of the rogue-CIA "Enterprise" -- and all three men are alleged to have played a role in the interesting blackmail operations carried on from Park's George Town Club. (See, for example, http://spitfirelist.com/?p=2517)

Timmons was also part of the Park circle -- though I haven't seen anything linking him to the blackmail ring. Trento mentions him primarily when speaking of the 1980 Reagan campaign and Gray's role in "Debategate." She isn't sure whether Timmons was actively part of Gray's campaign dirty tricks but suggests he must have known about them:

Casey brought in two Richard Nixon supporters, both of whom also happened to be friends with Korean businessman Tongsun Park: Bill Timmons, who had worked in Nixon's White House congressional liaison operation and had gone to Georgetown University with Park, was in charge of campaign operations. The other supporter was Gray, who headed the communications office. ...

The Subcommittee found copies of President Carter's and sometimes Mrs. Carter's schedules in Gray's and others' files. Gray wrote a memo about the schedules to Bill Timmons who was sending "Truth squads" to where Carter or his surrogates were speaking.

[AlCzervik]

26. okay i emailed the wapo and the nyt and cnn, let's see if anyone talks about it.

not that i expect a response mind you but hey what the hell.

[ej510]

28. I did the same th ing and the silence is deafening.

[JuniperLea]

27. McFibber didn't vet anyone on his staff apparently!

:rofl:

[libnnc]

29. kicking

[pleah]

30. K&R n/t

[libnnc]

31. kicking

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. K to tha R! nt