Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Lobbyists

In the 1970s, Gallup began polling to see what Americans think of honesty and ethics in various professions. Generally speaking, nurses have toped the list. And towards the bottom have been business executives and stockbrokers (each with a 32% low or very low rating), advertising practitioners (37%), car salespeople (44%) telemarketers (56%), and members of Congress (58%).

In 2007, they may have been looking for a profession with even less regard than members of Congress, so they added lobbyists. It didn’t work, generally speaking lobbyists tied members of Congress for being the most distrusted and unethical. These were the scores in December of 2017:

• Members of Congress

Very high- 2%
High- 9%
Average- 29%
Low- 36%
Very Low- 24%

• Lobbyists

Very high- 2%
High- 6%
Average- 31%
Low- 33%
Very Low- 25%

The public perception is certainly borne out by the facts. Remember lobbyists like Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan and Ralph Reed? It doesn’t come much lower? However, corporate lobbyists don’t get much better than that either, although most have managed, one way or the other, to avoid prison. One of the shadiest of the current crop is Michael Esposito, president of Federal Advocates, which he founded in 2006. While Obama was president, he tried passing himself off as a Democratic lobbyist, His newest self-penned bio reads: “Esposito has spent nearly two decades as a federal lobbyist and is a major player in Republican party politics. In that time, Esposito has secured consistent achievements for clients while providing unmatched access to high-level decision makers, including those within the Administration and Congress. Esposito has successfully achieved groundbreaking legislation and regulatory action in addition to billions of dollars in federal funding. He is nationally recognized as an expert in the legislative and regulatory processes and is often engaged to speak at corporate events. Esposito serves on the Republican National Committee Chairman’s Advisory Board. He is an integral part of the senior-most leadership of the RNC and directly advises the Chairwoman on issues of significance to the nation. Along with offering vital counsel, Michael supports the RNC’s national leadership by serving as its eyes and ears on issues across the country and providing key in-depth insight for the RNC’s ultimate mission: exemplary governance. Esposito is a member of the Trump Victory Finance Committee.” He also claims to be close with Eric Trump and with Kushner-in-law.

The other day, Trump claimed he never heard of Esposito, whose lobbying clients include Orange County (California), Polk County (Iowa), the American Distilled Spirits Association, Huawei Technologies USA, Inc., Cargill, Lyft, Xerox, the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, and at least 10 California cities (Brentwood, Rancho Palos Verdes, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Pittsburg, Richmond, Laguna Nigel, Garden Grove, Antioch and Desert Hot Springs. Esposito’s company grew exponentially since Trump moved into the White House, with a profit of over $4.6 million in 2018, which was $3.75 million more than it made in 2016.

In November, when it was already clear Esposito would be going to prison, Trump decided it was time to distance himself from this particular lobbyist:

On Friday, the FBI raided Esposito’s home and office. He has been accused of lying about close ties to Trump in order to score lucrative contracts for his firm. The FBI was looking for evidence of financial fraud. Because Polk County is one of his big clients-- $720,000 a year-- the Des Moines Register has taken a particular interest in the case.

After a Post story in November on how Esposito tripled his business while claiming close ties to Trump and his administration, the FBI began investigating Esposito to see whether he may have defrauded clients or engaged in any other financial fraud, The Post reported.

Trump tweeted Nov. 4 that he has no ties to Esposito or his firm. The FBI declined to comment to Post reporters about the raids.

Esposito did not return a Des Moines Registerphone call Friday to his office seeking comment.

The Post reported that there were Rolls-Royce and Lincoln SUVs parked in front of Esposito’s suburban Washington home, which the FBI raided Thursday. On social media, he has posted photos of himself in other luxury cars and wrote of the pleasure he takes in buying and selling them.

Polk County first hired Federal Advocates a decade ago for $5,000 a month. Polk supervisors agreed to pay the firm much more in 2016 as it sought help with an IRS audit that found revenues generated by the county-run Prairie Meadows gambling and entertainment complex that should have been reported as taxable income.

The IRS said Prairie Meadows owed nearly $60.5 million in back taxes, fees and interest from 2012 through 2014.

Gary Palmer, president of Prairie Meadows, said the casino and racetrack won its appeal after hiring a top Washington tax attorney. He told Watchdog that Federal Advocates did nothing to help with that legal battle.

Although the county also ostensibly was paying Federal Advocates to try to secure legislation in Congress that would better protect the casino’s nonprofit status, no such bill has surfaced.