The Associated Press was eager to publish the ties between Jack Abramoff, Tyco International and the Republican Party. According to the AP, Tyco is "Company A" in court documents describing the case against Abramoff.
In the article, Sharon Theimer wrote about Tyco's relationship with several other lobbying firms, including that of former Senator Majority Leader Bob Dole. She also cited Tyco attorney Timothy E. Flanigan's relationship to Abramoff, reminding readers that Flanigan withdrew his nomination to be President Bush's deputy attorney general in October. As usual, both Tom Delay and Bob Ney were listed as being investigated for their ties with Abramoff.
But Theimer failed to note the relationship between Tyco, Abramoff and two Democratic congressmen. According to the website Capitol Eye, Greenberg Traurig was registered as a lobbying organization for Tyco on 7/10/2002. The contact person listed on the lobbying registration form was Jack Abramoff. Specific lobbying issues listed on the registration included tax legislation, government contracts legislation and health care legislation.
One lobbyist listed on the amended registration form was Edward Ayoob, legislative counsel for Senator Harry Reid. Also listed was Stephanie Leger Short, legislative counsel for Sen. John Breaux (D-LA). According to subsequent mid-year and year end lobby reports, both Ayoob and Short were active lobbyists for Tyco in 2003 and 2004. Both lobbied the Department of Commerce, General Services Administration, the House, the Senate and the Executive Office of the President for issues related to tax legislation and government contracts.
The only mention of Democrat ties to Tyco was donations made to Republican and Democratic party committees prior to 2002. If not for copies of the actual registration and filing reports available for public viewing on the Internet, this information would not be known. We certainly cannot count on it being reported by the media.
