For those of you who spent most of Sunday reading the love-fest about outgoing-Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) in the NYT Magazine, I'll bet you stopped short in the story and sat up in the same place I did:
Other critics said Davis was too cozy with K Street lobbyists and the federal contractors who populate his district...
Duh!! POGO has been saying that for years! And POGO blog readers will even remember the holiday party contractors threw for Davis and his Committee staff.
...The Washington Post called into question Davis's relationship with a consulting firm that advises technology companies seeking government work, a firm that was formed by a close friend and employed Davis's wife...
Well, it was more than that. The Post wrote that the firm, ICG, and owner Donald Upson, were extremely tight with Davis: "ICG has a record of satisfied clients, who say the firm has provided them with access to the congressman and his staff....The firm has arranged for clients to meet with Davis in his congressional office. Upson has set up dinners and receptions with the lawmaker for his clients. And ICG has arranged for clients to testify before Davis's committee....On one occasion, Upson helped a client write a threatening letter to the Pentagon that was then sent out with Davis's signature on his committee's letterhead." Oh yeah, and Davis's wife, Virginia State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites, received $78,000 in 2005 for working 10-20 hours a week from home for ICG.
...Davis erupted at the story. When he later ran into one of the reporters at a supermarket, Davis loudly berated him. "I told him he was scum, basically," Davis told me. "I told him it was a scummy thing to do and I hope he felt good about it and I hoped he'd rot in hell." He paused at the memory. Davis usually regrets his outbursts after he cools down. "If it was just me, that's fine," he said. "But on her, I get very, very defensive. Why do you have to drag her into it?"
WOW! Wait a minute, which reporter was this? I picked up the phone and called the Post's Robert O'Harrow, and asked, "Hey, were you the reporter obliquely mentioned in the Times story?" He confirmed he was indeed that reporter. Although O'Harrow acknowledged that more was said, I couldn't wheedle any more details out from him.
See? Don't let anyone tell you government contracting is boring. I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who lets contracting get me hot.
-- Danielle Brian
"I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who lets contracting get me hot."
danielle - hilarious stuff. nice work. I kind of want to make that my personal mantra.
Posted by: Adam Hughes | Oct 30, 2008 at 02:16 PM
You won't get any more out of O'Harrow about anything. His blog is bereft of any meaningful content from him. He slaves over tiny stories and then tries to make them sound like mega scoops. He can't see the forest for the trees in government contracting. Not exactly a big-pic guy, but in the mold of the corps of Post Reporters who have never developed a balanced and deep understanding of the second biggest business in town. His skin is pretty thin, too. But he is trying to become a B list player. Some day I will help him. I will leave a tip at one his dead drops.
Posted by: KSBR marbled | Oct 08, 2008 at 08:00 PM