-Caveat Lector-
The Lobbyist Behind Rich's Pardon
Scandal: Sure, he caused a stir, but Jack Quinn got the job done.
Some feel he's tainted the profession, but he will likely
survive.
By RONALD BROWNSTEIN, GERALDINE BAUM
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON--Jack Quinn was vilified this week at a House
committee hearing as an amoral fixer who manipulated friendships
for financial gain during an effort to obtain a presidential
pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich.
With two congressional committees investigating the controversial
pardon granted by former President Clinton to Rich and with
politicians in both parties lining up to denounce it, Quinn could
be viewed as a would-be power broker who short-circuited his own
career.
But in the world of Washington lobbyists, this chapter in Quinn's
life may not be so dim. Certainly, other prominent Washington
consultants have survived brushes with scandal to become
influential players in the capital minuet of politics, lobbying
and public relations.
In fact, many might just like to be in Quinn's shoes. After all,
he did pull off a spectacular feat--deftly obtaining a
presidential pardon for Rich despite extraordinary legal
obstacles.
And although the uproar over Rich has caused some to question
Quinn's judgment and ethics, almost everyone agrees that it also
demonstrated his effectiveness and access.
The question is which end of that equation shapes more heavily
the career that Quinn, 51, has been building as a Democratic
insider over the last two decades, more recently as Clinton's
White House counsel and now as a well-paid Washington lobbyist.
It is a question that might be asked in Hollywood, on Wall Street
or at any city hall: Is it better to be viewed as principled or
powerful? The dominant answer probably says more about Washington
than about Jack Quinn.
Among Quinn's contemporaries in the lobbying world, the
prevailing view: powerful. Many say that Quinn could not buy at
any price the kind of publicity generated in the last few weeks
by the controversy.
"It wasn't pretty, but Jack's now in fat city. He got the job
done," said one former Clinton aide.
The minority view is that the near-universal condemnation of the
Rich pardon has made Quinn too toxic for big corporate clients
who prefer that their string-pulling not attract subpoenas and
television cameras. Then there is the grumbling among some
Clinton allies who believe that Quinn did not fairly alert the
then-president to a potential pardon backlash. This, they said,
could make other elected officials Quinn hopes to lobby wary
about what he is not telling them.
"There's a danger that Jack has to overcome that people [he is
lobbying] will be a little bit gunshy about his advocacy," said
attorney Lanny J. Davis, a former White House special counsel for
Clinton. "Notoriety cuts both ways."
The unusual circumstances around the pardon have left a bad taste
that some Washington lobbyists worry could hurt the image of
their profession. Even so, the Rich case has become a consuming
preoccupation along the K Street corridor of Washington
lobbyists.
"Everybody I've talked to thinks [Quinn] just taints the whole
image," said one prominent lobbyist. "You can say a lawyer has
to represent somebody. But he tried to be too cutesy and he
hurts us all."
Others said that such high-mindedness is nothing more than
professional jealousy. In the end, these lobbyists said, the
thing potential clients will remember most about this imbroglio
is the bottom line: Quinn got Rich off. And when Quinn was put
on the griddle Wednesday for a full day's inquisition by the
House Government Reform Committee, he kept his cool, delivering a
performance that even Republicans considered polished and calm.
"After all the rubbing of hands and clucking of tongues and a
little of 'There but for the grace of God go I' . . .
Washington and the clients will only remember that Jack Quinn was
rather dogged in his defense," said attorney Leonard Garment, a
White House counsel for President Nixon. "He didn't wince or
whine or moan during a couple of hours of testimony when he was
being beleaguered by that air of sanctimony that pervades those
congressional hearings. And . . . he got his guy off."
Before the Rich controversy, Quinn was rising inside the
Washington lobbying community. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native began
his political career working for Democratic candidates as an
undergraduate at Georgetown University.
Later on, Quinn joined the law firm Arnold & Porter, acquiring
important corporate clients. His big break in politics came in
1988, when he backed Al Gore in his first presidential run.
When Gore and Clinton won in 1992, Gore first named Quinn his
counsel and, six months later, his chief of staff. In 1994,
Clinton drafted Quinn as White House counsel. In December 1996,
he returned to Arnold & Porter.
Then, about a year ago, he established his own lobbying firm with
Ed Gillespie, a prominent Republican communications strategist.
The firm grew quickly, picking up 24 employees (including about a
dozen lobbyists) and a stable of blue-chip clients weighted
toward technology and communication heavyweights such as Cisco
Systems Inc., Viacom Inc. and a coalition working for repeal of
the telephone tax.
Rich became a client of Quinn's in 1999, when he was still at
Arnold & Porter, but he has never been a client of the new firm.
Quinn declined to be interviewed for this story, but a source
close to him said he has received only supportive calls and notes
from clients. None has dropped him, the source said, and the firm
expects to have a "very good 2001."
In fact, few other lobbying firms were better positioned to
prosper no matter who won the 2000 presidential race. Quinn
remained close to Gore, frequently making the vice president's
case on television. Gillespie, a former communications director
for the Republican National Committee, took a leave of absence to
help design George W. Bush's communications office in Austin,
Texas.
Still, even if the pardon controversy does not hurt Quinn's
lobbying business, the Rich case probably will have two long-term
effects on Quinn's career in Washington. One is to complicate
his relationship with the Clinton circle. Although sources said
the former president has expressed no anger at Quinn, many
Clinton allies are furious at Quinn for pressing the case
directly to his former boss without much apparent concern for
Clinton's political welfare.
"Clinton thought of Quinn as someone who could look at the pardon
from both points of view, including that of the president," one
former Clinton advisor said. "Clearly, he didn't."
But Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Quinn, said Quinn was
nothing but direct with the former president about the merits of
the case. Mirijanian argued that Quinn is being tainted by
circumstances he knew nothing about--such as the fact that Rich's
ex-wife, Denise, gave "an enormous sum" of money to Clinton's
presidential library.
Quinn testified Wednesday that he knew nothing about her
donation--reported as ranging from $400,000 to $1 million--during
his effort to seek a pardon for Marc Rich.
"All Quinn did was advise Denise Rich to send a letter to the
president," Mirijanian said. "In other words, Jack played it by
the book.
"People can only come out of this with a sense of admiration for
how smart he was and how well he represented his client. Which
is how people get hired in this town."
Although he won't be hurt as a lobbyist, most observers believe,
the controversy makes it far more difficult for Quinn to take a
prominent role in any future Democratic presidential campaign or
administration.
"At that point, whoever wants to utilize him will say, 'Do we
want to put up with that part of the story that refers back to
the Rich pardon?' " said Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from
Minnesota who is now a lobbyist here.
But that may be a price Quinn is willing to pay for an enhanced
reputation as a "go-to" guy for the next person caught up in a
daunting Washington scandal.
"To persist and be a survivor," says Garment, "makes him look
strong to me."
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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