McGinty’s Lie: “I am not a lobbyist and I have not lobbied”

It’s been less than one week since Washington Democrats and special interests bought the Democratic primary for their chosen candidate, Katie McGinty, and she’s already flatly lying to voters. In an interview this weekend, McGinty was asked about her “behind-the-scenes” work as a lobbyist. McGinty replied, “I am not a lobbyist and I have not lobbied.”

WATCH:

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QVVD4MRZaw"]

But McGinty’s statement isn’t true, and documents from her former employer, Troutman Sanders, reveal the complete opposite:

• Katie McGinty is the only person listed on the form as lobbying on behalf of the issue.
  

• The form notes that the EPA was contacted by Katie McGinty.

• The form notes that Troutman Sanders received $40,000 for their work.

• Katie McGinty was not listed as someone who is “no longer expected to act as a lobbyist” until after Troutman Sanders was paid for their effort.

Katie McGinty lobbied for Troutman Sanders resulting in the firm collecting $40,000 — therefore — Katie McGinty was a Troutman Sanders lobbyist.

THE DOCUMENTS:

DOCUMENT 1: This form was submitted by Troutman Sanders on June 28, 2000 and lists Katie McGinty as registered to lobby for “Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturer” on “Environmental Policy and Regulatory Compliance Issues.”

DOCUMENT 2: This form was submitted by Troutman Sanders on August 11, 2000 (almost two months later), and lists Troutman Sanders as receiving $40,000 for lobbying on the “EPA Rule on Chlorofluorocarbon Allotments.”

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH:

In 2000, McGinty Lobbied On Behalf Of Pharmaceutical Company Glaxo Wellcome To Stop The EPA’s Planned Ban On A Key Chemical Used In Their Inhalers

• On June 28, 2000, Kathleen A. McGinty Registered To Lobby With Troutman Sanders LLP On Behalf Of Glaxo Wellcome, Inc., A Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, To Lobby On Environmental Policy And Regulatory Compliance Issues. (Lobbying Disclosure Database, Secretary Of The Senate, Posted 6/28/00)

• On August 11, 2000, Troutman Sanders LLP Reported Being Paid $40,000 By Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. For McGinty To Lobby The EPA On “EPA Rule On Chlorofluorocarbon Allotments.” (Lobbying Disclosure Database, Secretary Of The Senate, Posted 8/11/00)

• In 1997, The FDA Proposed Banning Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Once Alternative Inhalers Became Widely Available After Scientists Found CFCs Were Responsible For The Destruction Of The Ozone. “But last year the federal government declared those inhalers — called MDIs, or metered-dose inhalers — must be reformulated. Under a 1987 international treaty, the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that propel the sprays have been banned from every commercial use in the United States — refrigerators, air conditioners, everything except the MDIs, which for now have been declared essential. Scientists believe CFCs are responsible for the destruction of the ozone. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed regulations that would effectively ban further use of the CFC-propelled sprays once alternative inhalers become widely available. But Kennedy and thousands of other asthmatics don’t trust the FDA to find a new drug that is as good as what they now take. Kennedy is slated to testify before a congressional panel today against the FDA proposal.” (Bill McAllister, “Ozone, Asthma And Inhalers: Drugmaker’s Lobbying Assailed,” The Washington Post, 5/6/98)

• Glaxo Produced The Best-Selling U.S. Inhalers Using Chlorofluorocarbons But Were Having Problems Developing Non-CFC Inhalers. “Glaxo produces the best-selling U.S. inhalers under the names Serevent and Ventolin, but it is facing unexpected problems producing new, non-CFC inhalers. Other drugmakers also have raised objections to the FDA plan, but 3M Pharmaceuticals, maker of the only approved non-CFC inhaler, and a number of environmental and health groups are applauding the FDA’s policy.” (Bill McAllister, “Ozone, Asthma And Inhalers: Drugmaker’s Lobbying Assailed,” The Washington Post, 5/6/98)

• “…British-Based Glaxo Wellcome PLC, Has Launched An Expensive, Frenetic, Sometimes Secretive Lobbying War On Capitol Hill…” “At least one company, British-based Glaxo Wellcome PLC, has launched an expensive, frenetic, sometimes secretive lobbying war on Capitol Hill that critics say has played to those fears and prompted congressional proposals to block the FDA from moving against the inhalers. Glaxo has hired some big-name help, including Vice President Gore’s former press secretary, Marla E. Romash, to help push the issue. ‘It’s gotten way out of hand and a lot of it is driven by the industry, most of it by Glaxo,’ says Corinna Gilfillan, a lobbyist for Friends of the Earth, an environmental group.” (Bill McAllister, “Ozone, Asthma And Inhalers: Drugmaker’s Lobbying Assailed,” The Washington Post, 5/6/98)

McGinty Pledged To Take On “The Muscle Of Big Pharma”

• VIDEO: McGinty: “Health Care Is A Fundamental And Essential Right And I Want To Take On Very Directly The Muscle Of Big Pharma.” (Keystone Progressive Summit, Harrisburg, PA, 2/19/16)

McGinty Joined Lobbying Firm Troutman Sanders In 2000

• In April 2000, McGinty Joined The Washington, D.C. Office Of Troutman Sanders To Advise Clients On Environmental Matters, Biotechnology And International Economic Development. “Troutman Sanders: The Atlanta law firm said Kathleen A. McGinty, former environmental adviser to the White House, has joined its Washington practice. Her duties will include advising clients in environmental matters, biotechnology and international economic development.” (“Executive Portfolio,” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 4/8/00)

• Troutman Sanders Has Been Described As “A Notorious DC Law Firm With A Reputation For Defending The Worst Corporate Polluters And Using Its Lobbying Might To Carve Up Environmental Legislation.” “McGinty returned to the states in this winter. It didn’t take her long to find a job. Not with the Gore campaign, but as the legislative affairs director of Troutman Sanders, a notorious DC law firm with a reputation for defending the worst corporate polluters and using its lobbying might to carve up environmental legislation. One of the firm’s star litigators, Daniel Reinhardt, successfully defended Mobil Oil Company in one of the first cases involving leaking underground gas storage tanks. Reinardt has also been retained on various matters by the Georgia Power Company defending it, as Reihnhardt notes in his bio, ‘in matters as diverse as alleged negligence in connection with electrocution injuries and death to alleged property damage to crops as a result of early defoliation allegedly caused by emissions from Georgia Power Company facilities.’ Then there is Eric Szweda, who boasts of ‘defending a client against a Clean Water Act citizen suit brought by the Sierra Club in the Middle District of Georgia’ over ‘alleged violations of industrial waste water permit limits for thermal discharges.’ Szweda also claims that he ‘achieved dismissal of a client from a class action lawsuit comprised of landowners adjacent to Georgia’s most high profile Superfund site.’” (Alexander Cockburn And Jeffrey St. Clair, “Katie’s New Gig,” Counter Punch, 10/23/00)

• “McGinty Was Recruited To Troutman Sanders By Thomas Jensen, Who Had Worked Under McGinty At The CEQ From 1995 Through 1997, Where He Was The Associate Director For Natural Resources. Since joining Troutman Sanders in 1997, Jensen’s resume boasts that he has provided ‘strategic advice’ on global climate policy to big energy firms, counseled an oil pipeline company on Endangered Species Act ‘litigation and related advocacy’, assisted an ‘air emissions broker’ in international pollution credit transactions, and advised a railroad company on NEPA compliance regarding the location of its ‘intermodal transit facility.’” (Alexander Cockburn And Jeffrey St. Clair, “Katie’s New Gig,” Counter Punch, 10/23/00)