Wicker trades pork for campaign cash
JACKSON (Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008) – The Washington Post reported today that Roger Wicker secured a $6 million earmark as congressman for a defense contractor that gave thousands to his re-election campaign and hired his former chief of staff as a lobbyist.
Wicker secured the earmark for Virginia-based Aurora Flight Science – which was his top campaign contributor in 2006, donating more than $13,000 that year alone to the then-congressman’s re-election bid for the 1st Congressional District U.S. House seat.
In addition to showering Wicker’s re-election campaign with cash, the lobbying firm that represents Aurora hired the then-congressman’s former chief of staff, John Keast.
The Washington Post wrote that Wicker’s $6 million earmark for Aurora “fits a pattern that recently attracted bipartisan criticism and gave rise to the most far-reaching ethics overhaul legislation in a generation.”
Wicker, a Republican and interim U.S. senator, will meet Democrats Ronnie Musgrove and Ronnie Shows in a special election this year to complete the unexpired term of former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott.
“Roger Wicker is the poster child for quid pro quo politics, repaying campaign cash with an even more generous earmark,” said Wayne Dowdy, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party.
“Sen. Wicker was elected to look out for the people of Mississippi, not to fill his campaign coffers. When the moving company relocates Wicker’s things from his House office to his temporary Senate office, I hope they leave the revolving door behind.”
Wicker’s earmark was criticized by independent watchdog groups Project on Government Oversight and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, better known as CREW.
MS Democratic Party
1/16/8
