Andy Stern Disregards Lobbying Laws, Assumes Open Access to Obama on CNN
Andy Stern, President of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU), contemptuously disregarded lobbying rules when questioned by Carol Costello on CNN’s American Morning on Jan 5.
On Nov. 13, 2009, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and Alliance for Worker Freedom Executive Director Brian Johnson called on acting United States Attorney Channing D. Phillips to investigate Stern’s potential violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), 2 U.S.C. 1601, et seq. Stern de-registered as a lobbyist in January 2007 however it appears he continues to lobby.
When asked about this by Carol Costello on CNN, Stern replied:
We’re going to send them a letter…I don’t care if I went there [The White House] once, or I went there every single day – they would think it’s too much.
It appears the law would think it is “too much” as well. The LDA defines a “lobbyist” as a person who spends over 20% of his time on “lobbying activities” per quarter. Evidence submitted by the organizations shows Stern spent 11 days at the White House and more meeting with members of Congress per quarter. Since 13 days per quarter constitutes the 20 percent threshold, and all prep-work, research, communication, etc also contributes to the 20 percent, an investigation was requested.
“It’s shocking that a White House which claims to be ‘the most transparent in history’, refused to comment to CNN on this matter, and is allowing Mr. Stern to claim he doesn’t have to follow the rules other lobbyists do, yet he can still visit the White House ‘every single day,’” says AWF Executive Director Brian Johnson.
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