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Thursday, May 31, 2018

A Nice Description of Shadow Lobbying


Jonathan Tamari at The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent has taken a government affairs job with the law firm DLA Piper, setting up the former House Ethics Committee chairman to offer his knowledge of government and Congress to private clients.
Dent, a Republican from Allentown, will work in the firm’s Philadelphia and Washington, offices, he told the Inquirer and Daily News in an interview. He resigned from public office in mid-May.

Dent — who rose to national prominence as an outspoken critic of hard-right Republicans and President Trump — will now join an international law firm with offices in 40 countries, and whose lobbying clients include Philadelphia-based Comcast, the AARP, Coca-Cola, the PGA Tour and the defense contractor Raytheon.
While congressional rules bar former members from lobbying for one year after leaving office, many ex-lawmakers offer advice and insight before then without taking action that might be defined as lobbying. Dent did not rule out the possibility of becoming a lobbyist in the future.
“When the time comes I’m going to evaluate that, but I’m not against the idea of advocating for issues and clients that I believe in,” Dent said. For now, “I expect to use my expertise and experience in a way that will be helpful to people who have a difficult time figuring out how our government works.”