From the K Street Corridor

by kstreet@nationaljournalcom

Sat. Apr. 5, 2008


Boeing and Northrop's Air Battle

Defense contractors are supposed to deliver the goods and let the military do the fighting, but don't tell that to Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The two companies are intensifying their public-relations war over the Air Force's decision to award a $35 billion refueling tanker contract to Grumman and EADS, the parent company of European aircraft builder Airbus. Boeing is contesting the fairness of the contracting process. In late March, the company took its protest national, detailing its complaints in a reported $3 million worth of full-page ads in 41 newspapers. Days later, Northrop -- which recently hired former White House spokesman Dan Bartlett at the Texas-based Public Strategies firm -- fired back with full-page ads in The Washington Postand Capitol Hill-focused newspapers, featuring an "open letter" to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The letter, signed by 22 retired Air Force generals, denounces what it calls a "vitriolic attack on the Air Force" over its decision. Left unsaid is that all of the generals are either employees of, or consultants to, Northrop Grumman and its subcontractors, according to Randy Belote, a company spokesman. Belote said the letter was a spontaneous effort by the generals that Northrop merely publicized, but at least one signer said he was recruited by a Northrop manager. The Washington Post ad, moreover, did not mention that Northrop was the sponsor. Belote said that the Post policy didn't require the disclosure; a Post spokesman said that the newspaper's policy is to disclose sponsorship, but that the omission in the late-arriving ad slipped through unnoticed.--Julie Kosterlitz

Tax-Time Changes

The lobbying shop that veteran tax lobbyist Ken Kies manages -- the Federal Policy Group -- has been through a string of staff changes over the past year, and the latest is the departure of Director James Carlisle, who has joined the Washington office of Bank of America. Carlisle's replacement is John Godfrey, a journalist with Dow Jones Newswires. Godfrey said he'll be an "in-house reporter" for the lobbying firm, where he'll serve as the "eyes and ears" for the group's clients on Capitol Hill. Kies's group was among the top 25 firms, in terms of lobbying fees, in 2006, but dropped below the top 25 in 2007.--Bara Vaida

At the Willard, Writing Checks

Dozens of D.C. lobbyists and lawyers -- including several who backed other candidates in the primaries -- are getting together to raise $10,000 each for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain at an early-evening bash on April 8 at the Willard Hotel. The co-chairs for the fundraiser include such longtime supporters of the Arizona senator as Kirk Blalock of Fierce Isakowitz & Blalock; Tim McKone, lobbyist for AT&T; and Kyle McSlarrow, the head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Among the newcomers are Ben Ginsberg, a Patton Boggs lawyer (and early backer of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney) and Dirk Van Dongen, the president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (who ran the D.C. fundraising team for ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani). Noting that the Willard event is the first one in Washington since McCain became the presumptive nominee, Van Dongen says, "I expect you'll see a significant number of former Romney and Giuliani supporters in attendance."--Peter H. Stone

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