Top Staffer for Rep. Issa’s Committee Maintains Financial Relationship

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Top Staffer for Rep. Issa’s Committee Maintains Financial Relationship With Lobbying Group
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/21/274761/issa-staffer-lobbyist/

When he became chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) hired a large new staff to assist him with investigations. As reporters from the Watchdog Institute noted, many of Issa’s recruits came from industry or with lobbying backgrounds. However, a ThinkProgress investigation has found that at least one of Issa’s hires still maintains a financial relationship with the lobbying group he left to become a federal employee under Issa.

Last year, as Issa began recruiting for his committee, he selected Peter Warren, a lobbyist for the student loan industry. Warren had been president and executive vice president of government affairs of the Education Finance Council (EFC), a trade association for student loan companies and nonprofits, since 2004. He left EFC for the Karl Rove front group American Action Forum for a brief stint in 2010 before joining Issa as the policy director of the House Oversight Committee.

Many lobbyists burrow into government to write laws or regulations, then leave to take even higher paid positions back in the private sector. This phenomenon — the so-called “revolving door,” or reverse revolving door in this case — has plagued government for years. While examples of such corruption are boundless on both sides of the aisle, Warren is particularly interesting given his continued relationship with his lobbying group. According to disclosures filed with the House clerk, Warren signed a severance agreement with EFC before leaving to work in government. Congressional personnel are expected to disclose when they maintain benefits packages, promises of bonuses when they return to work for an outside organization, or other financial ties. Take a look at a screenshot of Warren’s disclosure below