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John McCain, His Big Oil Lobbyists, and His Big Oil Policies

By Michael Lang on Jun 18, 2008 in BEHAVIOR DOESN'T LIE

"I will oppose any tax breaks or good deals for the gas and oil industry also."

–John McCain at a town hall meeting in Rindge, NH, 11/18/07

McCain Donations from Big Oil

Oil and Gas Campaign Contributions: has Taken At Least $1,069,854 from the Oil & Gas Industry. According to a Campaign Money Watch analysis of campaign finance data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics Center, John McCain has accepted at least $1,069,854 from the oil and gas industry since 1989. [Center for Responsive Politics via Campaign Money Watch]

John McCain has at least 22 people working for his campaign, either as top fundraisers or as senior campaign staff, that have lobbied for Big Oil.

McCain’s Big Oil Lobbyists

Number	Name of Lobbyist	Campaign Role	Firm or Company	Oil Clients
1	Rebecca Anderson	Women for McCain Steering Committee	Williams & Jensen	Sunoco
2	Wayne Berman	National Finance Co-Chairman	Ogilvy Government Relations	Amerada Hess Chevron Texaco American Petroleum Institute
3	Charlie Black	Senior Political Adviser	BKSH	Occidental Petroleum Corp. Yukos Oil Chinese National Off-Shore Oil Corp.
4	Carlos Bonilla*	Economic Adviser	Washington Group	Chesapeake Energy
5	Eric Burgeson**	Fundraiser	Barbour Griffith & Rogers	BP
6	Kerry Cammack	Fundraiser	Cammack and Strong	Exxon Mobil
7	Frank Donatelli	McCain Pick as Deputy RNC Chair	McGuire Woods	Exxon Mobil Dominion Resources
8	Melissa Edwards	Fundraiser	Washington Group	Chesapeake Energy
9	John Green	Congressional Liaison	Ogilvy Government Relations	Amerada-Hess Chevon Texaco El Paso Energy American Petroleum Institute
10	Robert Harding	Fundraiser	Greenberg Traurig	Chevron Murphy Oil Phillips Petroleum Company***
11	Richard Hohlt	Fundraiser	Hohlt and Associates	Chevron
12	James "Jim" Hyland	Fundraiser	Pennsylvania Avenue Group	BP America Independent Fuel Terminal Operators Assoc. Occidental Petroleum Corp. Independent Fuel Terminal Operators Assoc.
13	Peter Madigan	Fundraiser	Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart	Shell Oil
14	Susan Molinari	Women for McCain Steering Committee	Washington Group	Chesapeake Energy
15	Jack Oliver	Fundraiser	Bryan Cave Strategies	Shell Oil
16	Nancy Pfotenhauer	Adviser	Koch Industries	Koch Industries
17	Steve Phillips	Fundraiser	DLA Piper	BP America Occidental Petroleum
18	Elise Pickering	Women for McCain Steering Committee	Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti	Koch Industries
19	Sloan Rappoport	Fundraiser	Downey McGrath Group	Koch Industries
20	Matt Salmon	Fundraiser	Greenberg Traurig	El Paso Energy
21	Randy Scheunemann	Defense and Foreign Policy Coordinator	Scheunemann and Associates	BP Amoco
22	Jeffrey Weiss	Fundraiser	BKSH	Yukos Oil Company

* Carlos Bonilla was forced to leave the campaign as an adviser because of his lobbying activity

** Eric Burgeson was forced to leave the campaign as an adviser because of his lobbying on energy issues, but McCain has not given any indication he intends to return the money raised by Burgeson

*** The Phillips Petroleum Company has since merged with Conoco to form ConocoPhillips