Jerry Lewis (politician)
Overview
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Reference
Descriptions
| from The King of Payoffs, #5 in Rolling Stone's The Ten Worst Congressmen: |
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Aside from future jailbird William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, the sitting congressman most likely to be indicted is Lewis. As chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Lewis oversees nearly $900 billion a year in federal spending – but anyone looking for a slice of that money has to deal with his best friend, lobbyist Bill Lowery. "If you want an earmark from Lewis, you have to hire Lowery," says Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "There's a direct exchange." In return for the business, Lowery and his clients made more than $480,000 in contributions to Lewis – more than a third of the congressman's total campaign money since 2000. Lowery's firm, in turn, tripled its revenue to $5 million – and his clients pocketed hundreds of millions in federal pork projects from Lewis. Jerry Lewis (politician)/excerpt |