'Not Surprising' But 'So Shameful': Ousted by Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Crowley Heads to K Street Lobbying [View all]

[jalan48]

After losing a primary race against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in what's been called last year's biggest political upset, former Congressman Joe Crowley is headed to one of K Street's largest law and lobbying firms—surprising no one, but garnering a fresh wave of criticism nonetheless.

When Ocasio-Cortez, then a 28-year-old organizer, toppled the 10-term incumbent last year, she had said in her victory speech, "The message that we sent the world tonight is that it is not okay to put donors before your community." Crowley's move to K Street revived critiques of his priorities that tanked his bid to hold on to his U.S. House seat. As one New Yorker put it, "There is a reason that @AOC won my district."

Following months of speculation and reporting that he was being courted by various lobbying groups, news broke Tuesday that Crowley—alongside former Republican Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania—was hired by Squire Patton Boggs. Squire Patton Boggs counts among its clients several major corporations and governments across the globe. As Politico noted, "The firm's dozens of lobbying clients include Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and UnitedHealth, according to disclosure filings, as well as the governments of Cameroon, China, Croatia, Qatar, and South Korea, and the Palestinian Authority." The Washington Post's Jeff Stein, citing the Center for Responsive Politics, added Amazon, Samsung, and Royal Dutch Shell to that list.

Avi Asher-Schapiro of the Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted the firm's work for Saud al-Qahtani, an aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman—the man who is widely believed to have ordered the assassination of Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/19/not-surprising-so-shameful-ousted-ocasio-cortez-joe-crowley-heads-k-street-lobbying