John McCain’s denials start to unravel in tale of the blonde lobbyist

[babylonsister]

John McCain’s denials start to unravel in tale of the blonde lobbyist
The Republican saviour is looking rattled after claims of a sex for favours scandal
Sarah Baxter


If anything was going to derail John McCain’s White House bid, it was the fear that he was too old to be president, not the likelihood of being embroiled in a sex and favours scandal. But when the Arizona senator reached for the lawyer who steered Bill Clinton through his women troubles, it was a sign that he was seriously rattled.

At the moment that the race was shaping up to be an epic contest between Barack Obama and McCain – the future versus the past, as Obama would have it, or naivety versus experience, as McCain prefers to frame it – the scandal hit the newsstands. After an early, highly successful counterattack, McCain was accused this weekend of being economical with the truth as far as some aspects of the story were concerned.

The essence of the tale is fairly simple. Vicki Iseman, 40, a blonde telecommunications lobbyist, became friends with McCain, 71, eight years ago. Some advisers thought the relationship might be romantic.

There is no evidence of an affair but they were certainly cosy. Iseman accompanied him to fundraisers, travelled with him on a client’s jet and appeared to trade on her relationship with him to such an extent that McCain’s senior advisers warned her to back off.

Adding spice to the story, Iseman appears to resemble McCain’s wife, Cindy, another pencil-thin blonde, who stood by her husband last week as he repeatedly denied both the sexual innuendo and specific allegations of favours in the story.

more...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3423459.ece

[Mike03]

1. Great catch!

McCain does have numerous secrets. Or maybe "myriad secrets" is the more appropriate term. His house of cards will come tumbling down, believe me, just as Guilliani's did.

[lligrd]

2. Kick nt

[Virginia Dare]

3. Sex, lies, now all we need is the videotape...n/t

[samplegirl]

4. He cheated on his first wife.....

lets face it he's a hard dog to keep on the porch!

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Maybe not off the porch, but he's surely off his rocker.

Count on that.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. I think there is more of this story yet to come.

Where there's smoke...............

[babylonsister]

10. I do, too. And McCain claiming he'll no longer talk about it makes

him look guilty of something imo.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. You can bet that he wants it to end right now.

But what he wants and what happens next may be two different matters.

[gratuitous]

6. Not straight-talking Johnny Maverick!

This is, of course, a UK story. No way the popular media in the U.S. is going to start asking their darling a bunch of pointed, embarrassing questions about fooling around on his wife with a young blonde. Even though Straight-Talkin' Johnny Maverick has kind of a record of doing that sort of thing. Just ask the present Mrs. Maverick.

[KharmaTrain]

8. The Scent Of Sex...The Stench Of Corruption

McCain may very much regret not having sex with that woman...cause he dug himself deeper in this scandal not by denying the sex, but by softpeddling the political relationship...the one that is starting to drip, drip, drip.

McCain claims he never talked to the NYT to squash the story...it's proven he talked to the NYT to squash the story. He says he never met with Bud Paxon and took favors, not only does Paxson say he did, McCain in his own deposition says he did. Oops. People are still digging into how the McCain/Iserman connection went and all the money that exchanged hands.

I see a lot more here to uncover as McCain used his muscle to help his buddies who knew Iserman were the keys to the kingdom...it's K Street in all its naked glory.

:hi:

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. The Repubes rallying around him will be looking stupid if this gets deeper

Those guys had better hope there isn't more to this matter.

[KharmaTrain]

12. Note How Quick They Jumped...

It's their leap of faith into the abyss. In some ways I think Keller set a trap for them with the sex angle as he knew that the lobbyist story was the one that had the real damage. It's similar to the Rudy situation...he could have brushed off the sex (and we saw the hate radio crowd rush to his defense) but it was the use of that relationship for personal gain that hurt Rudy, and that same stench could stick to McCain.

I'm familiar with many of the names on Ms. Iseman's client list and the stories I'm seeing being uncovered (emptywheel has some of the dots connected) are bringing back a lot of memories of the wheeling and dealing that was going on at that time. McCain's power over the FCC and his willingness to use it shows how Mr. Straight Talk...the "maverick" was playing inside poker all along.

Stay tuned...yes, there's lots more to come...and I suspect other names will surface as well.

[babylonsister]

13. I wonder why he hired a high-powered lawyer last year if there was

nothing to this?

Here's an interesting video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x96448