NY Times has yet to challenge claim by McCain adviser and Bush "Pioneer" Charlie Black that he doesn't lobby candidates he works for

SUMMARY: In a post on The Caucus, Michael Luo uncritically quoted -- and The New York Times has yet to challenge -- the assertion by McCain adviser Charlie Black that "I have personally had a policy that, if I'm working in somebody's campaign that I do not lobby they and their staff, since 1984." In fact, the Politico's Mike Allen reported that while "Black served as an informal adviser to the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004," "[l]obbying filings show that in 2003 and 2004, Black's firm lobbied the Defense Department, State Department and Executive Office of the President on behalf of" Fluor Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. According to a search of the Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, in 2003 or 2004, Black's firm lobbied the Executive Office of the President for 12 companies or individuals in addition to those Allen cited. Moreover, during the period that Black was lobbying the Bush administration, he and his wife were "Pioneers" for the Bush/Cheney campaign, raising more than $100,000.

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