Whiff of Scandal Envelops Mccain's Campaign

The scandal over Republican front runner John McCain's relationship with a female lobbyist took a new twist yesterday with revelations that he had met one of her clients.

McCain's campaign had earlier strongly denied that he had a meeting with wealthy broadcaster Lowell Paxson - a client of Washington-based lobbyist Vicki Iseman - before he sent two controversial letters urging a federal body to make a quick decision on Paxson's attempt to buy a television station.

The issue is important because McCain has made personal ethics a key plank of his so far successful bid to capture the Republican nomination. He frequently rails against the influence of lobbyists and the corrupting power of big business and money in politics.

But now he is mired in a scandal over his relationship with Iseman. McCain and Iseman have both strongly denied that they had an affair, but the emphasis of the story has since shifted towards McCain's relationship with Iseman's clients, which in the end could prove much more politically damaging.

Now Paxson himself has spoken out and said that he did meet with McCain in the senator's office and told him about the TV station issue. 'I remember going there to meet with him,' he told the Washington Post. 'I would love for you to write a letter,' Paxson recalls saying.

McCain's denial earlier last week of meeting Paxson also appears to contradict testimony he gave during debates on campaign finance reform.

In a 2002 deposition, McCain acknowledged talking to Paxson about the TV station deal and being asked to write a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 'I said I would be glad to write a letter asking them to act,' McCain stated.

The controversy now centers on the appearance that McCain may have lobbied on Paxson's behalf. Paxson, who had made campaign contributions to McCain and repeatedly lent him his private jet, was keen to buy a TV station in Pittsburgh. But the FCC had delayed making a decision on the case.

McCain, who was then head of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee, wrote two letters asking the commission to hurry up its decision. The FCC then issued a written rebuke, calling McCain's intervention 'highly unusual'.

McCain's campaign team have defended the action, saying that McCain merely asked the FCC to make a decision more speedily. They point out that McCain explicitly did not ask for that decision to be made in Paxson's favor or not.

The continuing scandal over such apparently arcane details has rocked the McCain campaign. Fresh from emerging as the almost certain Republican nominee, McCain was preparing for a victory round of primary contests with his one remaining rival, the long-shot Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. But last week the New York Times dropped a bombshell with an article on McCain's relationship with Iseman and hinting strongly that the two may have had a sexual relationship. The story caused an immediate furore and the Times then came under a storm of criticism for publishing a story it had kept under wraps for several months.

After the news broke the traditionally press-friendly McCain campaign went into shutdown, canceling a press conference and keeping reporters away from McCain except at designated moments.

Such a reaction was understandable. Much of McCain's popular appeal has been based on his image as a no-nonsense politician who is unafraid to take on vested interests and who has strong moral fiber. McCain has been a widely respected leader of the movement to reform campaign finances, which seeks to reduce the influence of lobbyists. His campaign bus is called the Straight Talk Express. One of the main thrusts of his campaign stump speeches is a rally against politicians doing special favors for their supporters.

Now that image is under threat with the continuing revelations about McCain's relationship with Iseman and whether this may have led him to lobby on behalf of her clients.

Iseman arranged countless meetings for Paxson with Washington's movers and shakers. Paxson told the Post that it was possible that Iseman had been in the same room as he and McCain when he asked McCain to write to the FCC.

'Was Vicki there? Probably. The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us to meetings,' he said.

Five days after McCain sent his second letter to the FCC, it voted in favor of Paxson's takeover of the TV station. But the deal later collapsed.