ADVERTISEMENT

Politico Still Crazy Over Republican Congressman Bill Shuster

Democratic Group's fingerprints on damaging coverage

Bill Shuster / AP
July 17, 2015

Politico, a Rosslyn, Va., based website located several stories below the Washington Free Beacon, continues its coverage of Republican Rep. Bill Shuster (Pa.) three months after its report attacking the congressman's personal relationship with a registered lobbyist fell flat.

Politico ran a pair of stories in April saying that Shuster’s relationship with a lobbyist for Airlines of America, which the bachelor Shuster admitted and described as "personal and private," caused a "tremendous conflict of interest."

It was noted at the bottom of Politico’s lengthy initial report (1,550 words), however, that the reporters were unable to find anything Shuster has done wrong.

"There is no apparent ethics violation by Shuster, even if he backed or advocated on behalf of legislation supported by her organization," wrote reporters Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, and John Bresnahan.

As was noted by the determined reporters on Politico’s Shuster beat, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R., Ohio) saw no conflict of interest issues, and Shuster said he had no thought of recusing himself from working on a FAA bill. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said that "Shuster has done what the House Ethics Committee would expect from any member in this situation."

When the same three Politico reporters published another attack less than a month later, the Huffington Post noted that Politco’s "war over Bill Shuster’s scalp rages on."

"Everything is pointless," added the Huffington Post.

The story, this time on Shuster’s fundraising, was the result of research done by the liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which is now operated by David Brock, who also runs CREW’s liberal sister site Media Matters.

Following a quote from the group’s executive director, Noah Bookbinder, it was noted that CREW "initially raised questions about the contributions and legislation to POLITICO."

The next attack from Politico on Shuster, which was published this week, also appears to have come from Brock’s CREW.

A tweet from Matt Corley, CREW’s research director, pointed out Shuster’s increased legal spending and came just an hour before Politico’s article was published.

"Rep. Bill Shuster's campaign paid $21k in legal fees in 2ndQ, up from $3k in 1stQ," wrote Corley. "Fall out from Politico report of lobbyist relationship?"

Just hours after Shuster’s quarterly Federal Election Commission filing became public on Wednesday, Politico reported that he boosted his spending on lawyers during the months of April and June up to $21,000, noting that it was "seven times what he spent in the first quarter of this year."

In this case, the story may have been the result of the reporters’ own doing.

A source familiar with the goings-on of congressional offices told the Washington Free Beacon that this increased spending is likely due to the fact that Politico kept making inquiries.

"It is standard practice for any office in Congress to reach out to legal counsel whenever the media inquires about legal documents," a longtime congressional press aide said. "That would be necessary to properly respond to the stories."

Politico wrote six stories in the four week span from April 16 to May 11 for which Shuster’s office would have had to reach out to its law firm. That means law firm Berke Farah would rack up more billable hours than usual.

Casey Contres, a spokesman for Shuster’s office, confirmed to the Free Beacon that they saw it necessary to engage legal counsel.

"In order to provide sufficient and timely information, of course we engage counsel to ensure we have correctly provided them with the requested information," Contres said.

Questions to Politico regarding how much information has been requested from Shuster have thus far gone unanswered.

The latest article appeared in Thursday’s print version of Politico alongside an article also by Sherman and Palmer on former Rep. Aaron Schock (R., Ill.), who resigned this year after an investigation revealed major ethics violations, noting that his legal spending jumped to more than $1 million.

Politico, p.14, Thursday, July  16, 2015
Politico, p.14, Thursday, July 16, 2015

While Shuster’s $21,000 legal bill may have been seven times bigger than it was the quarter before, it was still 50 times smaller than Schock’s.

Appearing in the same print version of Politico, but not grouped with Shuster and Schock, was a story that Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), who was indicted earlier this year for federal corruption charges, raised more than $1.5 million for his legal defense fund.

Shuster's office is not currently under investigation for any wrongdoing, nor has it been since the start of Politico's coverage.