BP, coping with congressional investigations and criticism over its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, added lobbyists with ties to lawmakers from the region to the company’s growing team of Washington advisers.
Eris Group registered with Congress to lobby on energy and environment issues in May, according to records made public on June 18. Jennifer Bendall, a former policy adviser to Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, and Jesse McCollum, former chief of staff to Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) and a 2004 campaign aide to Rep. Chris John (D-La.) are representing BP within the Eris Group.
The firm’s regional connections bolster a BP lobbying network that includes Ken Duberstein, former chief of staff to President Reagan; Tony Podesta, brother of John Podesta, who managed President Obama’s transition team; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America who once worked for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
Thirty-five of the 49 lobbyists who have worked for BP since 2009 have worked for the federal government, according to Public Citizen.
BP and Obama agreed June 16 that the company will create a $20 billion fund for claims from the spill that followed an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the gulf. BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward was accused of “stonewalling” by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) when he told lawmakers at a June 17 hearing that he had no knowledge of decisions made before the explosion.
The Eris group, which calls itself “a boutique government consulting firm” on its Web site, notified the offices of Shelby and Klein that it was representing BP and hasn’t lobbied the lawmakers on the company’s behalf, according to Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo and Klein spokeswoman Melissa Silverman.
Shelby said June 20 that Hayward should step down after attending a yacht race in Britain. Shelby called the move as the spill continues “the height of stupidity” in comments on the CBS program “Face the Nation.”
BP spent more than $3.5 million lobbying Congress and the administration during the first three months of the year, the latest records available. The London company spent almost $16 million lobbying in 2009, ranking it among the biggest spenders in Washington.
