Lobbying for Libya--and Bush

A last-minute endorsement of President George W. Bush by a hastily formed coalition of Arab-Americans was coordinated in part by a registered lobbyist for the Libyan regime of Col. Muammar Kaddafi--a government formally branded by the State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Randa Fahmy Hudome, who just this month signed a $1.4 million contract to represent the Libyan government, served as a behind-the-scenes "media consultant" helping to prepare this week's press release praising Bush's record in promoting "human rights, democracy and self-determination" in the Middle East, a chief organizer of the group told NEWSWEEK.

Walid Phares, who described himself as the academic adviser for the newly created group called Middle Eastern American National Conference, said he had no idea when he worked with Hudome in recent days on the group's endorsement that she was simultaneously representing Libyan interests in Washington as a recently registered foreign agent.

Copies of the Bush endorsement, and Hudome's candid comments on strategy and the prospective signatories, were shared with a top Bush campaign official prior to its release--and then inadvertently sent to an anti-Bush organization, which promptly posted them on its Web site.

"For now on, we're not going to be consulting with her," Phares said about Hudome's role as an adviser to his organization.

Until last year, Hudome was a top Bush administration energy official, serving as chief aide on international issues to Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. Her new role as Washington representative for the Kaddafi regime has raised eyebrows in Washington's lobbying community--both because of the lucrative size of her contract and her continued connections with the Bush campaign. Until President Bush lifted most economic sanctions against Libya this summer, citing its cooperation in giving up its nuclear program, it was illegal for Americans to have financial dealings with Libya--or represent its government in Washington.

Hudome, who briefed Bush on Arab-American issues during the 2000 election, confirmed to NEWSWEEK she has been serving as an adviser and informal strategist for the Bush campaign this time as well as serving as a sometime surrogate speaker on the president's behalf before Arab-American audiences.

"I'm happy to help whenever they call me," said Hudome. "I'm happy to speak on the president's behalf." But she added, "I don't see any conflict" with her role as Libyan lobbyist. "I can give you a list of 101 foreign agents who play active roles on plenty of campaigns," Hudome said. "There are plenty of lobbyists in town who do political work, as well. I also have 20 years of experience in [domestic] politics. I don't see a problem with this."

Hudome also said that she has recently hired as a partner in her Libya work a former Clinton administration official who is now active in the Kerry campaign. But unlike Hudome, that person has not yet registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. She declined to identify the individual. (Late Thursday, Hudome emailed and phoned a reporter that a top Kerry campaign foreign policy aide, Jonathan Winer, has been a registered foreign agent for Indonesia. Winer told NEWSWEEK that he resigned as a lobbyist for Indonesia when he went to work for the Kerry campaign and that the campaign has an "informal policy" prohibiting such connections for campaign officials.)

Still, Hudome's role is likely to prove controversial because of Libya's status as a formally designated sponsor of terrorism--a label it is not likely to lose any time soon following recent evidence that Kaddafi sought to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia just last year. A U.S. Muslim activist, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison this month after confessing to his role in taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya to advance the plot. Sources tell NEWSWEEK that British authorities are actively investigating the Libyan plot and recently questioned Alamoudi about it at considerable length.

Hudome's role in helping to shape the endorsement--as well as her ties to the Bush campaign--was also sharply criticized by some of the family members of the victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. That attack has been linked to the Libyan government and was considered the most deadly terrorist act against American civilians until September 11.

"I think it's appalling," said Victoria Pimentel, whose husband, John B. Cummock, was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, and who has objected to the president's rapprochement with the Libyan government. "Clearly, you can buy policies and you can buy votes with this administration. Obviously, if you have a lobbyist for the Libyans who is out there trying to get Muslim votes for the president, it's a good indication of what this administration is all about."

"It's so blatantly obvious that there is coordination between the Bush campaign, the Kaddafi regime and the oil companies," said Dan Cohen, whose daughter was killed in the Lockerbie bombing. "If it weren't so serious, it would be laughable." Asked about Hudome's role, Steve Schmidt, deputy communications director for the Bush campaign. said: "We have hundreds of thousands of people who have volunteered their time to the Bush campaign. She is one of them." He declined further comment.

Hudome is not among the 15 Middle Eastern Americans who signed the letter, released by the newly formed Middle Eastern National Conference. Instead, it is signed by individuals who are described only as "Lebanese American" or "Assyrian American" or "Muslim American"--although many apparently are affiliated with organizations that plan to promote the endorsement on their Web sites. The group said in an press release that it is "based in Washington" but Phares, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, acknowledged that it doesn't actually have an office or a Web site. The letter praises the president's record "in the areas of U.S. national and homeland security, the international campaign against terrorism and the promotion of human rights, democracy and self-determination."

While Phares told NEWSWEEK he only asked Hudome to advise him on press strategy, Hudome said she actually did much more than that. "When he [Phares] sent it to me, I told him this was way, way too long and had too much mishmash," Hudome said. "I rewrote the press release and told him you need to have these points."

Although Phares insisted his organization has no formal connection to the Bush-Cheney campaign, Hudome's e-mail exchanges with Phares were copied to Jafar Karim, a top Bush-Cheney campaign official who serves as "national coalitions director." He did not return a telephone call and e-mail request for comment today.

"Walid, attached is the press release. Please fill in your contact number, letter head, etc. Also I need city and states to show geographical diversity," reads an Oct. 23 email--written all in upper case--from Hudome to Phares. Leave the last page as talkers for those who will be called by the press. Please let me know of approval ASAP so I can help you distribute to the press," Hudome's email continues.

In another Oct. 25 e-mail, in which Karim was also copied, Hudome said she had used Google to search for information about the prospective signatories of the Bush endorsement and advised that one of them, an Arab-American activist in Virginia, should not be included "for the reasons we discussed."

Hudome then continued: "Remember this: We do not want to do anything that might harm the President's chances of re-election by exposing him to any controversy. If you have doubts about these names--perhaps we don't need to do this press release."

The e-mails were posted this week, without comment and without any reference to Hudome's role as Libyan lobbyist, on the Web site of GeorgeWBush.org, an anti-Bush site that tries to imitate the look of the official Bush campaign Web site--GeorgeWBush.com--but laces it with material lampooning the president, such as links to spoof organizations like Billionaires for Bush and Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth.

Phares inadvertently sent e-mails meant for Karim, the Bush campaign official, to the wrong e-mail address by typing in GeorgeWBush.org. The anti-Bush site said the e-mails, along with many others directed to the Bush campaign, wound up in a "catch all" e-mailbox--the contents of which it gleefully shared with its readers this week. "It was sort of a trap," said Phares.

The pro-Bush endorsement contains language praising the president's record in a number of areas, including the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Israel-Palestine issue--and Libya. Specifically, it states: "We thank and congratulate the president for succeeding in the process of disarming the Libyan regime [of Kaddafi] and feel that a second term of the Bush presidency will press the Libyan regime to reform, and release the political prisoners."

Hudome said she did not write or tinker with the language on Libya and said she saw no conflict between its call for reform and her own representation of Libya. "Just because you represent a government doesn't mean you support everything they're doing," she said.