Abstract

Beltway Bandits

The article presents information on various recent developments in the U.S. When U.S. President Bill Clinton, with little fanfare, recently announced the appointment of Patrick Griffin as White House lobbyist, he released a short statement that covered Griffin's past. Griffin was a Senate aide for eight years. He joined a public relations firm, and then in 1986 he started his own company, Griffin, Johnson and Associates. The President hailed Griffin's experience in the private sector, but the White House did not detail his corporate exploits or describe his firm. It's not that secrecy shrouds Griffin's venture. The company is a well-known powerhouse of mercenary lobbyists. Cigarette pushers, drug profiteers, military contractors, big and dirty energy companies--manipulating the system for them all is what Griffin has been doing. For weeks the Clinton Administration has signaled that it is tired of supporting exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At the same time, some officials find it hard to support Clinton's course on Haiti. When Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck suggested that the Administration review its adoption of the Bush-originated policy of forcibly repatriating Haitian refugees, he was publicly slammed by senior officials and compelled to eat his heretical words.