Don Young's A-Team
A handful of news outlets are reporting an interesting story about how Rep. Don Young's office is run. Apparently, when a new intern is learning the ropes, they are given a document called, "The 2111: An Intern's Survival Guide." (Don Young's office is 2111 Rayburn).
The guide provides tips that include, "The boss does not like facial piercings." And, "The boss expects you to open doors for him (particularly tricky when he does not specify where he is going, make a guess)."
More importantly, and much more damning, is that when interns answer the phone, they must learn who the members are of the "A-Team." According to the guide, "these people can talk to whomever they want, normally Mike or Sara. Tell them who it is and transfer over unless they say otherwise. I recommend looking up who they are."
So who are they? Lobbyists. Number one on the list is Rick Alcade, the lobbyist tied to the Coconut Road scandal that has gotten Young in trouble with the Feds. Lobbyists on the A-Team include:
Rick Alcalde
Randy DeLay (brother of former Rep. Tom DeLay)
Billy Lee Evans
Jay Dickey
Mike Henry (former Young staffer turned lobbyist)
Duncan Smith (former Young staffer turned lobbyist)
C.J. Zane (former Young staffer turned lobbyist)
Colin Chapman (former Young staffer turned lobbyist)
You can learn more about the guide at The Hill, The Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Talking Points Memo, and Roll Call ($).
And, of course, here is guide itself (PDF file).One more thing. Young's office is spinning this as no big deal. In the news reports, they are on record saying that the guide is "outdated" and was pieced together by several former interns, and in "no way reflects the official policies" of the office. However, the Hill source I spoke with told me that Young's chief of staff, Mark Anderson, mentioned above, was the one who personally handed the guide to the intern who eventually leaked the story to the press through a third party group.
UPDATE: Erick at RedState weighs in here. And here's a report from ProPublica, which points out that lobbyist Duncan Smith helped secure the earmark for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere."
