DC's corruption network

(The term "corruption network" was used in last Sunday's NYT Magazine piece on El Paso, "Life on the Line Between El Paso and Juárez," and I liked the sound of it.)

Mike DeBonis' column, "D.C. officials’ use of lobbyists as their attorneys raises questions," in today's Post is about the incestuous relationships between lawyers, in particular David Wilmot and Frederick Cooke, who serve as lobbyists on DC Government matters and also represent DC government appointed and elected officials in white collar criminal matters.

The column fails to mention that the incestuous relationships go further, as David Wilmot, Frederick Cooke, and Scott Bolden are also DC Government contractors (see the 2009 Post article, "Lobbyist's salary for nonprofit overseeing group homes challenged"), raking in lots of dough as board members for a "nonprofit" providing services to profoundly developmentally disabled adults, Individual Development Inc.

Also see "D.C. lobbyists rake in the dough in first half of 2010" from the Washington Business Journal on how these same people are prodigious fundraisers for local politicians.

Compliments of Mike DeBonis, here is a link to an article from a 1995 edition of the Washington City Paper on these same people, "Tag Team: Need something done at city hall? Call David Wilmot or Fred Cooke, the District's premier power brokers."

(At a community meeting probably 7 years ago, I pissed Scott Bolden off when he was running for City Council, and he claimed he could help people even more than he was currently, if only were he elected to City Council. I challenged him, saying something like "you help businesses and the well-connected, not people like us" and he got really pissed.)