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CNN Didn't Disclose Trumpy Pundit's Lobbying For Norfolk Southern Rail

CNN Didn't Disclose Trumpy Pundit's Lobbying For Norfolk Southern Rail

David Urban

CNN’s State of the Union host Dana Bash held a Sunday roundtable discussion about the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment featuring CNN political commentator David Urban, who said that “there's plenty of blame to go around on this” and pivoted to criticizing the Biden administration. CNN never disclosed or asked Urban about his work for the culpable railroad, Norfolk Southern, which paid him and his then-lobbying firm over a million dollars.

Urban was until 2020 the president of the lobbying firm American Continental Group, where he lobbied for Norfolk Southern on “transportation issues related to railways” starting in 2009, according to federal disclosure forms. He and his firm collected at least $1,140,000, according to a calculation of federal data by ProPublica.

The Republican commentator is now the managing director for BGR Group, a leading lobbying firm that presents countless conflicts of interest for his on-air work. In its most recent lobbying quarter, BGR has continued to lobby on transportation issues. Its website also states: “Our clients in the aviation, automotive, rail, shipping and mass transit industries rely on BGR to educate political leaders about how vital these industries are to domestic and international commerce.”

Urban also played a keyrole in the election of former President Donald Trump, who weakened safety regulations in the rail industry.

He appeared on the February 26 edition of CNN’s State of the Union, where he participated in a panel discussion about East Palestine. CNN identified him on screen as a CNN political commentator and former Trump campaign adviser.

During the segment, Bash said that the Trump administration rolled back regulations, to which Urban replied: “There's plenty of blame to go around on this, on these kind -- when these kinds of things happen. But what's important is what we do moving forward, right, to take care of the people in these towns and communities.” He then went on to criticize the Biden administration for allegedly “sloughing off” the crisis.

CNN and Bash didn’t disclose Urban’s work for Norfolk Southern and BGR’s connections to the railroad industry. And Bash didn’t challenge him on whether any of the “blame” should go to Norfolk Southern or about his own work for the company. Norfolk Southern, specifically, lobbiedagainst safety regulations.

CNN has continued to employ Urban despite a dizzying array of ethical problems. For example:

  • Urban urged a military strike against Iran without any disclosure that he worked for defense contractors.
  • Urban praised then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper without the network disclosing that he personally lobbied the Defense Department on behalf of defense contractors.
  • Urban repeatedly attacked environmental protections without disclosing he lobbied for fossil fuel-related clients including Norfolk Southern, which transports coal.
  • Urban repeatedlypushedfor the passage of a trade agreement on-air after he was hired to lobby for it. The network didn’t disclose the conflict of interest.
  • Urban touted a lobbying client’s opposition to a tax bill without any disclosure that they paid him.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

David Urban

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As Attorney General, Laxalt Aided Top Clients Of Sister's GOP Lobbying Firm

@jeisrael
As Attorney General, Laxalt Aided Top Clients Of Sister's GOP Lobbying Firm

Adam Laxalt

Youtube Screenshot

Nevada Republican Senate nominee Adam Laxalt, who served as the state's attorney general from 2015 to 2019, frequently aided the clients of a lobbying firm, founded by a political adviser, that employed Laxalt's sister.

Laxalt is challenging Democratic Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in the midterm election that ends on Nov. 8.

Throughout his political career, Laxalt has relied on Robert Uithoven, a registered lobbyist and Republican strategist, for strategic advice. Uithoven managed Laxalt's successful 2014 campaign for attorney general; served as president of his Morning in Nevada state PAC; and has worked as a consultant to Laxalt's current Senate campaign in his current position with the Republican political consulting firm Axiom Strategies.

Uithoven founded the lobbying firm j3 STRATEGIES and served as its president from 2007 to 2021. During Laxalt's time as attorney general, j3 employed Laxalt's younger sister, Therese Laxalt, known as Tessa. She began as an intern and was later promoted to lobbyist and associate.

According to state lobbying disclosure records, both Uithoven and Tessa Laxalt represented the Las Vegas Sands corporation and its owner, the late billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and his family during Adam Laxalt's time in office.

Adam Laxalt aided Adelson, according to a 2017 report by the Nevada Independent, by asking A.G. Burnett, the chair of Nevada's Gaming Control Board, to have the board intervene on Adelson's behalf in a civil lawsuit in 2016. The board did not intervene.

Adam Laxalt also co-authored a December 2015 letter from eight state attorneys general to congressional committee leaders urging them to enact restrictions on Internet gambling. Adelson, through his Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, pushed the bill. He called competition to his casino businesses "a threat to our society — a toxin which all good people ought to resist." The U.S. Senate did not act on the bill.

The National Rifle Association paid Tessa Laxalt, Uithoven, and the j3 team to lobby on its behalf during that time. The NRA put Uithoven in charge of its unsuccessful effort to defeat a 2016 statewide ballot initiative to strengthen background checks of gun purchasers.

Laxalt starred in an ad for the NRA's Nevadans for Freedom campaign against the background checks proposal — the spot was still visible on the j3 Strategies website as of Thursday — and then refused to enforce the new law after voters approved it in August 2017.

Laxalt also aided two fossil fuel industry groups represented by j3.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a trade association for the coal industry, opposed the 2015 Clean Power Plan regulations promulgated by the EPA under President Barack Obama. In February 2016, Laxalt filed a friend of the court brief in support of a multistate lawsuit challenging the rules as beyond the agency's authority.

The Retail Energy Supplier Association, which represents electricity and natural gas providers, promoted a 2018 Nevada Energy Choice ballot initiative to allow consumers to select from multiple electricity companies. Laxalt publicly endorsed the effort, which was heavily bankrolled by Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, saying, "I hope choice will make our state dynamic and give people more options." Voters rejected their proposal 67%-33%.

A Laxalt campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

Asked about his firm's relationship with the former attorney general, Uithoven responded by emailing an emoji of a clown.

Cortez Masto has been endorsed for reelection by the Nevada Conservation League, the Sierra Club, the NRDC Action Fund, and Everytown for Gun Safety.

She has prioritized efforts to address climate change and favors "commonsense measures to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings like the one at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in my hometown of Las Vegas."

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

adam laxalt