By Kevin McCauley
Livingston Group, the D.C. firm of former Speaker of the House-designate Bob Livingston, received $132K from Egypt during the second-half of last year.
A major effort was to help squelch support for an Egypt democracy and human rights resolution (Senate Resolution 586) that was put forward by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.).
The non-binding resolution called for election monitors and release of political prisoners. It attracted a dozen co-sponsors but failed to make it out of the Foreign Relations Committee.
According to federal records, Livingston personally led the charge against the measure, contacting staffers in the offices of Republicans Jim DeMint (S.C.), John Barrasso (Wy.), Chris Bond (Mo.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Robert Bennett (Utah), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and David Vitter (La.).
Introduced in July, the resolution rapped the government of Hosni Mubarak for continuing to “harass, intimidate, arbitrarily detain, and engage in violence against peaceful demonstrators, journalists, human rights activities, and bloggers.”
It stated that political reform could help Egypt "counter extremism will also solidifying prospects for stability and prosperity."
The resolution said "unconditional support for governments that do not respect human rights undermines the credibility of the U.S. and creates tensions, including in the Muslim world, that can be exploited."
LG staffers also dealt with U.S./Egyptian security matters, making contact with Major Dan Mouton, aide-de-camp to U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus. It also reached out to Saudi Arabia via Tom Duffy, U.S. consulate general in Jeddah.
The firm contacted various think tanks and NGOs on U.S./Egyptian ties and regional security matters in the Middle East.
That roster includes Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, CATO Institute, Freedom House, Israel Policy Forum, Hudson Institute, Center for American Progress, Foundation for Middle East Peace, Human Rights Watch and Americans for Peace Now.
|