Harold M. Ickes, former Clinton deputy chief of staff and long-time alleged union/mob lawyer, who is thought by many to be at the center of the Clinton-Gore campaign fundraising scandals, recently started his own lobbying firm by opening the Washington office of his former NY law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein. He is now reaping as much as $20,000 a month per client which includes the American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees’ International Union along with SEIU’s powerful affiliate, NY Local 1199 of the hospital workers’ union. Ickes has access into the AFL-CIO and helped with the campaign to defeat California’s Proposition 226. Now, he is trying to convince AFL-CIO boss John J. Sweeney into letting him represent the AFL-CIO. ”I expect we’ll cut a deal soon,” said Ickes. Yet controversies dog Ickes. On top of numerous Clinton-Gore fundraising probes, he has been implicated in the Teamsters mess. “As White House political gatekeeper, Ickes granted numerous favors to embattled Teamsters President Ron Carey. A House subcommittee is looking into whether he interceded with Labor Dept. officials and the U.S. Trade Rep. in exchange for contributions from the union.” [Business Week 07/13/98]
