Obama Transition Team Lays Out Restrictions for Lobbyists
COLLINS: President-elect Obama wasting no time taking on lobbyists. His transition team laid out what they call the strictest and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history. Special investigations unit correspondent, Abbie Boudreau, is actually joining us live with more about this now. So, a lot of people may be wondering, what can lobbyists expect under this new administration?</s>ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Well these new rules mostly deal with the federal lobbyists. They can't give money to the transition team, they can no longer lobby if they work for the transition team. And there is also a 12-month wait for anyone who works on the transition before they can lobby. All of these changes are meant to reduce the influence of special interests.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I don't take a dime from Washington lobbyists and special interests.</s>BOUDREAU (voice-over): For months, President-elect Obama has promised tough reforms.</s>OBAMA: They do not run my campaign. They will not run my White House.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's power.</s>BOUDREAU: Obama's message is critical in this class for lobbyists in training at Georgetown University's law school.</s>PROF. CHAI FELDBLUM, GEORGETOWN UNIV. LAW CENTER: You heard from -- during this campaign, right, President-elect Barack Obama saying it's not going to be the same. We're not going to have lobbyists controlling things.</s>BOUDREAU: Michael Lewan could be teaching the class. For 16 years he's lobbied for some of the biggest corporations in America.</s>MICHAEL LEWAN, LOBBYIST: It's a dirty word partially because we've made it so as an industry. But perhaps more so because it has just gotten to be such a mantra out there on the campaign trails.</s>BOUDREAU: Lewan says in the wake of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff's conviction of influence peddling on Capitol Hill, in 2006 Congress passed stricter rules. Lewan, and other Washington lobbyists, say the crackdown is long overdue.</s>LEWAN: Over the course of the campaign, all of us that lobby were vilified. It's my hope that we can sort of bring down that level of vilification by cooperating with the new administration.</s>BOUDREAU (on camera): We have all of these professional trained lobbyists, and then we have you.</s>EMILY YOFFE, AUTHOR: Yes.</s>BOUDREAU (voice-over): Emily Yoffe writes for the Slate Web site. She wanted to see if only the powerful lobbyists had the influence.</s>YOFFE: After Jack Abramoff was sent off to the slammer, my editor said, well, can anyone be a lobbyist? And said, you come up with an organization and go up on the Hill and see where you get.</s>BOUDREAU: So, she came with</s>SNOP. YOFFE: Spay and Neuter Our Pets.</s>BOUDREAU: Yoffe said even she was surprised how far she got. (on camera): And how seriously did the staffers take you?</s>YOFFE: My longest meeting was 40 minutes.</s>BOUDREAU: Wow.</s>YOFFE: Which I couldn't believe.</s>BOUDREAU (voice-over): She never met with a member of Congress. But she does feel ordinary people do have influence. Professor Chai Feldblum says now many other grassroots groups may have a stronger voice.</s>FELDBLUM: We will see change in this city after January 20th.</s>BOUDREAU: And there's already changes. Earlier today I talked with an Obama spokesperson. He told me in addition to the other restrictions, the transition team also has a ban on gifts. He says the team will not accept gifts worth more than $20 unless it's from a family member or a close personal friend. And no gifts, absolutely no gifts, from lobbyists will be accepted.</s>COLLINS: Interesting. Kind of like the policy here at CNN for journalists, of course. Got to be ethical about all of this stuff.</s>BOUDREAU: More transparency.</s>COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. Abbie Boudreau, great story. Thanks so much.</s>BOUDREAU: Thank you.</s>COLLINS: Falling energy prices taking the wind out of energy alternatives for now. Even a billionaire is slowed down by the economic slowdown.