By: E&P Staff It had the story back in December, rumor had it, but The New York Times did not run with it until tonight: detailing some kind of relationship between Sen. John McCain and a lobbyist more than 30 years his junior.
McCain has scheduled a press conference for Thursday at 9 a.m. One of his aides has charged that the Times only published its story now because The New Republic was about to carry a story claiming that there was great debate within the paper over the story. The magazine says its account will be posted on its site on Thursday. The Times has not yet responded to that charge.
The rumors last December had died down after other reports suggested that that McCain and the unnamed woman had hired Washington lawyer/fixer Bob Bennett to strong arm the Times. Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post reported then that Bennett had dealt with specific issues raised in the reporting. Whatever went down, the story never ran. Until tonight.
The relationship from back in 2000 is part of a much longer story on McCain's ethic that carries multiple bylines: Jim Rutenberg, Marilyn Thompson, David Kirkpatrick and Stephen Labaton. Both McCain and the woman deny the reports, so it is interesting what changed to make the paper carry the story, quite prominently, now, at www.nytimes.com.
The Times story on Wednesday night reveals: "Mr. McCain said that the relationship was not romantic and that he never showed favoritism to Ms. Iseman or her clients. 'I have never betrayed the public trust by doing anything like that,' he said. He made the statements in a call to Bill Keller, the executive editor of The New York Times, to complain about the paper?s inquiries.
"The senator declined repeated interview requests, beginning in December." The McCain campaign, in response to the story running, now says the Times is engaging in a "hit and run smear." But while it denied McCain had "never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists," it did not specifically deny a romantic affair.
The Times article opens: "Early in Senator John McCain?s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.
"A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client?s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself ? instructing staff members to block the woman?s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.
"When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist?s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.
"Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.
"In interviews ...two former associates said they joined in a series of confrontations with Mr. McCain, warning him that he was risking his campaign and career. Both said Mr. McCain acknowledged behaving inappropriately and pledged to keep his distance from Ms. Iseman. The two associates, who said they had become disillusioned with the senator, spoke independently of each other and provided details that were corroborated by others.
"Separately, a top McCain aide met with Ms. Iseman at Union Station in Washington to ask her to stay away from the senator. John Weaver, a former top strategist and now an informal campaign adviser, said in an e-mail message that he arranged the meeting after 'a discussion among the campaign leadership' about her."
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