Boards of Directors: Influence Peddler-In-Chief Tommy Thompson Has Served On Dozens Of Corporate Boards Since Leaving The Bush Administration
MADISON – As Tommy Thompson ponders entering the Wisconsin senate race, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is reminding Wisconsinites that you can’t spell Tommy without L-O-B-B-Y-I-S-T. ‘B’ stands for the dozens of boards of directors Tommy Thompson has been paid to serve since resigning from government. These boards include some of the same corporations he was in charge of regulating as secretary of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush.
“If Wisconsinites have any question about who Tommy Thompson would fight for in the U.S. Senate, they only have to look at who he has fought for since leaving political office – himself and any of the dozens of corporate entities that shoveled cash his way,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate. “Now, after selling his political sway to dozens of corporations in Washington, Thompson wants Wisconsinites to send him to the Senate to deliver for his financial backers. That’s one promotion Wisconsin simply can’t afford.”
Within months of leaving his post as George W. Bush’s Health and Human Services secretary, Thompson signed on to serve as a paid “adviser” on numerous corporate boards of directors.
In 2008, the Wisconsin State Journal showed the extent of Thompson’s voracious influence peddling, reporting:
“Upon leaving his federal post in December 2004, Thompson quickly assembled a large portfolio of private sector positions, including partner in one of Washington, D.C.’s most influential law firms, board directorships on medical device and pharmaceutical companies he once regulated, and as an executive with Deloitte & Touche, a major federal contractor that provides health-care consulting services.”
This is just one of the many instances where Thompson got rich by trying to influence the department he ran for one of his new employers. Earlier this week, the DPW blasted Thompson for joining a company that had been awarded millions of dollars in Department of Health and Human Services contracts while Thompson ran the agency and for joining one of D.C.’s most notorious lobbying firms.
Background:
Thompson Has Advised Forty-Two Companies Since Leaving the Bush Administration. According to a 2009 CREW report examining “revolving door” practices, Thompson has advised FORTY-TWO companies since leaving the Bush administration. [Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 1/25/09]
Thompson Quickly Assembled Largo Portfolio of Private Sector Positions. “Upon leaving his federal post in December 2004, Thompson quickly assembled a large portfolio of private sector positions, including partner in one of Washington, D.C.’s most influential law firms, board directorships on medical device and pharmaceutical companies he once regulated, and as an executive with Deloitte & Touche, a major federal contractor that provides health-care consulting services.” [Wisconsin State Journal, 11/16/08]
