BP's Lobbyists Old D.C. Hats

Bloomberg reported:

BP Plc’s spending to lobby Congress in the second quarter rose 6.3 percent from the first as the company dealt with the fallout from its gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well.

London-based BP paid more than $1.7 million to firms such as Podesta Group and Duberstein Group from April through June, an increase from $1.6 million for January through March, according to congressional filings today.

Tony Podesta received $120,000 from BP in the second quarter. The Podesta Group earned twice their first quarter fees for BP lobbying. Brother John Podesta runs the Center for American Progress. Coincidentally, CAP blogs have gone light on BP oil spew coverage. Is it John's lobbying relations or Tom Daschle's sitting on BPAmerica's external advisory board? Daschle is a Senior Fellow at CAP.

Ken Duberstein helped Fannie Mae avoid regulation, prior to pushing BP's positions to Congress. He sits on the board of ConocoPhillips and has to pick up the slack for Bill Reilly, Obama's Oil Spew co-chair. Duberstein's fees remained a cool $100,000 per quarter.

New is old in the influence peddling arena.