Wolves of K Street — A Look at Washington’s 3 Lobbying Dynasties
It’s been almost 40 years since then-Wall Street Journal stars Jeff Birnbaum and Alan Murray wrote their seminal 1987 masterpiece Showdown at Gucci Gulch detailing passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 — the single most sweeping U.S. tax system change in history.
Beyond basically creating a new reporting genre and beat, the book’s storytelling style and depth of policy detail rightly made it an instant classic. Like many, I found it mesmerizing upon release in 1987 — especially as I was mostly clueless to the ‘process’ watching it unfold a year earlier.
As a rookie press secretary in a backwater 6th floor Longworth Building office for freshman Rep. Joe DioGuardi (R-NY), I’d venture down to the action-packed first floor corridor in front of the Ways and Means Committee — the metaphorical “Gucci Gulch” — to scope out the scene. Lobbyists, lawmakers, staff and media all did their thing in synchronistic fashion, moving about in huddled groups. I could only wonder what was really going as a spectator on the scrum’s perimeter.
Wolves of K Street— by WSJ investigative reporter Brody Mullins, and his brother, Luke Mullins — a Politico contributor, is a similarly fascinating look at the DC lobbying game. But “Wolves” is more expansive as it examines a decades-long lobbying industry time frame — not a singular focus on one piece of historic legislation.
As reporting of the book’s release ramped-up last weekend, I stumbled on an excellent podcast interview of brothers Mullin by former RNC and DC Association-world communicator Lisa Camoosa Miller. It’s worth a quick listen as the questions are well framed, and the answers to the point.
The brothers generously cite their reading of “Gucci Gulch” in earlier days as eye-opening in its import and gravity — an impetus for their lengthy reporting effort on the broader topic of DC lobbying history. Several initial book reviews and reporting have focused on the contemporary exploits of GOP lobbyist Jim Courtovich’s effort to reinvent himself as a MAGA champion after Donald Trump’s 2016 election rearranged the landscape.
But the more interesting focus of the book details what the authors call, “Three lobbying dynasties — one Republican, two Democratic — over the critical period from the 1970s to today, when the modern lobbying industry was created, corporate interests came to power in Washington, and the nature of our economy was fundamentally changed”.
The late Tommy Boggs, son of onetime Democratic House majority leader Hale Boggs, is deemed by the authors as the patriarch of Democratic lobbyists. Patton, Boggs and Blow — the original 1970’s-era lobbying powerhouse and legacy firm— is now Squire Patton Boggs.
Next up is 1980’s-era GOP Reagan-Bush era firm Black, Manafort and Stone — run by campaign consultants Charlie Black, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone out of the large Alexandria, VA waterfront office complex they occupied for over a decade.
I’d argue that Black, Manafort and Stone (which originally included Lee Atwater as a senior partner on the “campaign” side of the firm) was the most revolutionary business model, and it took the Beltway influence and campaign industries by storm.
First, they elected you. Then you and your staff would be lobbied by the same guys who remain your key political advisors, and lead your re-election.
Besides those who lobbied during the Reagan-Bush years, the folks who worked the GOP senate, gubernatorial and presidential race campaign circuit during those freewheeling times will find the new book’s look at the firm of interest as it became a virtual employment agency for the big ticket, high paying Republican campaign gigs sought by up and coming operatives looking to make their mark.
Finally, Tony Podesta and his firm, Podesta Associates, is examined as the third dynastic cornerstone of the DC lobbying industry. Before confronting various legal challenges, he’s described as an “avant-garde Democratic fixer” — a colorful patron of the arts figure who helped advance clients’ agendas via entertaining and a variety of other creative means.
There’s nothing pretty about the way business is done in Washington. But Wolves of K Street is sure to be as fun and instructive to read today as Showdown at Gucci Gulch was upon its publication.
The decades and players may change along with the political and lobbying tactics, strategies, and technology. But the ruthless pursuit of winning, the capitalist bottom line, and Washington’s “survival of the fittest” ethos will not. It’s always been the political ‘big time’ proving ground.
And learning not just how to survive, but to thrive primarily on your terms, always makes for an interesting story.
