A career on the line

WASHINGTON -- For more than two decades, Jeanne M. Campbell has lobbied politicians on behalf of the Bay State with a wink and a handshake, a tireless work ethic, and a well-timed joke.

Starting in the smoke-filled rooms of the 1970s, Campbell has relied on her vivacious and competitive style to stay pals with generations of Bay State lawmakers.

Through them and others, she's clinched millions in federal funds for her prominent client list of state colleges and companies, including the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which has paid her $2.1 million in lobbying fees over the past eight years.

But now, facing the break up of her lobbying firm and a sexual harassment suit filed by an ex-employee some 30 years her junior, the 66-year-old Campbell finds herself defending her personal style -- which she described as ``irreverent" -- and fighting to keep her privileged place among the Massachusetts congressional elite.

In July, she filed a lawsuit against her longtime colleague, lobbyist Daniel M. Crane, accusing him of trying to sabotage her business by bad-mouthing her to clients, secretly lobbying for a rival firm, and assisting the ex-employee, a former personal trainer named Sasha Stamenkovic , with his sexual harassment suit.

She says Crane is on a mission to destroy her livelihood.

Crane, who shared an office in a Victorian-era town house with Campbell for 14 years, says he is not trying to wreck her business. And Stamenkovic, who was in his mid-20s when he began working for Campbell, insists in court filings that Campbell promised to promote him and increase his salary in exchange for sex.

But Campbell, whose annual Fourth of July retreat for clients and politicians at Chatham's pricey Wequassett Inn drew fire earlier this summer for providing free travel for lawmakers, sees her legal troubles as an explicit attempt at a shakedown.

``You've been digging up -- trying to dig up dirt," she told Stamenkovic's lawyer in a January deposition. ``You've gone to my clients. You've gone to members of Congress. You're just out there with your stilettos . . . digging, digging, digging."

A popular figure to generations of Massachusetts politicians dating to House Speaker Thomas P. ``Tip" O'Neill Jr., Campbell is described by friends and colleagues as a colorful and intelligent woman who prides herself on succeeding in an industry once dominated by men.

She says her lively social skills have been crucial to her success in the influence industry.

``I am kind of irreverent sometimes," Campbell said in a January deposition. ``I like to kid. I like to joke. I'm in a business that is dominated by men. And when I got into it 25 years ago, there were even fewer women. And I was often the only woman at the table."

Campbell -- who declined to be interviewed in person or by telephone for this article -- arrived in Washington in 1976, a recently remarried widow raising two sons.

She quickly entered public life, first as a speechwriter and aide to Dan Rostenkowski, the powerful Democratic congressman from Illinois, and later as a press secretary for Margaret Heckler , the Wellesley Republican who at the time was one of only 16 women serving in the House.

``I remember everybody in the office kind of admired her," Rostenkowski, 78, said in a telephone interview. ``She was aggressive and she was going to raise those two children and give them a good education. She was a very, very committed young lady, and she worked like a horse."

Campbell left Heckler's staff in 1982 to open the Washington office of the New England Council, a Boston group that represented a number of Bay State businesses and industry interests. Colleagues said her experience and work ethic made her a highly effective leader.

``Because of Jeanne's forceful personality, she pretty much put the council on the Washington map," said Nick Koskores , who succeeded Campbell in heading the organization.

Campbell opened her private lobbying venture in 1984, one of the first independent women in the industry.

Twelve years later, she teamed with Crane, a former aide to New York Senator Daniel Moynihan who also had strong Massachusetts ties -- his uncle, Robert Q. Crane , was state treasurer for 27 years.

It was a highly successful collaboration. The firm amassed millions in lobbying fees from high-profile clients including Chubb, Merck, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and Raytheon.

As the lead Washington representative for UMass-Amherst, her firm helped secure millions in government funds for the university's plans to build a new telescope and a science building.

Along the way, she developed close ties with Massachusetts congressmen, including the late J. Joseph Moakley and Springfield Democrat Richard E. Neal.

``She has known virtually every member of the Massachusetts delegation since the 1970s," said William Tranghese , Neal's spokesman. And Steve Broderick, spokesman for Quincy Democrat William Delahunt, put it bluntly: ``She's a friend to everybody."

But Crane left the firm earlier this summer, and Campbell soon filed papers in D.C. Superior Court accusing him of breach of contract, fraud, and defamation, among other charges. Campbell alleges that Crane took money from clients registered to a different firm, Platinum Advisors, and later tried to steal clients from her.

``Litigation often happens when businesses split up," Crane told the Globe. ``The allegations have no merit, and I am hopeful that this will be settled on businesslike terms."

In the suit, Campbell also claims Crane assisted Stamenkovic with his sexual harassment suit, which was filed in May 2005. Stamenkovic met Campbell in 2002 at a Washington sports club where he worked as a personal trainer.

Campbell hired him at her firm, offering to sponsor him as he applied for permanent US residency. But their relationship then allegedly soured. Stamenkovic alleged that Campbell solicited sex from him, described details of her sex life, inquired about his own sexual relations, and exposed herself to him. The incidents allegedly occurred at congressional seminars, in nightclubs, and in the office. (Through his lawyer, Stamenkovic declined comment for this article.)

Campbell has vehemently denied the charges. ``I think Sasha has embarked on an extortionary activity," she testified in a deposition given in June 2005. ``He needs a bunch of money, and he sees me as a rich girl."

Campbell has said she was friends with Stamenkovic, maintaining a relationship ``more maternal than anything else," and occasionally kidded him about his romantic life. But she denied any coercive or offensive behavior. ``I do not consider kidding, talking, being sassy, being saucy, anything like that as sexual harassment," Campbell said in a January deposition.

Two members of Congress were initially listed as witnesses in the suit: Neal and Representative Mark Foley, a Florida Republican . Stamenkovic's lawyer, Michael J. Hoare, said his client ``testified at a hearing that the congressmen were at social functions where he and Jeanne Campbell were also in attendance, and thought they had seen some of her behavior toward him, hanging on his arm and the like."

But a revised witness list, filed last March, omitted the lawmakers. Hoare said he determined they were not necessary to his case. In a telephone interview, Campbell's lawyer, John W. Karr, described Hoare as a ``dirty skunk" and said he believed the sole reason the congressmen were listed as witnesses was ``to put a dent in [Campbell's] business."

(Foley's spokesman said the congressman ``didn't know why he was included." Neal's spokesman did not comment.)

Campbell said in a statement to the Globe that Stamenkovic is ``making a mockery of a sexual harassment law," and in a January deposition, she recalled her own experiences on the receiving end of unwanted advances in the workplace.

``I've been a victim of sexual harassment," Campbell said, according to a transcript. ``I've been called `Honey,' `Tootsie,' `Come here, girlie.' I've had people, you know, slap me on the rear end and grab at me, and I just dealt with it. I didn't sue anybody."

Indeed, workplace policies have stiffened over Campbell's time in Washington -- and so have congressional ethics rules. The Globe reported last month that Campbell organized yearly trips to the luxurious Chatham resort for several Massachusetts congressmen, including Neal, Moakley, Delahunt, and Democrat Michael Capuano of Somerville.

She acknowledged that lawmakers are now more skittish about their relations with lobbyists, and her firm did not plan on paying for members to travel to the Cape again.

In the foyer of her business, two walls displayed photographs capturing Campbell hobnobbing with decades' worth of Massachusetts lawmakers, from O'Neill to Senator Ted Kennedy. Each revealed Campbell's big smile, her eyes squinting slightly into the camera's flash.

Some of the people on the wall have since died. Others have retired. As the Washington she once knew slowly ceases to be, Campbell says she will persevere. In her statement to the Globe, Campbell struck a triumphant note: ``I am sure I shall be completely vindicated."