WASHINGTON - A coal group and two contractors knew about forged lobbying letters sent to three House Democrats before a vote on climate legislation, but the lawmakers were in the dark, documents obtained by a congressional committee show.
A hearing yesterday before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was put off at the last minute after Republicans complained they hadn’t received testimony in advance. It’s now set for next week.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has acknowledged that the firm it hired through a subcontractor, Bonner & Associates, sent forged letters critical of the climate legislation, purportedly written by local nonprofit groups, to the congressional offices. Bonner blamed the fakes on a temporary employee who has since been fired.
The coal group disclosed new details in a letter to the committee chairman, Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, one of the bill’s chief sponsors.
The coalition said that on June 25, it contacted its primary grass-roots lobbying contractor, the Hawthorn Group, and “demanded that Bonner promptly make contact with the affected member offices and organizations’’ about the forged letters. In a letter to Markey, Hawthorn said it instructed Bonner that same day to notify the lawmakers.
But Bonner didn’t call any of the lawmakers until after the June 26 vote, when the House narrowly approved the climate bill.
Bonner declined to comment on the delay in notifications.
The coal group, a consortium of coal and electric power companies, takes some of the blame for the delay. In a letter to Markey, it said it should have acted to ensure that Bonner “completed these notifications or should have conducted these notifications itself before the scheduled vote.’’
Bonner billed Hawthorn for $43,500 but has not been paid; the coal group told Hawthorn not to pay the bill, according to a letter from Hawthorn. A document from the coal group indicates it paid Hawthorn about $7 million last year for lobbying services and about $3 million through the first six months of this year.
The coal group said that as part of its outreach effort on the climate bill, more than 4,000 calls were made to members of Congress between June 24 and June 26, the day of the vote.
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Some 25,000 visitors at the fall White House Gardens and Grounds will absorb history with every step along the South Lawn’s circular driveway. The self-guided tours, about 45 minutes long, include the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden near the East Wing, also known as the first lady’s garden and the Rose Garden, on the opposite side.
Also on the tour is the Children’s Garden, a popular spot because of the footprints and handprints of presidential grandchildren - from those of President Lyndon B. Johnson to George H.W. Bush - that line its walkway.
Guests can gaze at the magnolia trees that towered over President Obama’s “beer summit’’ in July, when Obama, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley talked after the officer’s arrest of the professor sparked a national uproar over race relations.
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Interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America’’ yesterday, Beau Biden said he’s “absolutely’’ considering running for the seat Biden held before becoming vice president.
But the younger Biden also said he wants to spend time with his family and that he also wants to resume his work as Delaware’s attorney general. “First things first,’’ he said. “There’s time to make that decision.’’
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