Some questions for Bonner & Associates.
Having chewed over the story all day, I’ve come to suspect strongly that this business of a lobbying firm forging letters sent to Rep. Tom Perriello’s office could well be a Big Story™, the sort of thing that turns out to snake into the offices of elected officials, businesses, and lobbyists across the country. It’s possible that Bonner & Associates’s excuse is true—that some employee, all by himself, decided it might be fun to send fraudulent letters to a member of congress. But I think it’s significantly more likely that it’s not true, in which case a whole host of questions are raised.
If I were a reporter looking into this story, I’d want to get the following questions answered:
- On what client’s time did Bonner & Associates do this work?
- Did the client know about Bonner’s tactics? Did they approve of them?
- How many letters did Bonner send in all? To which congressmen? Under the names of what people and what organizations?
- Has Bonner done this for other clients?
- Has the client had other lobbyists engage in the same tactic?
- Where did Bonner get the idea to do this? Is this a tactic employed by others in the industry, or is this an invention of Bonner?
Here’s hoping we start seeing these answers soon. If Bonner doesn’t start talking, they’re going to find themselves the subject of a federal inquiry.
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