Another interesting data dump from the Clinton Wikileaks files. Apparently Tom Daschle was busy lobbying… er, “not lobbying”… Clinton aides on behalf of one of his “not lobbying” clients. Why was he “not lobbying?” Well, he couldn’t be a lobbyist yet, as he wasn’t registered to be a lobbyist until nearly a year later:
Former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle pushed Hillary Clinton’s top aides to consider supporting a massive health insurance merger for one of his clients — even though at the time he was not registered to be a company lobbyist.
Daschle registered to be a lobbyist for Aetna in February of 2016, which subjected him to disclosure and ethics regulations. However, an email released Thursday by Wikileaks shows Daschle pressing the company’s agenda with political power players in October 2015.
“I wanted to reach out in reference to Hillary’s statements today regarding the insurance mergers,” Daschle wrote to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta on the day Clinton publicly raised questions about the merger. “I certainly understand her concerns over the pending deals. I’ve been working with Aetna on ACA [Affordable Care Act] involvement for the past several years. That has led to other health related matters including the merger. Their team has what they view to be compelling arguments around the benefits of the Humana merger and why it will be beneficial for consumers.”
Then Daschle said: “Would you and your team be willing to have a conversation with them?”