Jon Kyl: Lobbying been berry, berry good to me

Jon Kyl reprises Chico Escuela

Bet’cha didn’t think this parallel was possible, but twice retired Sen. Jon Kyl and Chico Escuela have more in common than you may imagine. Comedian Garrett Morris portrayed Chico, “the immortal” former all-star baseball player for the Chicago Cubs, an immigrant to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, who became renown for the phrase, “Baseball been berry, berry good to me.” The theme of the intro Saturday Night Live skit is set up here.

Kyl might say the same about his lucrative lobbying gig at the D.C. based, international law firm of Covington & Burling. His myriad clients — nearly two dozen — ranging from Anheuser-Busch (sniff, sniff…smell the McCain connection?) to Walmart paid him, usually through Covington, nearly $2 million. The firm’s campaign donations favor Democrats.*

As we pointed out in this 2012 post, What’s a Kyl or McCain endorsement actually worth? the duo frequently endorsed leftists — even for cabinet posts and federal judgeships.

Jon Kyl was not acting as a “sherpa” for Supreme Court nominees Gorsuch and Kavanaugh out of the goodness of his heart. Hired by Judicial Crisis Network, Kyl was paid $100,000 for shepherding Neil Gorsuch through the SCOTUS process. Given the surge of politically-based, unsupported attacks on Brett Kavanaugh, his squiring for him must have been at least that much. This report was reflective of 2017- 2018.  H&R Block is one of Kyl’s clients, but it’s doubtful the cut-rate tax filers get anywhere near Kyl’s substantial financial holdings.

U.S. Senators are paid a base annual salary of $174,000, with plenty of perks (these are reflective of 2013, and interestingly follow a 16-day government shutdown under Barack Obama.) This list omits foreign travel, often including staff and spouses.

For his brief return to the senate to fill John McCain’s term until U.S. Rep. Martha McSally was elected, Kyl has now been bestowed praiseworthy status. Take this trip back to the 2012 GOP Primary Election for a memory refresher of his manipulative tactics. Kyl reached into the precinct level in an effort to replace conservative committeemen with RINOs. McCain engaged in the same unsavory tactics. The reason? Elected Precinct Committeemen, many of whom are subsequently elected within their district meetings as State Committeemen, vote for the internal GOP leadership. Current AZ GOP Chairman Jonathan Lines, shamelessly running for reelection, oversaw unprecedented Republican losses in the November General Election.  If you’re a state committeeman, conservative Dr. Kelli Ward, running for AZ Republican chairman, deserves your support.

* Center for Responsive Politics