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Wall Street Journal
February 10, 2009
Plouffe to Donate Speaking Fee to Pro-Democracy Groups
By GLENN R. SIMPSON
President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager intends to give away
the fee he received from a paid private speech he made Monday in the
oil-rich but authoritarian nation of Azerbaijan.
The speech was arranged by lobbyists working with a group that has
ties to the Azerbaijan government, according to people familiar with
the matter. But a close associate of David Plouffe said he only
learned of their involvement after he had already embarked for the
Caspian Sea nation.
Mr. Plouffe now intends to donate his speaking fee, which the
associate said is in the range of $50,000, to groups that advocate
democratization in the turbulent post-Soviet states of the region
around the Caspian and Caucasus mountain range. Mr. Plouffe also plans
to share the contents of the speech with opposition groups.
U.S. officials said Mr. Plouffe coordinated his talks with American
officials in the region and that his message about the uses of the
Internet for democratic organizing advances longstanding U.S. policy.
But they added that the Azerbaijan government has long sought to
legitimize itself by hosting prominent Americans, often with the help
of Washington lobbyists.
The country, in the Caucasus region, is in the midst of a campaign
over a referendum set for next month that would amend the constitution
to lift term limits on President Ilham Aliyev. Mr. Aliyev assumed the
post after the 2003 death of his father Haydar Aliyev, the country’s
first president after gaining independence.
Azerbaijan is a key U.S. ally but the State Department has also
criticized the country for its poor record on human rights and free
elections.
Mr. Plouffe holds no U.S. government positions but controls the
remnants of Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign organization, which he built and
oversaw. His speech at a local university was sponsored by a local
nongovernmental organization with ties to the Azerbaijan government.
"I’m here as a private citizen, so all I’m doing is talking about
elections, and the Internet and democracy, and to talk about our
election," Mr. Plouffe told a reporter from Radio Free Europe who
wasn’t admitted to the speech.
Mr. Plouffe’s appearance in Azerbaijan was arranged by a
Washington-based lobbying firm called Bob Lawrence & Associates,
according to records and interviews. The company lists Azerbaijan
among its clients on its Web site. People with knowledge of the speech
said the appearance was arranged by the Lawrence firm through Mr.
Plouffe’s agent, the Washington Speakers Bureau. A person answering
the phone at the Lawrence firm said no one was available for comment.
A spokesman for the Washington Speakers Bureau couldn’t be reached.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr. Plouffe’s visit was
entirely private. "He’s not there at the behest of, and not delivering
a message on behalf of, the president of the United States," he said.
"If the president had a message for Azerbaijan, he’d pick up the
phone."
Mr. Plouffe began offering himself as a public speaker recently
through the Washington Speakers Bureau, which on its Web site says the
consultants’ "fees vary based on event location." The Azerbaijan
speech by Mr. Plouffe, according to one person who attended, dealt
with using the Internet in elections and he didn’t address the
country’s domestic political issues.