Lobbyist

Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano is appealing a federal judge's decision to uphold his 1994 fraud convictions, according to court records. Bereano will be taking his case — based on an argument from the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's decision in an appeal of the case against former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling — to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, his attorneys wrote in a court filing Thursday. A federal jury convicted Bereano on eight counts, though one was later dismissed, of mail fraud that stemmed from the funneling of illegal campaign contributions to Maryland politicians.

Each January, when Maryland legislators gather in Annapolis to kick off the annual legislative session, they are welcomed by special-interest groups and their lobbyists eager to wine and dine them in the hope of winning a little goodwill. Typically, the first week or two are devoted to large receptions to which all members of the General Assembly are invited. These events can cost the sponsors tens of thousands of dollars as they set out lavish spreads and provide open bars for their legislative guests.

More than six years ago, Maryland's highest court voted to disbar Ira C. Cooke, once one of Annapolis' most prominent lobbyists, because of Mr. Cooke's conviction in an embezzlement case in California. A couple of years later, that conviction was reversed by the high court of California, and prosecutors in Bakersfield decided against a retrial. So, back in Annapolis, Mr. Cooke asked the Maryland Court of Appeals to reinstate him to the bar here. According to records, Mr. Cooke made that predictable request in the court's fall term of 2007 - by the calendar I've been using, four years ago - but the Court of Appeals only ruled on the matter late last month.

Message from Bruce Bereano to rival Annapolis lobbyists: Forget about scooping up his clients. He's not dying. He's just on a diet. The prominent Annapolis arm-twister has dropped 61 pounds in seven months. He feels better than ever, but fellow lobbyists have mistaken svelte for sick. "Any smell of a health problem, they immediately go to the client list and get ready," Bereano said. "I’m sure I disappointed a lot of them. I’m alive and well and kicking. It’s a cold, heartless world, lobbying.

The delegation accompanying Gov. Martin O'Malley on his Asian trade mission includes at least one lobbyist. And the e-mail from her Annapolis firm this week was almost boastful. "As far as we know, Hannah is the only registered lobbyist on the trip and we are extraordinary pleased that she has a chance to represent our client and our firm," the chief operating officer of the government relations division at Alexander & Cleaver wrote to clients. "If you have any important messages that you want her to deliver to the Governor, please contact her before Sunday!"

Maryland Business for Responsive Government, a state business advocacy group with a bipartisan mission and hundreds of members, on Tuesday named an Annapolis lobbyist with nearly 20 years' experience to be its new president. Kimberly M. Burns, an attorney and lobbyist with Government Affairs Maryland, her father's firm, replaces Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester, who had led the group since its formation in 1983. "It's a broad-based opportunity to utilize my skills for something I strongly believe in and I'm very passionate about," said Burns.

The attorney representing opponents of a slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall in a new legal challenge is a registered lobbyist for the Maryland Jockey Club — the project's most vocal opponent — according to Anne Arundel County records. Harry C. Blumenthal, an Annapolis attorney, is representing a homeowners association and three residents of a nearby housing development in a complaint alleging that Anne Arundel County officials improperly approved the Cordish Cos.' plan to accommodate increased traffic around a planned slots parlor and entertainment complex at Arundel Mills.

Mayors and county executives gave Gov. Martin O'Malley a standing ovation this week when he told them he did not plan to shore up state finances by passing millions of dollars in teacher retirement expenses on to local governments. But on Friday, the local leaders got a reality check: There's still plenty of pain headed their way. As state lawmakers prepare for the 2011 legislative session, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch are warning that it will likely be impossible to balance the state's $13 billion operating budget without squeezing local aid. "Let's all work together to solve the problem," Busch told local leaders Friday at the winter conference of the Maryland Association of Counties.

White-collar scandals come so quickly these days that if you don't work on Wall Street or inside the Beltway, it's difficult to distinguish between scoundrels. When you first hear the name " Jack Abramoff," you might think that he was the one who ripped off everyone from Elie Wiesel to Steven Spielberg. No, that was Bernie Madoff, the New York financier who amassed a fortune with a Ponzi scheme.. Abramoff is the Washington lobbyist who became notorious for ruthlessly overcharging American Indian tribes by scores of millions of dollars while currying support for their casinos.

For the Jack Abramoff biopic, "Casino Jack," how difficult was it for John David Whalen to get into the heart and head of K Street lobbyist Kevin Ring? The Baltimore-born actor explained Wednesday that it wasn't all that hard. In an ensemble filled with master manipulators and scam artists from Kevin Spacey's Abramoff on down, "Kevin Ring's the innocent, the ingenue, the guy who goes along — he is not headstrong, not greedy, not a mover or shaker. " Director George Hickenlooper included this junior member of Abramoff's team in his cast of tainted characters only after he and screenwriter Norman Snider interviewed Ring about the Abramoff fraud and corruption scandal.