Former McCain Donor and Personal Lawyer Switches to Thompson
by Ryan Sager
Thu, 7 Jun 2007 at 8:46 PM
updated Thu, 7 Jun 2007 at 8:47 PM
I have it from two sources that the Washington Post is set to report that Fred Thompson has snagged at least one high-profile John McCain donor: John M. Dowd, once Mr. McCain's personal lawyer, including during the Keating Five scandal and when his wife was under legal investigation for an addiction to pain killers.
The McCain campaign confirms the news and downplays Mr. Dowd's importance, saying he's raised less than $10,000 for the campaign and that he broke with the campaign months ago.
Attempts to reach Mr. Dowd so far this evening have proved fruitless, though messages have been left by this reporter at his various numbers.
Mr. Dowd is a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and heads the firm's criminal litigation group. He is also the lawyer for Monica Goodling, the former lawyer to Attorney General Gonzales who testified recently before Congress.
According to records available through opensecrets.org, Mr. Dowd contributed $5,000 to Mr. McCain's reelection bid in 2004. Records for 2008 show Mr. Dowd having only contributed $200 personally, though a Carole Dowd at his address has given $6,500.
UPDATE [10:01 p.m.]: I reached Mr. Dowd. He confirms the story and has the following comment:
"I wanted to help Fred, and I think he can win."
As to why he's ceased supporting Mr. McCain: "I don't think his campaign's served him well."
Mr. Dowd also said that he and Mr. McCain had disagreed about the senator's stance on detainee interrogation (or, Mr. McCain would say, torture), though Mr. Dowd says that was not central to his decision.
Lastly, he says, "John's a good friend, and I love him dearly."
UPDATE [11:16 p.m.]: WaPo gets its story up here.
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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