From The New York Times, 7/19/07:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/us/politics/19thompson.html?ex=1185508800&en=53fdd10c3254c883&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Records Show Ex-Senator's Work for Family Planning Unit

By JO BECKER

Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20
hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease
restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even
though he recently said he did not recall doing any work for the
organization.

According to records from Arent Fox, the law firm based in Washington
where Mr. Thompson worked part-time from 1991 to 1994, he charged the
organization, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health
Association, about $5,000 for work he did in 1991 and 1992.

The records show that Mr. Thompson, a probable Republican candidate
for president in 2008, spent much of that time in telephone
conferences with the president of the group, and on three occasions he
reported lobbying administration officials on its behalf.

Mr. Thompson's work for the family planning agency has become an issue
because he is positioning himself as a faithful conservative who is
opposed to abortion.

Earlier this month, Mr. Thompson disputed accounts by the group's
former president and others, saying through a spokesman that he had
"no recollection" of doing anything to aid the group's efforts to
overturn a rule banning federally financed clinics from dispensing
information about abortion to pregnant women.

At most, said Mr. Thompson's spokesman, Mark Corallo, he "may have
been consulted by one of the firm's partners who represented this
group."

Yesterday, Mr. Corallo said the family planning group was an Arent Fox
client.

"The firm consulted with Fred Thompson," he said.

"It is not unusual for a lawyer to give counsel at the request of
colleagues, even when they personally disagree with the issue."

From the time he was elected to the Senate from Tennessee in 1994
until he left office in early 2003, Mr. Thompson voted for every
abortion restriction measure as well as a ban on government financed
abortion for Defense Department personnel.

He has also said that he opposes the Roe v. Wade decision because it
establishes a federal right to abortion, an issue that he says should
be left to the states.

But his record on abortion has not always been as clear cut.

In questionnaires Mr. Thompson answered during his 1994 Senate
campaign, for instance, he checked a box stating that he believed
abortion should be legal under any circumstances during the first
three months of pregnancy and said, "I do not believe that abortion
should be criminalized."

He has also opposed a constitutional amendment banning all abortion,
also on the grounds of states' rights.

But in answering questions by the conservative Tennessee group Flare
during the 1994 campaign, Mr. Thompson promised not to support
tax-financed clinics that recommend "abortion as a method of birth
control."

His representation of the National Family Planning and Reproductive
Health Association, which was trying to overturn the ban on abortion
counseling, put him at odds with the anti-abortion movement, which
considered the ban a crucial victory.

The billing records from Arent Fox show that Mr. Thompson, who charged
about $250 an hour, spoke 22 times with Judith DeSarno, who was then
president of the family planning group.

_________________________________________________

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Harry

From The New York Times, 7/19/07:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/us/politics/19thompson.html?ex=1185508800&en=53fdd10c3254c883&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Records Show Ex-Senator's Work for Family Planning Unit

By JO BECKER

Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20
hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease
restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even
though he recently said he did not recall doing any work for the
organization.

According to records from Arent Fox, the law firm based in Washington
where Mr. Thompson worked part-time from 1991 to 1994, he charged the
organization, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health
Association, about $5,000 for work he did in 1991 and 1992.

The records show that Mr. Thompson, a probable Republican candidate
for president in 2008, spent much of that time in telephone
conferences with the president of the group, and on three occasions he
reported lobbying administration officials on its behalf.

Mr. Thompson's work for the family planning agency has become an issue
because he is positioning himself as a faithful conservative who is
opposed to abortion.

Earlier this month, Mr. Thompson disputed accounts by the group's
former president and others, saying through a spokesman that he had
"no recollection" of doing anything to aid the group's efforts to
overturn a rule banning federally financed clinics from dispensing
information about abortion to pregnant women.

At most, said Mr. Thompson's spokesman, Mark Corallo, he "may have
been consulted by one of the firm's partners who represented this
group."

Yesterday, Mr. Corallo said the family planning group was an Arent Fox
client.

"The firm consulted with Fred Thompson," he said.

"It is not unusual for a lawyer to give counsel at the request of
colleagues, even when they personally disagree with the issue."

From the time he was elected to the Senate from Tennessee in 1994
until he left office in early 2003, Mr. Thompson voted for every
abortion restriction measure as well as a ban on government financed
abortion for Defense Department personnel.

He has also said that he opposes the Roe v. Wade decision because it
establishes a federal right to abortion, an issue that he says should
be left to the states.

But his record on abortion has not always been as clear cut.

In questionnaires Mr. Thompson answered during his 1994 Senate
campaign, for instance, he checked a box stating that he believed
abortion should be legal under any circumstances during the first
three months of pregnancy and said, "I do not believe that abortion
should be criminalized."

He has also opposed a constitutional amendment banning all abortion,
also on the grounds of states' rights.

But in answering questions by the conservative Tennessee group Flare
during the 1994 campaign, Mr. Thompson promised not to support
tax-financed clinics that recommend "abortion as a method of birth
control."

His representation of the National Family Planning and Reproductive
Health Association, which was trying to overturn the ban on abortion
counseling, put him at odds with the anti-abortion movement, which
considered the ban a crucial victory.

The billing records from Arent Fox show that Mr. Thompson, who charged
about $250 an hour, spoke 22 times with Judith DeSarno, who was then
president of the family planning group.

_________________________________________________

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Harry

From The New York Times, 7/19/07:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/us/politics/19thompson.html?ex=1185...

Records Show Ex-Senator's Work for Family Planning Unit

By JO BECKER

Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20
hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease
restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even
though he recently said he did not recall doing any work for the
organization.

According to records from Arent Fox, the law firm based in Washington
where Mr. Thompson worked part-time from 1991 to 1994, he charged the
organization, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health
Association, about $5,000 for work he did in 1991 and 1992.

The records show that Mr. Thompson, a probable Republican candidate
for president in 2008, spent much of that time in telephone
conferences with the president of the group, and on three occasions he
reported lobbying administration officials on its behalf.

Mr. Thompson's work for the family planning agency has become an issue
because he is positioning himself as a faithful conservative who is
opposed to abortion.

Earlier this month, Mr. Thompson disputed accounts by the group's
former president and others, saying through a spokesman that he had
"no recollection" of doing anything to aid the group's efforts to
overturn a rule banning federally financed clinics from dispensing
information about abortion to pregnant women.

At most, said Mr. Thompson's spokesman, Mark Corallo, he "may have
been consulted by one of the firm's partners who represented this
group."

Yesterday, Mr. Corallo said the family planning group was an Arent Fox
client.

"The firm consulted with Fred Thompson," he said.

"It is not unusual for a lawyer to give counsel at the request of
colleagues, even when they personally disagree with the issue."

From the time he was elected to the Senate from Tennessee in 1994
until he left office in early 2003, Mr. Thompson voted for every
abortion restriction measure as well as a ban on government financed
abortion for Defense Department personnel.

He has also said that he opposes the Roe v. Wade decision because it
establishes a federal right to abortion, an issue that he says should
be left to the states.

But his record on abortion has not always been as clear cut.

In questionnaires Mr. Thompson answered during his 1994 Senate
campaign, for instance, he checked a box stating that he believed
abortion should be legal under any circumstances during the first
three months of pregnancy and said, "I do not believe that abortion
should be criminalized."

He has also opposed a constitutional amendment banning all abortion,
also on the grounds of states' rights.

But in answering questions by the conservative Tennessee group Flare
during the 1994 campaign, Mr. Thompson promised not to support
tax-financed clinics that recommend "abortion as a method of birth
control."

His representation of the National Family Planning and Reproductive
Health Association, which was trying to overturn the ban on abortion
counseling, put him at odds with the anti-abortion movement, which
considered the ban a crucial victory.

The billing records from Arent Fox show that Mr. Thompson, who charged
about $250 an hour, spoke 22 times with Judith DeSarno, who was then
president of the family planning group.

_________________________________________________

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Harry