Obama CIA choice nets $700,000 from rescued banks

President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was paid more than $700,000 last year by businesses including struggling US banks bailed out by billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. The revelations about Leon Panetta's finances highlight the difficulty the new administration faces in finding experienced advisers that do not violate the President's ban on hiring lobbyists. It is also another embarrassment for President Obama after two Cabinet nominees, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer, withdrew this week because of disclosures that they had failed to pay federal taxes. The payments to Panetta, a former California Congressman who was White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, were disclosed in documents filed before Panetta's Senate confirmation hearing today. Panetta, who is nominated to be director of the CIA, received $56,000 for making two speeches from Merrill Lynch and $28,000 for a speech from Wachovia. Both banks were hit by huge losses last year and have since been acquired by other banks, having received government bailouts. He was also paid $28,000 by the Carlyle Group, the private equity firm that does business with America's national security agencies, and a $60,000 "governmental adviser fee" from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping industry and lobbies the Government on terrorism policies. Fleishman Hillard, a lobbying firm, paid Panetta $130,000 in directors' fees but told The Wall Street Journal that the former lawmaker advised clients on policy and economic issues and did not do any lobbying. The Senate Intelligence Committee has questioned Panetta on his connection with a non-profit organization called EduCap that is under investigation by the taxman. A White House spokesman said that Panetta's engagements had been thoroughly reviewed by the Office of Government Ethics. But his connections with organizations that seek to influence Government policy raises questions about the feasibility of President Obama's aim to curb the influence of lobbyists. The President has said that he will not hire registered lobbyists–a rule that Panetta's appointment does not break.