Meet A Key Figure In The Gregoire Political Machine

Bellevue, WA – One of the major players in Christine Gregoire’s re-election effort and the legal charade which unfolded today is a powerful lobbyist for a major Washington, D.C. lobbying firm which won a lucrative state contract under the Gregoire Administration.

Rick Desimone, President of Northwest Operations for McBee Strategic, a lobbying firm, is also head of Evergreen Progress, a campaign committee that has raised more than $6 million and exists only to attack Dino Rossi on the airwaves.

Desimone is a well-known Democrat so it’s no surprise that he’s doing everything he can to help Gregoire and defeat Rossi. But what most people don’t realize is that his company late last year got a $200,000 state contract for the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency – and afterwards he and his colleagues donated $5,100 to Gregoire’s campaign.

In many other states, political contributions by those who get state contracts is banned or restricted. But not in Washington, where Gregoire turned a blind eye to what appears to be a shameless example of Olympia back-scratching.

Desimone and his firm not only profited from the state contract, they are also being paid hefty consulting fees by Evergreen Progress. So far Evergreen Progress has shelled out more than $90,000 to McBee Strategic.

And just two weeks ago, Evergreen Progress gave a $35,000 “political contribution” to Fuse, the liberal organization promoting the BIAW lawsuit and Dino Rossi deposition.

From the multimillion-dollar anti-Rossi ads saturating the airwaves to the blatantly partisan legal action being pursued against Rossi, Desimone’s fingerprints are all over the political crime scene. The Gregoire Administration scratched his back with taxpayer dollars, and now he’s scratching the governor’s back with an all-out assault on Dino Rossi.

State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser offered the following statement:

“The sad abuse of the legal system we witnessed today absolutely stinks, it’s totally political, and it cries out for an investigation of the ties between Gov. Gregoire and people like Rick Desimone who are doing her dirty work,” Esser said. “It’s an absolute travesty that a group of Gregoire supporters could conspire to tie up Dino Rossi so close to an election, especially when these supporters are hiding in the shadows, at least so far. The truth is that a spotlight should be shined on their activity.

“With his left hand Rick Desimone ropes in a lucrative state contract from the Gregoire Administration, and with his other left hand he rakes in cash from Evergreen Progress for engineering a smear campaign on Gregoire’s behalf. This sordid relationship between the governor and Desimone shows yet again why we need to clean house in Olympia. It’s time for the culture of sweetheart deals and back-scratching to end, and none too soon.”