"I told you the other day he's not a lobbyist, I still say he has never lobbied," King just told me. "He had no idea he was listed. Al D'Amato had no idea that my son was listed."

The Politicker noted earlier this week that Sean King worked for Park Strategies, which represents several companies with Homeland Security contracts. Congressman King is the Chairman for the House Homeland Security committee. Newsday subsequently noted that one of the companies with such a contract is the computer firm SAP America.

"Apparently when they attained SAP as a client they put down, they listed everyone who could potentially be involved in the dealings," King said. "In an overabundance of caution they put his (Sean's) name. He had no idea he was down there. He has never had any dealing with SAP, he has never lobbied."

King said everyone involved was surprised to hear that Sean King was registered.
He called D'Amato, ("he said 'no he is not'") and then his son, ("He said it and I believe him and he certainly has never lobbied for them.")

King said that his son represents the home delivery pizza chain Papa John's in Taiwan and has no role in lobbying for clients with Homeland Security business. The Mejias campaign dug up one of the strangest, Casio-scored pieces of video footage I've seen in an effort to assert that Sean King, who is apparently the speaker in the film clip, does in fact represent companies like Lockheed Martin. But according to the clip, he only mentions them as one of the firm's publicly disclosed clients.

"This is a very desperate act by a very desperate politician," said King. "It is as low as anything I've seen."

Dave Mejias, King's opponent, phoned in to respond.

"What is low is the cultural of corruption in Washington, how family members are able to sell their influence to clients that get access to government and contracts," he said. "Peter is trying to name call to divert attention from the facts. His son is a lobbyist who is peddling his father's influence."

--Jason Horowitz

King's son, Sean, started working at former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's Park Strategies lobbying firm in February. The firm represents several clients with multi-billion dollar Homeland Security contracts, such as General Atomics and Lockheed Martin. They have also made campaign contributions to Congressman King.

When asked about his son's activities, Peter King responded with this statement, via his spokesman.
"Sean is involved in private oversees development. He has lived in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan - he is not a lobbyist, does no lobbying, and has no dealings with my office whatsoever."

Still, small world.

-- Jason Horowitz

But that desperate character made his final appearance on Election Night 1998; since then, Mr. D'Amato has completed a miraculous transformation into an urbane king of cool. The longtime denizen of Long Island discos is now seen regularly at trendy Manhattan restaurants and saloons.

Mr. D'Amato's elevated social status became official on March 9 when he was inducted into the media elite by John F. Kennedy Jr. At a mildly awkward press conference, the editor-entrepreneur of George magazine revealed his latest brainstorm: a "political advice" column called "Ask Alfonse."

Snicker if you must, but the logic of this literary innovation is almost too obvious. There simply is nobody in public life who has finessed his way out of as many potentially ruinous situations as Mr. D'Amato. For a reporter who observed this statesman in his prime, it's easy to imagine the kind of query that will reach his desk:

"Dear Alfonse: This may sound familiar. As a favor to a friend, I made the mistake of seeking leniency for gangsters from the U.S. Attorney I appointed. I also appeared in court as a character witness for a Mafia-connected contributor. What can I do to restore my law-and-order image? Just call me Mobbed Up."

Or, "Dear Alfonse: I am a Congressional leader and my little brother is a Capitol Hill lobbyist. Like you and your brother Armand, our interests have tended to coincide. How do I distance myself from him without abandoning family values? Respectfully, Tom DeLay. P.S.-I need to deal with this before the press catches on."

Speaking of lobbyists, Mr. D'Amato has taken a day job, too: He and Wayne Berman, one of K Street's most prominent power brokers, have formed a new partnership called Park Strategies, with offices in Washington and New York. Like the former Senator, Mr. Berman is intimately familiar with the nexus of money and policy. In addition to his corporate lobbying and consulting, he is a prodigious Republican fund-raiser-just the kind of guy Mr. D'Amato always liked.

Naturally, Mr. Berman's clients have benefited from the lobbyist's close personal and financial relationship with Mr. D'Amato. Three years ago, for example, when a subsidiary of American International Group ran into trouble with the Government of Zimbabwe over its insurance business there, Mr. D'Amato sponsored an appropriations amendment to slash by half U.S. assistance to the African nation. The State Department frowned upon the proposed cut because it would have jeopardized efforts against AIDS in a country where a quarter of the adults are H.I.V.-positive, but Mr. D'Amato persisted. The profits of a Berman client were at stake. Ultimately, the Zimbabweans gave in to the insurance giant, the controversial amendment was tabled and, as Salon magazine reported, Mr. D'Amato received some generous contributions from A.I.G.

Other important Berman clients include tobacco titan Philip Morris and the Fanjul brothers of Florida, whose sugar business has required protection from environmental regulators and Caribbean exporters. Reflecting their continuing political needs, the Fanjuls and Philip Morris are among the nation's biggest donors to both parties. They helped Mr. Berman collect hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 1996 Dole-Kemp campaign, which Mr. D'Amato co-chaired.

Meanwhile, Messrs. Berman and D'Amato are taking a traditionally brazen approach to their trade. Recently they offered a position to the former treasurer of Connecticut, Paul J. Silvester, who also lost his job last November. But according to the Hartford Courant , Mr. Silvester is slightly nervous about joining Park Strategies. It seems that late last year, when he was still State Treasurer, he handed over $200 million in state pension-fund investments to Paine Webber Group, another Berman client.

Senate rules restrict Mr. D'Amato from actually lobbying his old colleagues for a year, so for now he is dubbed a "consultant." Will that role conflict with his journalistic venture at George ? Even in the era of celebrity media, such quaint concerns arise from time to time. Henry Kissinger faced the same question several years ago when critics noticed that his consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, represents multinational corporations doing business in the countries that he discusses in his newspaper columns and on television.

The former Secretary of State reluctantly addressed that problem with a fine-print footnote to his essays. Perhaps Mr. Kennedy will append a similar disclosure to "Ask Alfonse"-if George 's new star is ready to reveal just whose interests he and his lobbyist partner are promoting.