Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.
Abramoff testifying before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on September 29, 2004
President Reagan meeting with Abramoff and Grover Norquist in connection with the College Republican National Committee in 1981
Abramoff's since closed Signatures Restaurant in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Lobbying in the United States
Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.
K Street in Washington, D.C., has become a metonym for the American lobbying industry.
The lobby of the House of Commons. Painting 1886 by Liborio Prosperi.
Lobbying depends on cultivating personal relationships over many years. Photo: Lobbyist Tony Podesta (left) with former Senator Kay Hagan (center) and her husband.
The Federalist Papers, in which Framers Madison, Hamilton and Jay strove to sway public opinion, could be considered according to current usage as an outside lobbying effort.