Wal-Mart fires GOP lobbyist over Abramoff charges

Wal-Mart has fired Jim Hirni, its top in-house Republican lobbyist, who is expected to plead guilty to corruption charges in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Wal-Mart’s senior director of media relations confirmed on Monday morning that the company had fired Hirni.

{mosads}In a statement that noted the charges were unrelated to his work for the store, David Tovar wrote: “Based on Mr. Hirni’s [expected] guilty plea which relates to conduct occurring prior to and unrelated to his employment by the company, we terminated his employment.” Tovar said the termination occurred Wednesday.

Hirni, a former senior aide to then-Sen. Tim Hutchison (R-Ark.), joined Wal-Mart full-time in 2007 as executive director of Republican outreach. He previously worked at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, then with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig before joining Cassidy & Associates. Hirni first worked on the Wal-Mart account as early as 2004 while still at Greenberg Traurig.

The firing follows the resignation of another lobbyist with ties to Abramoff, Todd Boulanger, from Cassidy & Associates on Friday.

The two departures come in the wake of a guilty plea Thursday by Trevor Blackann, a former staffer to Missouri GOP Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt. Blackann admitted to filing a false tax return that omitted more than $4,100 in illegal gifts from lobbyists.

Boulanger and Hirni were not identified in court documents in Blackann’s case, but details describing “Lobbyist D” and “Lobbyist E” closely mirror Boulanger’s and Hirni’s careers.

In a court document, Hirni is accused of providing illegal gifts to Blackann, as well as to a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee aide identified as “Staffer D,” in return for legislative favors.

While working for an equipment rental client, Hirni and “Lobbyist D” allegedly sought an amendment encouraging state public works agencies to rent rather than purchase construction equipment contracts only with companies that had “large dollar amounts of liability insurance coverage.” Hirni and “Lobbyist D” sought to have these amendments inserted into the federal highway funding bill, according to papers filed by government prosecutors.

The identity of “Staffer D” is still unknown. According to Hirni’s charging document, “Staffer D” worked on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in 2003 and 2004, when Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) chaired the panel.

An attorney for Mark Zachares, who served as an aide on the committee from 2002 to 2005, said he does not believe his client is “Staffer D” or was involved in the charges filed against Hirni.

Zachares pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with Abramoff and accepting $40,000 worth of money and tickets to sporting events and concerts in return for assisting Abramoff.

Hirni’s attorney, Scott Sobel, clarified that Hirni was working for Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal at the time of the alleged activities, not with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig.

“Jim regrets one single instance as a first-time lobbyist over five years ago when a mistake in judgment by agreeing to a client’s request led to an unfortunate chain of events one evening,” said Sobel. “Jim has acknowledged his involvement and the involvement of those responsible for the incident. He is now cooperating with the Justice Department.”