Tobacco Lobby May Blow Lot of Smoke

To hear the cigarette industry tell it, one of the myths of American politics is that of an almighty tobacco lobby.

“I never see ‘tobacco lobby’ without the word powerful in front,” said Brennan Moran, director of media relations for the Tobacco Institute.

But internal institute memos leaked to a reporter sometimes depict the steamroller lobby whose existence the industry continually denies. Ironically, some of these memos--directed to higher-ups in the institute and the tobacco companies--exaggerate the institute’s conquests, just as the industry complains its critics do.

In a February, 1987, memo, for example, institute officials claim they “were able to influence the choice of a replacement for David Wilhelm as director of Citizens for Tax Justice”--a labor-backed policy group that opposes excise taxes on cigarettes and other goods.

But the institute played no role in picking the successor, according to Bob McIntyre, the only candidate for the job. His account was substantiated by Wilhelm and others close to the group.

“That’s ridiculous. I’m at a loss,” said Wilhelm when he heard of the institute’s boast. “That sounds like typical Washington, D.C., influence-peddling . . . claiming credit where no credit should be claimed.”

Similarly, in an August, 1986, memo to cigarette company officials, the institute claimed it had “arranged adoption of a comprehensive excise tax position paper at the first annual Hispanic Congressional Caucus Legislative Seminar.”

The reference was apparently to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, made up of Latino members of Congress. Current and former members of the caucus staff said the group has never had an annual legislative seminar.

Also in 1986, after a Senate Finance Committee hearing on proposed excise tax increases, the institute boasted of giving “staff support, including drafting testimony and press statements for National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Governor Baliles of Virginia, and several members of Congress.”

The former head of the National Black Caucus, Clarence Mitchell III, filed a statement with the committee, but the group’s current executive director said he didn’t know if the institute drafted the statement. According to the hearing record, there was no testimony from either LULAC or Gov. Gerald L. Baliles.

Moran said she was not familiar with the memos and declined to comment.