A top lawyer with the US Chamber of Commerce, the right-wing lobbying behemoth fighting climate change legislation and tough financial reforms, is now spearheading a deep-pocketed GOP group for this fall’s election. Former Chamber counsel Steven J. Law has become the head of a conservative 527 political organization dubbed American Crossroads, National Journal reported today. The up-and-coming group, the Journal‘s Peter Stone reported, “hopes to raise some $60 million to help dozens of congressional Republican incumbents and candidates in this year’s elections,” an effort surely made easier by having a former top Chamber official at the helm:
Law, who has been at the chamber for about two years, will be leading a group that seems poised to play a big role this fall, according to two sources familiar with the new 527. It recently raked in millions of dollars with the help of ex-RNC chairman Ed Gillespie and one source says it has received pledges for $40 million. Gillespie recently made fund raising stops in Texas and New York City to help American Crossroads get off the ground, although he has told National Journal that he doesn’t intend to be formally affiliated with it.
Law is a former chief of staff to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., served as executive director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee under McConnell and was a deputy secretary at the Department of Labor during the George W. Bush administration. Law is known as a tough advocate and is respected for his fund raising prowess. He’s bagged big money for the chamber’s campaign to defeat “card check” legislation, a top priority of labor unions that, if enacted, would expand their ability to organize.
