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No McCain Meeting, Former Exec Says

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The Associated Press

Published: February 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - A former Paxson Communications president said Saturday that he never met with John McCain about the Arizona senator writing letters to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the regulatory delay of a Pittsburgh TV station sale.

Dean Goodman, who was in charge of the company's lobbying efforts in 1999, told The Associated Press he also doubts that Chief Executive Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson met with McCain about the issue.

McCain's presidential campaign said the Arizona senator and then-chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, before sending the letters, which have drawn controversy in recent days. But Paxson told The Washington Post in a story published Saturday that he and "probably" Iseman met with McCain on the matter several weeks before the senator sent the letters.

Goodman, who left the company a year and a half ago, took issue with that account in a telephone interview from West Palm Beach.

"I never met with or discussed this with Senator McCain," Goodman said. "I don't recall Bud meeting with McCain. It would be extremely rare that there would be a meeting that I didn't attend, and I can tell you that I didn't have a meeting with McCain on this issue.

"Whether Bud discussed it with him or not, via some other mechanism, I can't rule it out," Goodman added. But "I don't think there was a meeting," he said.

Efforts to reach Paxson and Iseman were not successful.

Senator Put On Defensive

McCain was forced to address suggestions Thursday in news reports that he had an inappropriate relationship with Iseman and advanced the interests of her clients, including Paxson Communications. McCain has denied he did anything improper.

Among the issues raised in The New York Times and the Post were two letters McCain wrote in late 1999 to the FCC on behalf of Florida-based Paxson Communications - which had paid Iseman as its lobbyist - urging quick consideration of a proposal to buy a television station license in Pittsburgh.

Paxson A Donor

At the time, Bud Paxson was a contributor to McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.

McCain did not urge the FCC commissioners to approve the proposal but asked for speedy consideration of the deal, which was pending from two years earlier.

McCain indicated in a 2002 deposition taken in litigation over the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law - and disclosed by Newsweek on Friday - that he talked to Paxson about a TV station the broadcaster wanted to buy in Pittsburgh and Paxson pressed his concern about the FCC delay.

Jill Hazelbaker, a McCain campaign spokeswoman, said Saturday in a statement, "Senator McCain does not recall directly discussing the issue with Mr. Paxson or any representative of Paxson."

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