Former Representative Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) has submitted to Congress paperwork severing Baker & Hostetler's lobbying ties with a controversial Chinese telecommunications company.
Oxley, of counsel to Baker & Hostetler in Washington, said the firm's lobbying relationship with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. subsidiary Huawei Tech. Investment Co. Ltd. ended on November 20, 2012, according to a lobbying termination report filed this week. But after Oxley registered with Congress on August 30, 2012, to advocate for Huawei on "[t]echnology; telecommunications networks and products; cybersecurity," he didn't report any lobbying activity or payments from the company in excess of $5,000, congressional records show.
Neither Oxley nor a Huawei representative was immediately available to comment.
ZTE and Huawei refuted the claims. Huawei said in a written statement that the report "employs many rumors and speculations to prove non-existent accusations." Said Huawei: "Currently, the integrity of Huawei's operations and the quality and security of our products are world-proven across 140 countries around the world."
The company spent $1.2 million on federal lobbying in 2012, according to congressional records. For its advocacy efforts, Huawei used its own staffers, lobbyist Doyce Boesch and government affairs professionals from APCO Worldwide, Canyon Snow Consulting, Strategic Federal Affairs, Strategic Public Affairs and The Walter Group. Fleishman-Hillard also was registered to advocate for Huawei, but it didn't reporting any lobbying activity.
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