Front runner for House Speaker post taps anti-online gambling campaigner for top post

Representative Paul Ryan, the Republican politician who is widely seen as the front runner for the post of House Speaker, has tapped 64-year-old Washington DC insider Dave Hoppe as his chief of staff…a move that is not likely to be comforting news for the online gambling industry.

Whilst his political and management credentials are clearly impeccable, Hoffe’s lobbying client list includes Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.

In his long career in Washington politics, Hoppe has previously worked as chief of staff for Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott, and for now-retired arch foe of online gambling, Senator Jon Kyl – an Arizona Republican. Early in his Capitol Hill career, he served as chief of staff to Representative Jack Kemp, the former Republican from New York, during his presidential bid.

In addition to being a successful lobbyist with his Hoppe Strategies company and at Squires Patten Boggs, Hoppe is a registered foreign agent representing the governments of Kosovo and the Philippines, the New York Times reports.

“The more than 100 companies and trade associations he has represented over the last decade have paid $95 million in lobbying fees, according to records filed with the United States Senate clerk,” the Times notes.

Ryan claims that Hoppe is a professional who can carry out his duties without any special treatment for his former clients.

“Dave is a man of integrity with a sterling reputation and 30-year record of government service fighting for conservative policies,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan. “He will work to advance the priories of House Republicans and no one else.”

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