WASHINGTON – Some lawmakers who slam porn as a scourge to society got big bucks from corporations that profit from adult videos and phone sex, a watchdog group said yesterday.
Among the biggest recipients of such campaign contributions were some of the best-known champions of moral values, including Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas), according to Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington.
“This is about hypocrisy …. These are members of Congress who have taken a stand against pornography,” the group’s director, Melanie Sloan, said.
“If you’re going to take a stand against this kind of thing, you have an obligation to know where the money is coming from.”
The group’s report, “Addicted to Porn,” looked at lawmakers who accepted at least $10,000 from companies that profit from adult entertainment.
Among well-known contributors who made millions of dollars from adult entertainment were Holiday Inn and Marriott, which cash in on in-room, pay-per-view entertainment; cable companies like Comcast, Time-Warner and Cox that air X-rated shows, and long-distance carriers like AT&T that profit from phone sex, the report said.
Several lawmakers did not immediately return calls but a spokeswoman for Lieberman – who got $16,200 from companies that had some involvement with porn, according to the report – said many of the corporations “produce a wide range of goods and services. A lot of them are good.”