Fred Thompson: Pro-abortion Lobbyist and Liar?

Today the New York Times drops a bombshell on Fred Thompson. I’ve already visited this topic before, but now there’s a paper trail that backs up my original post. And a lot of FredHeads will be eating hefty helpings of crow.

Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20 hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even though he recently said he did not recall doing any work for the organization.

Uh oh. First there were flat denials, then there was an “I don’t recall” excuse, and now this.

According to records from Arent Fox, the law firm based in Washington where Mr. Thompson worked part-time from 1991 to 1994, he charged the organization, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, about $5,000 for work he did in 1991 and 1992. The records show that Mr. Thompson, a probable Republican candidate for president in 2008, spent much of that time in telephone conferences with the president of the group, and on three occasions he reported lobbying administration officials on its behalf.

Ouch. But there’s more.

But his record on abortion has not always been as clear cut. In questionnaires Mr. Thompson answered during his 1994 Senate campaign, for instance, he checked a box stating that he believed abortion should be legal under any circumstances during the first three months of pregnancy and said, “I do not believe that abortion should be criminalized.” He has also opposed a constitutional amendment banning all abortion, also on the grounds of states’ rights.

And I guess Hollywood Fred can’t remember this:

The billing records from Arent Fox show that Mr. Thompson, who charged about $250 an hour, spoke 22 times with Judith DeSarno, who was then president of the family planning group. In addition, he lobbied “administration officials” for a total of 3.3 hours, the records show, although they do not specify which officials he met with or what was said.

Read the whole thing. I can’t take any more of this.

So does anyone still believe that Fred Thompson is riding in on a white horse to save conservatives from the Hillary beast? If they do, they’re fools. He’s riding in on a black horse and the only one he’s trying to save is himself.

A question for FredHeads and non-FredHeads alike: would you trust a liar in the White House?

Update: Patterico reminds us of the earlier denials:

Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo adamantly denied that Thompson worked for the family planning group. “Fred Thompson did not lobby for this group, period,” he said in an e-mail.

In a telephone interview, he added: “There’s no documents to prove it, there’s no billing records, and Thompson says he has no recollection of it, says it didn’t happen.”

No billing records, eh? Somebody wasn’t being forthcoming here.

Update: Welcome, Hot Air readers. For the record, Sam Brownback isn’t third tier.

Update 2: Since many FredHeads have really thick skulls, let’s get this straight: this isn’t so much about his lobbying, but his honesty. If he really is this great pro-life hero (his past statements do not back up this assertion), then it seems he would remember working for and lobbying on behalf of a pro-abortion group. When one is pro-life, abortion is murder. One would expect that Fred would remember lobbying on behalf of murder, wouldn’t one?

Update 3: Welcome Protein Wisdom readers! We are honored.

Update 4: Predictably Fred! defenders are in full spin cycle.

Update 5: Langley over at Save the GOP is very cross. His commenter(s) is/are cowards. At least Langley had the sack to stand up for his beliefs, here on a pro-Brownback site. We can respect that. Apparently commenter “Mike” is too skeered of us. What a wimp. He wants to “Save the GOP” but can’t be bothered to come over here where his feelings might get hurt. Awww. Help me, mommy! I’m so much smarter than those meanies.

Well I have no desire to head over to your site and attempt to engage in an intelligent discussion with the caliber of folks I saw over there. Nor would I try to discuss this issue with a group of third graders.

Wow, what a macho dude! We bow in his direction for his massive intelligence and gravitas. Loser. Mike wouldn’t even be a light snack for the likes of Misha.

Update 6: Red State is an excellent source of conservative news that I read every day.  But some little RomneyBot, going by the suspicious name of Rob Johnson doesn’t like a comment in this very thread.  He got very angry and wet his pants over it, but could not sack up and debate in our open comment thread, even after being invited.  What a baby.

Full disclosure: if I’d known that Rob was a whiny little RomneyBot, I wouldn’t have wasted my time debating the idiot.

See also: Past articles on Fred Thompson.

— Psycheout