Vicki Iseman in middle of McCain lobbyist scandal

Lobbyist Vicki Iseman is caught up in a scandal involving Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Both John McCain and Vicki Iseman deny they ever had a romantic relationship.

From the NY Times:

Early in Senator John McCain's first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard a client's corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself - instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist's clients, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

A decade ago a McCain's political career nearly ended in the Keating Five scandal. Since then he has claimed to be a crusader for stricter ethics and campaign finance rules.

UPDATE: "It is a shame that TheNew York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign," McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, said. "John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust."

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