Sweetheart deal

Republican congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio left his wife for a female aide who now makes a lucrative career out of lobbying his committee.

By Cliff Schecter

Oct 5, 2004 | This month Washingtonian magazine released the results of its annual poll of Capitol Hill staff members, who were asked to rank their top three picks among the 535 U.S. senators and representatives in categories ranging from "Best Dressed" to "Gutsiest." Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, achieved distinction as "No Altar Boy." The magazine offered no explanation.

LaTourette, a member of the Republican class of 1994, a cadre in Newt Gingrich's "revolution," is now running for a sixth term in Congress in Ohio's 14th District, a suburban, mostly working-class area outside Cleveland. A former prosecutor, LaTourette has used conservative social issues to turn the once Democratic district into a marginally Republican one. He is a favorite of the National Rifle Association. Now, unexpectedly, he finds himself trying to beat back a surprisingly strong challenge from a political newcomer, 26-year-old Capri Cafaro, who won the Democratic Party primary in a wide field and has family wealth (a string of shopping malls) to sustain her campaign.

LaTourette's district, like much of Ohio, has been particularly hard hit by job losses during the Bush presidency. And Ohio is an all-important swing state where Democrats have invested copious amounts of money in support of John Kerry's presidential bid.

But there is a factor in the contest other than job losses and Cafaro's potential viability as a candidate. It is signified by LaTourette's estranged wife's defiant posting of "Cafaro for Congress" signs in her front yard. According to a local weekly newspaper, Cleveland Scene, "she probably wouldn't mind staking the sign elsewhere -- like, say, through a certain congressman's heart."

LaTourette's affair with a Washington lobbyist was exposed by the Hill newspaper in 2003. The father of four and husband of 21 years voted for President Clinton's impeachment, but he has also joined moderate Republicans on a number of issues, including support for hate crimes legislation. He was blending into the woodwork as a Republican Party regular -- not as extreme as some of his more partisan colleagues but acceptably conservative (the Christian Coalition recently rated his voting record 84 percent favorable) -- when the revelation of his affair made him a poster boy for Republican "family values" hypocrisy.

The Washington lobbyist and her background have gone unmentioned in previous published accounts of the affair. But two sources close to Susan LaTourette, the congressman's wife, have told Salon that the lobbyist is Steven LaTourette's former chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook, whose work as a vice president for the firm Van Scoyoc Associates consists of pushing the interests of various Ohio-based clients before the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which LaTourette sits. He is also chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

The affair began when Laptook was on LaTourette's staff. Immediately upon leaving his office in March 2003, she was hired for the lucrative business of influencing LaTourette's committee. Touting her qualifications, the Van Scoyoc Web site states: "As chief of staff, Laptook was responsible for advising on all legislative issues, particularly those that came before the committees on which Congressman LaTourette serves. Laptook worked intimately with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, on which the congressman is a senior member."

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