Influential GOP Lobbyist Joins Altria

By Patrick O'Connor

(The Politico)  Bruce Gates, an influential Republican lobbyist with close ties to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), is leaving Washington Council Ernst & Young, the firm he helped found in 1996, to work in the Washington office of the newly reconstituted Altria, according to someone with knowledge of the departure.

Under Gates, Washington Council became something of a feeder system for the current administration, with a steady stream of lobbyists matriculating to the White House legislative affairs team and vice versa.

This is Gates's first forray into corporate lobbying, and his departure from Washington Council has been in the works for months, according to the same source.  He will become the company's new vice president of government affairs.

The move comes a week after Altria announced that it would spin off its international division, Philip Morris International, and move the parent company headquarters to Richmond, Va., the long-time home of Philip Morris USA.