Consulting Firm Tied to White House Given Millions in Health Care Ad Campaign

Axelrod left the firm on Dec. 31, 2008, with the agreement that it owed him $2 million -- and some Republican critics now question whether the firm was hired to indirectly fund his severance package.

The House Republican Conference issued a one-page memo Tuesday, questioning the sincerity of the administration's calls for change and transparency. "As the pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions supporting a government takeover of health care, some may wonder whether White House senior advisors earning millions of dollars paid for in part by the pharmaceutical industry represents the kind of change American can believe in?"

Axelrod, a veteran journalist and former columnist with the Chicago Tribune, founded AKPD Message and Media in 1984 following his work managing Paul Simon's victorious U.S. Senate campaign.

The firm, formerly known as Axelrod and Associates, provides consulting and advertising for Democratic candidates and causes. Axelrod’s son, Michael, joined AKPD in 2006 as the firm’s research director. AKPD also employed Obama’s presidential campaign manager David Plouffe as a partner beginning in 2003.

Despite questions about the propriety of using Axerod’ firm while Axelrod promotes the president’s plan, negotiated with the coalition, PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said that “the dots just don’t connect.”