Update: John Loeffler, John 'Maverick' McBush's campaign co-chair and chief strategist resigned today over his lobby activities as head of Loeffler Group. One of his clients was the parent company of aeronautical manufacturer Airbus, European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS). Northrop and EADS won a controversial and lucrative contract to replace aging air refueling tankers for the Air Force. McBush helped kill a similar contract in 2004 that would have been awarded to Seattle's Boeing Co. Loeffler's firm also represented Saudi Arabia in return for a $15 million fee. So far five former lobbyists on McCain's staff have resigned amid controversy. Charlie Black remains as a McBush political stategist. Charlie Black's firm, Black Manafort, Stone & Kelly represented Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos for a reported $900,000. Marcos ruled for twenty years and is accused being responsible for the deaths of thousands of opposition activists. His firm also represented the government of Zaire for $1 million. The dictator of that country, Mobuto Sese Seko, plundered its wealth and executed political opponents. To represent the Angolan rebel group UNITA and its ruthless leader Jonas Savimbi the firm charged $600,000 to achieve what was quickly dubbed in cynical Washington as 'Savimbi chic'.[5/13/08]Two aides of Republican presidential candidate, John W. McBush, were forced to quit the campaign because of their connections to the Burmese military junta first disclosed by Harper's Magazine. Douglas Goodyear was tasked with running the Republican convention in Minneapolis. His lobbying firm DCI Group was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent the isolated military dictatorship. Doug Davenport, another member of the firm also resigned. Recent uproar over the junta's delay in allowing foreign aid workers into the country to assist disaster relief has caused renewed concern about McCain's ties to lobbyists representing dubious clients. Three other lobbyists, Charlie Black, Tom Loeffler, and Peter Madigan, and their firms’ clients, have generated at least $3.5 million in campaign donations to Sen. McCain over his career, according to Campaign Money Watch analysis of campaign finance data. Black resigned from the campaign earlier. McCain attempts to portray himself to the electorate as a "straight talker" with the help of CMM enamored of his war record and purported maverick status within the Republican Party. But McBush is hardly free from the pernicious influence of "beltway bandits" as these latest resignations demonstrate.