Supplement makers give big money to Chaffetz

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Washington » Rep. Jason Chaffetz likes the dietary supplement industry and his latest campaign finance report shows the feeling is mutual.

Since the beginning of July, Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, collected about $30,500 from supplement makers and distributors, with about half coming from a company that has repeatedly locked horns with federal regulators.

The congressman received the maximum contribution -- $2,400 -- from six people involved in the leadership of Basic Research, just three weeks after the Salt Lake City-based company filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission over an advertising dispute.

Chaffetz said he is aware of the legal fight, but has not gotten involved and no one from Basic Research has asked him to.

"I'm vaguely familiar with it," the House freshman said. "I haven't read through any documents, I've just heard some of the anecdotal stories."

He heard those stories because one of the principal members of the company is a neighbor. Chaffetz said that neighbor, Evan Bybee, set up the fund-raiser.

Calls to Basic Research on Monday were returned by a spokesman representing the company.

"Basic Research has no political giving program and company leadership was unaware of these contributions," the spokesman said in a statement. "These individuals were making personal donations to the congressman."

But Chaffetz's campaign disclosure indicates that six of the company executives donated in the same amount on the same day -- Sept. 29.

The spokesman said Basic Research has never asked Chaffetz to lobby federal regulators.

The company and the FTC have been at odds for about five years over the marketing of weight loss products. In an earlier agreement, Basic Research accepted a $3 million fine for making claims about supplements that were not backed by scientific evidence and for implying a person in an advertisement was a doctor when he wasn't.

Basic Research says it now has scientific studies backing its claims that with a product called Akävar you can "Eat all you want and still lose weight." But the FTC disagrees.

The company filed suit against the commission in early September in an attempt to get federal approval, while the FTC sent a complaint to the Justice Department requesting another government fine.

The executives at Basic Research and their family members have donated to Utah Republicans in the past, giving Sen. Orrin Hatch money in 2006 and contributing heavily to John Swallow's unsuccessful bids to unseat Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson in 2002 and 2004.

A few of them gave to Chaffetz during his 2008 campaign, but not nearly in the amounts they contributed this go around. In all, Basic Research employees gave $14,400 to his campaign, nearly 17 percent of his total contributions since July.

Chaffetz attributes the donations to his friendship with Bybee and his strong ties to the supplement industry, which is heavily concentrated in the 3rd Congressional District.

"I talk their language," he said. "Orrin Hatch has really been the superstar with that industry and I think they understand that they need continued help in the years to come."

Hatch helped draft the federal regulations overseeing supplements and his son is a lobbyist for the industry. But Chaffetz has his own ties. He is the co-chairman of the dietary supplement caucus in Congress. Previously, he worked for more than a decade as a spokesman for Nu Skin, one of the state's most prominent supplement makers.

While working there, he met the Washington lobbying team of Dennis DeConcini, a former senator from Arizona, and Romano Romani, who represents a supplement trade association.

The lobbyists held a fundraiser for him in the last election and again this year.

Between these trade groups, Nu Skin and Basic Research, Chaffetz has collected more than $80,000 in total donations from the supplement industry since first running for Congress in 2007, making it one of his major funding sources. He expects more in the months and years to come.

"It is an industry I could and should continue to do well with," he said.

mcanham@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">mcanham@sltrib.com