Randall L. Tobias

Randall L. Tobias, of Indiana, resigned immediately April 27, 2007, as Deputy Secretary of State and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) "after he was asked about an upscale escort service allegedly involved in prostitution." 

ABC News reported that Tobias "said he had called an escort service several times 'to have gals come over the condo to give me a massage'" and "that there had been 'no sex' involved." 

"The escort service, Pamela Martin and Associates, is owned by Jeane Palfrey, who has been called the 'D.C. Madam,' and faces federal charges of running a prostitution operation in the Washington area from 1993 through August 2006," Reuters reported.

"Palfrey, who operated the escort service, was indicted on federal racketeering charges in February [2007] and has threatened to expose her high-profile client list." 

"Within minutes of McCormack's announcement, Tobias's biography was removed from the USAID Web site" and State Department officials "declined to comment further on the reasons for Tobias's resignation." 

Tobias was nominated January 19, 2006, by President George W. Bush to be Administrator of the USAID. Tobias' nomination was sent February 17, 2006, to the Senate for confirmation. Tobias replaced Andrew S. Natsios, who resigned.

Tobias is chairman emeritus of Eli Lilly and Co..

2003: AIDS Czar
At the time of his nomination, Tobias was serving as "the United States Global AIDS Coordinator with the rank of Ambassador." His nomination was announced July 2, 2003, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 3, 2003. Tobias reported directly to then Secretary of State Colin Powell. "In this role, Ambassador Tobias is responsible for coordinating the United States Government international HIV/AIDS assistance efforts." 

When nominated in July 2003, Tobias was serving "on the boards of Kimberly Clark, the consumer product and medical supply company, Knight Ridder, the newspaper chain, the Windrose Medical Properties Trust, and ConocoPhillips, the oil and gas company.

"Tobias [was noted as] a major donor to civic causes in Indiana, his home state. He has also backed political candidates and parties with most of his money going to Republicans." 

No AIDS Experience
"Why is this man who has no experience with AIDS, no experience with diseases in developing countries, going to be running a $15.0 billion AIDS program?," Sharonann Lynch, spokesperson for the Health Global Access Project, asked in July 2003.

"To administer the $15-billion plan, Bush cynically named someone who has no experience with AIDS and none with diseases in developing countries: Randall L. Tobias, the former chairman of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. Tobias was chosen to ensure that U.S. moneys are given to those who purchase AIDS-fighting meds at top dollar from Big Pharma, instead of giving them to countries so they can themselves buy generic AIDS drugs at the lowest possible prices — meaning the money won’t go nearly as far as it could," Doug Ireland wrote in LA Weekly.

Abstinence & Faithfulness "Yes", Condoms & Generic Drugs "No"
At the 2004 AIDS conference in Bangkok, Tobias "was greeted by the protests of activists opposed" to both the Bush administration's policies and to Tobias, Mary Curtius, reported in the July 11, 2004, Los Angeles Times.

"Tobias, some activists said, could expect a reception similar to the one given Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last conference. Thompson was booed off the stage at the 2002 conference in Spain." Shanonann Lynch said Tobias "has given his critics fodder by emphasizing abstinence and faithfulness as effective ways of preventing AIDS while downplaying the role of condoms, and by failing to embrace generic drugs as substitutes for more expensive, patented brands."

Profiles
Beginning in 1993, Tobias "served as Chairman, President and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to that, he worked for AT&T for more than 25 years [1964-1993]. During that time, Ambassador Tobias served as the company's Vice Chairman for seven years and as Chairman and CEO of AT&T International for two years." 

"On January 1, 1999, upon his retirement from [Eli Lilly], he was named Chairman Emeritus. After stepping down from his post at Lilly, he focused his attention on a number of business, community and philanthropic interests and on teaching and writing. His book on leadership lessons learned, Put The Moose On The Table, written with his son, Todd Tobias, was published in early 2003." 

"Ambassador Tobias received his bachelor's degree from Indiana University. He later served as an artillery officer in United States Army." 

SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration cronyism and incompetence
 * Bush administration scandals
 * government-industry revolving door
 * pharmaceutical industry

Profiles

 * Biography: Randall L. Tobias, Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence, Indiana University (established April 2004).
 * Revolving door between the US Government and Industry: Randall L. Tobias, CPTech.org, June 2004.
 * Executive Branch Personnel PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT posted by PoliticalMoneyLine.

2003

 * Doug Ireland, "Taking the Hypocrite’s Oath," LA Weekly, July 18-24, 2003.
 * Duncan Osborne, "Bush’s New Overseas AIDS Czar. President taps retired pharmaceutical exec to oversee $15 billion effort," Gay City News, July 11-17, 2003.

2004

 * "US AIDS Official Pushes Abstinence Before African Trip," Associated Press, April 22, 2004.
 * Mary Curtius, "Bush administration's AIDS czar fails to win over critics," Los Angeles Times (ACT UP), July 11, 2004.

2007

 * "U.S. aid official linked to call-girl ring resigns," Reuters (Washington Post), April 27, 2007.
 * Anne Gearan, "Bush Official Resigns Over Escort Links," Associated Press (ABC News), April 28, 2007.
 * Glenn Kessler, "Rice Deputy Quits After Query Over Escort Service. Randall Tobias Oversaw U.S. Foreign Aid Programs," Washington Post (Boston Globe), April 28, 2007.
 * "State Department official resigns over 'D.C. madam'," CNN, April 28, 2007.
 * Timothy Noah, "Abstinence Bushie Busted! Randall Tobias, hypocrite," Slate, April 28, 2007.
 * Joseph Cannon, "Randy," Cannonfire Blogspot, April 28, 2007.
 * Edward Luce, "White House struggles to fill senior posts," Financial Times, May 8, 2007.
 * Justin Rood, "State Scrubs Walls, Documents After Tobias' Escort Admission," The Blotter Blog / ABC News, May 9, 2007.