Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization. Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.

In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual — since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.

Further, and missing from the Times’ reporting, Mr. Davis has never — never — been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.

However, the Times’ story did not say “Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month,” as the campaign asserts. Rather, it clearly states that Davis’ firm was paid by Freddie Mac until last month. Neither does the article make any of the other straw-man arguments that the campaign takes issue with.

The article does seem to raise questions about Davis’ use of his connection to Sen. John McCain. His firm’s clients seem to think it’s a very good idea to maintain ties to Davis, in the event that McCain becomes president. It also makes clear the McCain campaign’s hypocrisy in attacking Sen. Barack Obama for his ties to Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae CEO — when the McCain campaign’s ties to Freddie Mac are more recent and direct. Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign’s statement does not address these issues. Instead, it would rather attack the messenger, again.

In addition to yesterday’s maligned report from The New York Times that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis earned $2 million as the president of an organization that lobbied on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to resist increased federal regulation, Bloomberg reports today that the reported head of McCain’s transition team lobbied on behalf of Freddie Mac as well.

The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation’s financial crisis.

Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month, when the federal government took over both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Newly available congressional records show Timmons’s firm received $260,000 this year before its lobbying activities were barred under terms of the government rescue of the failed mortgage giant. Timmons, 77, is listed as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac on the company’s midyear financial-disclosure form.

Time’s Michael Scherer reported earlier this month that Timmons would helm McCain’s team charged with preparing for a transition to the White House in the event of a victory in November. According to Bloomberg, the McCain campaign would not confirm that Timmons was working for the GOP presidential nominee. McCain has repeatedly blasted the mortgage companies’ lobbyists for their role in creating the current crisis. From Bloomberg:

“At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” he said last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“Using money and influence, they prevented reforms that would have curbed their power and limited their ability to damage our economy,” he said. “And now, as ever, the American taxpayers are left to pay the price for Washington’s failure.”

Perhaps the McCain campaign should hire an adviser — preferably not a lobbyist — just to keep all of the other advisers’ past lobbying activities straight, so as to avoid embarrassing news reports such as this.