Top Schwarzenegger Aide Switches to More Powerful Firm

Richard Costigan -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's excitable and smart former legislative liaison -- has left his new political consulting job after only a month. The Recorder legal newspaper says Costigan is departing the newly formed Sacramento office of McKenna Long & Aldridge, an Atlanta law firm, for a much more powerful and influential shop, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which has close ties to Schwarzenegger.

Costigan's sudden departure from McKenna - which has 400 attorneys in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco - means the firm is now "weighing its future in the (Sacramento) market," according to the Recorder. George Kieffer, head of Manatt's government lobbying division and co-chair of Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign, said that Costigan is "just a brilliant guy. He will help us understand issues and how they play."

The job switch means Manatt has yet another highly influential and connected Schwarzenegger acolyte to push its agenda. The Recorder noted: "Energy giant BHP Billiton has hired Manatt to lobby on behalf of its state application to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast of Southern California."