Over at Huffington Post this afternoon, Murray Waas does some great reporting on the apparent ties between a top aide of John McCain and the administration of Saddam Hussein.

William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.

The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.

During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.

Timmons' activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.

This is far from the first time that McCain has gotten into trouble for the actions of one of his lobbyist-aides. In fact, it's not even the first time that McCain has caught flak for the seemingly shady relationships McCain's lobbyist friends have maintained with brutal regimes. Just a few months ago, it emerged that the man McCain tapped to run the Republican National Convention had previously lobbied for the murderous junta in Burma.

But this one could sting the McCain campaign even more than the Burma story. For one, Iraq is and has been much closer to the forefront of the minds of Americans over the last two decades. While many may not know much about the Burmese junta, Americans are well acquainted with Saddam Hussein. Moreover, it fits in well with one of the running narrative of this general election -- that McCain is too close with lobbyists, that he relies too heavily lobbyists to run his campaign, and that lobbyists would play too powerful a role in his administration. Indeed, the position held by Timmons is as powerful a position as they come.

It is certainly the case that the lobbying issue is not the most salient at this point -- the economy clearly trumps all other issues at this juncture -- and as such this story might fly under the radar of voters. Moreover, it's not clear that the establishment media will pick up on this story, regardless of how compelling it is. Yet it is apparent that this story only has the potential to hurt, rather than help, McCain if it catches hold -- a possibility the McCain campaign can ill afford at this juncture.