Schwarzenegger blasted over 8 million dollar consulting gig

Jul 14, 2005, 17:12 GMT

Los Angeles - Already slumping in polls, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was facing a new crisis Thursday.

The Los Angeles Times reported that days before taking over as Governor, the former Mr. Universe and action movie star signed an 8 million dollar consulting contract with a publisher of fitness magazines. He went on to veto a bill last year that would have restricted advertisements of controversial dietary supplements.

According to the report, the publications - "Muscle & Fitness" and "Flex" magazines - rely heavily on those adverts and Schwarzenegger's fee is based on his company's receiving 1 per cent of the magazines' advertising revenues.

"This is one of the most egregious apparent conflicts of interest that I have seen," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "This calls into question his judgment as to who he is working for, and it calls into question what he thinks he owes the public."

"For a governor to have contracted his decision-making and judgment to a company is a real conflict of interest," Noble said.

A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman told the paper that though Schwarzenegger's finances were complicated, they were in accordance with the law, and the consulting contract presented "no conflict of interest" since Schwarzenegger did not solicit any advertising.