Uber-Publicist Harry “Moses” Weiss, who some credit with leading the recent directors exodus out of Anabolic bondage and into the promised land of Red Light District (and others), may now be ready to part the choppy seas of national politics and lead conservative Republicans out of uptight-morality bondage.

You might remember when, some months ago, I wrote a couple of stories about Harry’s appointment to Republican arch-conservative Tom DeLay’s Business Advisory Council. Well, it seems the story made its way all the way to Washington.

In the March 31, 2003 issue of "Roll Call," the major rag that reports on Congress and it’s members and staff-members, writer Paul Kane penned an article about Harry in his “Heard on the Hill” column. He called the piece, “Sex, Awards and Videotape.”

Here’s what Paul Kane had to say in his March 31 column--

HEARD ON THE HILL

By Paul Kane

Sex, Awards and Videotape

In their search for hard money, House Republicans truly broke some new ground recently by awarding Harry Weiss, president of Weiss and Associates, their National Leadership Award and appointing him the California co-chairman of the Business Advisory Council.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) chairs the council, and his signature is on Weiss' award, which thanks him for his "Republican ideals."

But then there's the obligatory twist: Weiss is the proud owner of a PR firm that represents some of the most prolific, uh, "adult" stars in the San Fernando Valley, as well as a few spicy Web sites and video stores. He also founded Nefarious Films, for which Weiss is a producer and director of his own adult flicks. Weiss, who's been in the industry for nine years, has even landed a handful of roles in his own adult films.

As he told HOH on Friday, Weiss has only had "non-sex roles" such as the time he played a judge in a film closely resembling the Larry Flynt case, in which an adult entertainer had to defend himself on First Amendment grounds. The films always need a few non-sex roles, Weiss said, to help move the plot along. Who knew?

A onetime Democrat when he grew up in Union County, N.J., Weiss said he was surprised to find a message on his work phone a month or so ago asking him if he’d like to join the Business Advisory Council. The call is in fact, a fundraising pitch used by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Weiss, who labels himself a centrist who didn’t vote in 2000 because he hated both President Bush and former Vice President Al Gore, called back, and the Republican tele-marketer offered him a spot on the council. “They said they considered me a responsible and important part of the business community,” he recalled.

“I, of course, asked what this was costing me. And they said ‘No cost.’”

With that, Weiss signed on and the person on the other end then granted him the leadership award and played a recorded greeting from DeLay, the arch-conservative who drove the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton over his alleged lies about sexual indiscretions.

The GOP operative never actually asked what services Weiss and Associates performed, Weiss said. Like other recipients of the leadership award, the caller did ask Weiss if he wanted to pay a few hundred dollars to have his name included on a GOP advertisement in The New York Times talking up the president’s economic plan. Weiss declined and the caller said that was fine.

A week or so later he received a letter “welcoming me aboard,” promising access to key republicans and inviting him to an NRCC fundraiser with Bush later this year.

Perhaps members of the more conservative wing of the GOP would strive to rescind the award if they knew Weiss’ clients include actor Lexington Steele, who, according to the Internet Movie Database, boasts of 336 adult film credits since 1997, including, most recently, “Bring ‘um Young 10,” “Can’t Get Enough” and a whole bunch of unprintable titles.

(HOH disclaimer: This item was indeed leaked by a Democratic staffer who got a tip form a K Street friend; no company time or resources have been spent surfing the Web for adult reference sites.)

(JimmyD disclaimer: Actually, mischievous, shit-stirrer that I am, I posted Harry’s Business Advisory Council story on a half-dozen, official Democratic Party message boards, with a link back to the stories about it appearing on this website.. My guess is that’s where the story was originally discovered.)

While Weiss said he’s still unsure if he’ll eventually donate to the Republicans --“Give me a reason, show me what you’re doing” – he is very proud of his award from DeLay. So proud that he has posted the award on the Adult Industry News Web site (www.ainews.com/story/4695) and DeLay’s signature can be seen right next to ads for some films the Texan probably never watched: “California Sex Patrol” and “French Room-mate.”

(JimmyD sez: How the fuck they found Adult Industry News for a post on this story is beyond me. I “thanked” Harry for pointing them to his press release on AINews, rather than to this site where a lot of cyber-ink was given to it, but Harry claims he doesn’t know how they got AINews’ URL. I guess maybe someone up on Capitol Hill was surfing adult websites on company time. Oooooooookay.)

In light of the French position on the war against Iraq, DeLay’s office declined to comment on whether the Majority Leader and former Whip believes the film’s name should be changed to “Freedom Room-Mate.” An NRCC spokesman was very tight-lipped about the matter in general, but left open the possibility that Weiss would indeed be invited to Washington for a fundraiser.

“It’s a big tent,” spokesman Carl Forti said of the Republican Party.

Weiss hopes so, because he’d like to share his libertarian views on morality with key Beltway players. “It’s up to the individual to decide what’s wrong and what’s right,” he said, adding, “What’s family values? No one in my family has ever been convicted of a crime or brought up on charges.”

DeLay, no doubt, will be happy to know that.

JimmyD sez: Harry, no doubt, is happy about that too-- So I guess these two guys have at least one thing in common.

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