McCain: There was no improper conduct

— -- John McCain said Thursday he didn't have an improper relationship with a lobbyist and denounced a New York Times article that suggested otherwise.

McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, said he has "many friends who represent various interests," but the question is, "do they have access or unwarranted influence?"

"Certainly, no one ever has in my conduct of my public life and the conduct of my legislative agenda," McCain said in Toledo, Ohio.

The Times story published Wednesday night on their website spotlighted the role of Vicki Iseman, a lobbyist for the telecommunications industry.

The report said some of McCain's advisers confronted him with concerns about the relationship during his presidential run in 2000. The article also said the Arizona senator wrote the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of one of Iseman's clients.

McCain, who called the FCC matter routine, said no one talked to him about any kind of improper relationship with Iseman. "I consider her a friend," he said.

Iseman's firm, Alcalde & Fay, issued a statement that "the allegations and malicious innuendo" are "completely and utterly false." Iseman herself did not issue a statement.

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller issued a statement saying the story speaks for itself. "In all the uproar, no one has challenged what we actually reported," he said.

McCain said he spoke with Keller in December, but "I was not trying to dissuade him … from doing the story."

The story has been part of the political rumor mill for months, so much so that McCain retained Washington attorney Robert Bennett in mid-December. Bennett said McCain was concerned about "dirty tricks" against him, and "unfortunately, The New York Times has allowed itself to be a vehicle."

Bennett said there are a dozen instances in which McCain took the opposite position from clients of Iseman's firm. The McCain campaign provided a list of 13 bills dealing with such matters as broadcast licenses, low power radio and direct broadcast satellite providers.