Tom Ridge [3], on the Thursday, June 9 edition of the Colbert Report [4], claimed he is "not a lobbyist." A quick glance at his resume shows that nothing could be further from the truth.

Ridge, now 65 years-old, has worn multiple hats throughout his extensive political career [5].

Among them: first-ever head of the Department of Homeland Security [6] (DHS) under the Bush Administration [7] from 2003-2005, former Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995-2001, and former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from from 1983-1995.

Upon leaving the DHS in 2005, Ridge started his career as a lobbyist [8], opening a lobby shop known as Ridge Global [9], located in Washington, D.C, which he still currently heads. Beyond this stint, though, Ridge is also a paid "consultant" [10] (a.k.a. lobbyist) for the Marcellus Shale Coaltion [11], a "trade association" in disguise [12] that in reality is a methane gas industry-funded [13] lobbying group.

That aside, the Pennsylvania Department of State's lobbyist registry [14] contains the real smoking gun evidence.

The registry shows that the Coalition has 11 lobbyists registered to advocate for fracking [15] in the Marcellus Shale [16] region, and in Pennsylvania in particular, among those listed include Coalition Executive Director Kathryn Klaber [17] and Ridge. The registry also shows that their paychecks come from none other than Ridge Global. Open Secrets, a project of the Center for Responsive Politics [18], shows that since 2010, the Marcellus Shale Coalition has recieved $90,000 [19] from Ridge Global. Open Secrets also shows that Ridge is currently a paid lobbyist [20] for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [21], chairing their National Security Task Force [22]. Furthermore, he is the current recipient of a $900,000/year paycheck [23] from the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Yet though the evidence against his claim is quite damning, Ridge had the chutzpah to begin his June 9, 2011 interview [24] on Stephen Colbert [25]'s Colbert Report [4] by claiming he is "not a lobbyist." [26]

Not a lobbyist? Yeah, right.