Iran–Contra affair

During the Iran–Contra affair, Dowd represented Robert C. Dutton, a former Air Force officer and an associate to Major General Richard Secord who oversaw the contra air supply effort.[21]

John McCain

Dowd represented Arizona Senator John McCain during the Senate Ethics Investigation known as the Keating Five in hearings held in 1990 and 1991.[22] John McCain was cleared for impropriety by the Senate committee, but was reprimanded and criticized for his poor judgment.[23]:6

ADM

Akin Gump was retained by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) during the lysine price-fixing conspiracy to develop a defense strategy following the FBI raid of ADM's offices in June 1995.[24]:354 Dowd interviewed employee Mark Whitacre for four hours who at the time was an informant for the FBI.[25] Whitacre told Dowd about his role as an informant and Dowd immediately informed ADM's management, who in retaliation, accused Whitacre of embezzlement.[24]:355 The film, The Informant!, which is based on the lysine price-fixing conspiracy, Dowd was portrayed by stand-up comedian Bob Zany.[26]

Fife Symington

Arizona governor Fife Symington retained Dowd as an adviser when he faced questioning from United States House Committee on Financial Services over the Savings and loan crisis in the late-1980s and early-1990s on using his position improperly to access loans with favorable terms.[27] Dowd represented Symington during the latter's trial for extortion and bank fraud in 1996 and 1997, of which he was convicted for bank fraud. Symington was convicted on 7 of the 21 counts and acquitted on 3, with the other 11 resulting in a hung jury.[28] His conviction was reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2000. Symington was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001, whom Symington had once saved from a rip tide off of Connecticut.[29]

John Dowd