. >> reporter: as a senator, david vitter railed against the swamp. >> it's all about lobbying.l about ethics. >> reporter: but now that he has been out of office for more than two years, he's part of the washington lobbying culture he once railed against. lobbying for chemical, energy and pharmaceutical firms, as a foreign agent, with a russian oligarch close to vladimir putin. he rubbed elbows with bill cassidy. and he then went to his office, and stored his luggage. he didn't want to talk about it with cnn. >> i'm in the middle of a meet right now. >> is it appropriate to be cashing in on your position, sir? is it appropriate to lobby for russian oligarchs. can you talk about why it's appropriate to be lobbying? >> reporter: there's 323 former lawmakers from both parties that are registered lobbyists. one-third of departing house members and 40% of former senators registering to lookby. between meetings in the dirkson building, cnn talked to norm coleman, who defended his work. >> i think the first amendment is a wonderful thing. i hope we're doing a service. >> reporter: but

i don't even know what you are talking about. >> one reason we're seeing david vitter on capitol hill two year cooling off period from lobbying colleagues and that was mandated by the 2007 ethics law and he's one of 83 senators to vote for that law. >> of course he was. manu raju, thanks so much. >>> on july fourth week, a battle over these nike sfleek -- sneakers with the betsy ross american flag. that's next. ♪ stand up to chronic migraine with botox®. what if you had fewer headaches and migraines a month? botox® prevents headaches and migraines before they even start. botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® injections take about 15 minutes in your doctor's office and are covered by most insurance. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life- threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain