There's A Giant Loophole In Trump's 'Drain The Swamp' Order
Credit: Claytoonz.com
May 4, 2017

Sean Spicer and Donald Trump himself frequently point to his "rule" that no one can go from an office in his transition or administration into a lobbying job. That revolving door is closed, right?

Whoops.

It turns out NINE members of Trump's transition team SO FAR have registered as lobbyists on Capitol Hill. How did that happen? They didn't sign "the agreement" not to. REALLY. So much for Donald Trump's incredible powers and the undeniable loyalty of everyone who ever worked for him. Politico:

But three months after Trump moved into the White House, at least nine people who worked on his transition have registered as lobbyists, highlighting holes in the president’s pledge to keep people from cashing in on government service.

Many are registered to lobby the same agencies or on the same issues they worked on during the transition, a POLITICO review of lobbying disclosures found. A former "sherpa" who helped to guide Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos through the Senate confirmation process is now registered to lobby her department. The former head of the transition's tax policy team has returned to his old company to lobby Congress on tax reform. One ex-member of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative team is now registered as part of a team lobbying on behalf of a major steelmaker.

And then there's this:

The six-month ban appears to have been haphazardly implemented. Three former transition staffers told POLITICO they never signed a pledge. One former transition official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no process in place to ensure staffers signed the document. Others determined they could go back to lobbying without violating the pledge.

You would think he wasn't serious about ethics.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon