Tony Podesta and his then-wife Heather in August 2011. Podesta quit his post atop the capital’s eighth-wealthiest lobbying firm after the first indictments in the special counsel’s investigation.
October 30, 2017
By Marc Fisher and Carol D. Leonning
Last week, (click here) Tony Podesta, an eminence in the annals of Washington lobbying, threw one of his signature events, a big birthday bash at his stately stone manse in Kalorama. His guests thought he was on top of his world, one of the men who makes the city go.
On Monday, hours after the first indictments in the investigation into ties between President Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, Podesta abruptly quit his post atop the Podesta Group, the capital’s eighth-wealthiest lobbying firm....
It gets interesting when looking to lobbyists in relationships with the Trump administration.
June 21, 2017
By Fredreka Schouten
Washington — More than 100 former federal lobbyists (click here) have found jobs in the Trump administration, despite President Trump’s campaign pledge to restrict the power of special interests in Washington, according to a tally provided to USA TODAY by a Democratic group.
And roughly two-thirds of them — 69 — work in the agencies they have lobbied at some point in their careers, according to research by American Bridge 21st Century. They include about three dozen recent lobbyists who have not received waivers from Trump’s ethics rule that bar industry insiders and former lobbyists from working on specific matters that benefited their former employers or clients for two years after their appointments....
That is not all. He knew they were lobbyists because he had to write waivers. 17 waivers for his office staff.
June 1, 2017
By Matthew Yglesia
...After extensive back and forth (click here) with congressional Democrats and the Office of Government Ethics, Trump has finally provided documentation, and it shows that the ethics rules are plainly meaningless. He’s granted five times as many waivers in his first four months in office as Obama did, which cover key figures in the administration like Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, and counselor Kellyanne Conway. All told, 17 waivers were granted to members of the White House staff, and we still have no idea how many waivers have been granted for other executive branch agencies or whether anyone is even keeping track....
All of Tony's friends were making changes to their personal power to facilitate greater wealth and he was on the outside of the Trump administration. I imagine having Manafort as a client was some solace. I hope Tony will be okay. I'd worry more if it were Trump looking into their involvement, which is probably very legal, I'd worry. But, considering this is Director Mueller it will be done thoroughly and legitimately.
The people that voted for Trump expected a very different administration.
