



For those who believed this rhetoric was sincere, Trump seemed like an unconventional, populist candidate. For those who saw Trump as a shameless con man, it was only a matter of time before he ignored his “drain the swamp” posturing and started empowering those same special interests and lobbyists.



Close video Lobbyists boast of manipulating Trump Rachel Maddow reports on conflicts of interest within the Donald Trump administration, and on Bob Dole’s lobbying firm taking credit for arranging the call between Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan. Rachel Maddow reports on conflicts of interest within the Donald Trump administration, and on Bob Dole’s lobbying firm taking credit for arranging the call between Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan. share tweet email Embed



We learned last month that the Trump White House was establishing “beachhead teams” in agencies throughout the executive branch, which included



The New York Times moved the ball forward with As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump spoke frequently and with great pride about his plans to “drain the swamp,” reducing the influence of special interests in Washington, D.C. The Republican told NBC’s “Meet the Press” during the campaign that he’s tired of everybody in the nation’s capital “being controlled by the special interests and the lobbyists.” Trump went so far as to say he’d have “ no problem ” banning lobbyists from his administration altogether.For those who believed this rhetoric was sincere, Trump seemed like an unconventional, populist candidate. For those who saw Trump as a shameless con man, it was only a matter of time before he ignored his “drain the swamp” posturing and started empowering those same special interests and lobbyists.Take now, for example.We learned last month that the Trump White House was establishing “beachhead teams” in agencies throughout the executive branch, which included dozens of industry lobbyists . ProPublica found , “Many of them lobbied in the same areas that are regulated by the agencies they have now joined.”The New York Times moved the ball forward with a related report over the weekend:

President Trump is populating the White House and federal agencies with former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who in many cases are helping to craft new policies for the same industries in which they recently earned a paycheck.



The potential conflicts are arising across the executive branch, according to an analysis of recently released financial disclosures, lobbying records and interviews with current and former ethics officials by The New York Times in collaboration with ProPublica.

The Times highlighted “at least two” instances in which the administration appointed lobbyists to government posts in violation of the administration’s own ethics rules. There may be others, the article added, “but evaluating if and when such violations have occurred has become almost impossible because the Trump administration is secretly issuing waivers to the rules.”





One example I’m not altogether sure what the point of having ethics rules is if the White House is handing out waivers – in secret – allowing officials to ignore those rules whenever Team Trump sees fit.One example from the piece seemed especially brazen.

One such case involves Michael Catanzaro, who serves as the top White House energy adviser. Until late last year, he was working as a lobbyist for major industry clients such as Devon Energy of Oklahoma, an oil and gas company, and Talen Energy of Pennsylvania, a coal-burning electric utility, as they fought Obama-era environmental regulations, including the landmark Clean Power Plan. Now, he is handling some of the same matters on behalf of the federal government. […]



Mr. Catanzaro was registered for Talen Energy on the Clean Power Plan in 2015, yet he has worked in recent months as a senior member of the White House’s National Economic Council trying to roll back that rule, adopted by the Obama administration.



Mr. Catanzaro’s former clients, such as Talen and Devon Energy, have an enormous amount at stake in the regulations the White House is preparing to reverse — with his help. Talen, for example, helps operate the Colstrip power plant in Montana, the second-largest coal-burning plant west of the Mississippi. Federal officials have estimated that the plant could face a $1.2 billion bill as it makes updates to meet the new environmental standards, assuming it is not just closed.



Three industry lobbyists interviewed by The Times said that they recently had confidential conversations with Mr. Catanzaro about some of the same regulatory matters on which he was lobbying the federal government. And Mr. Catanzaro gave a briefing to reporters in March at the White House in which he discussed energy topics at length, including the details related to the executive order Mr. Trump signed on March 28 to weaken the Clean Power Plan.