Incoming acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper has recused himself from all matters involving Raytheon while at the Pentagon. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images defense Why the acting Defense secretary may have to sit out Turkey missile talks

Incoming acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper's past as a lobbyist for one of the Pentagon's top contractors is already threatening to complicate one of his department's most sensitive diplomatic tasks — a high-stakes negotiation with Turkey over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Esper will probably need to recuse himself from the talks because the outcome has implications for Raytheon, which employed him for seven years before he joined the Pentagon in 2017, defense and ethics experts said Wednesday.


Esper’s conflicts highlight the potential problems in nominating a Defense secretary from the defense industry, as much of his work would touch on his former employer, Raytheon — in the same ways acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan's prior work for Boeing was scrutinized.

Shanahan, who announced his resignation Tuesday, had taken a leading role in trying to persuade Turkey to purchase Raytheon’s Patriot system instead of the S-400 air defense system made by Russia. The U.S. has threatened to kick Turkey out of the F-35 program, meaning the country would not be able to buy the fighter jets, if it purchases the Russian system, which is expected to be delivered to Turkey in July.

Just this week, Shanahan was in contact with his Turkish counterpart on the issue, according to Reuters , which also reported the two men were expected to meet next week at a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Esper, who is now the Army secretary, has recused himself from all matters involving Raytheon while at the Pentagon, which would include the Patriot system. His two-year recusal agreement ends in November.

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“In my view it would preclude him from participating in that sale unless he received a waiver,” said Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel at Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, noting that a waiver would come from the White House counsel’s office.

Still, she sees no reason that he would receive one. “That could be delegated to somebody else," she said. "I think he should recuse. We just got through a process with Shanahan in which he appeared to be placing his thumb on the scale to favor his former employer in different contexts, and we don’t want to relive that whole debacle.”

In April, the Pentagon's inspector general cleared Shanahan of allegations that he improperly boosted his former employer Boeing and disparaged other contractors while he was deputy Defense secretary.

Esper is set to become acting Defense secretary on Monday. His spokesperson did not return a request for comment. Raytheon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Esper’s ties to Raytheon would not impact his ability to act on other key efforts, including military personnel issues or troop decisions. Some defense analysts also pointed out that Turkey seems poised to move forward with the S-400 purchase regardless, making these negotiations a moot point.

But Andrew Hunter, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that Turkey has floated the idea of buying both the U.S. and Russia platforms as a compromise that could require ongoing talks.

Hunter agreed that Esper could not weigh in directly on the issue of selling Patriots to Turkey, but that he could talk with foreign officials about other aspects of the deal.

“I think it’s pretty clear [Esper] wouldn’t be able to engage directly on matters relating to that deal because of prior work at Raytheon,” Hunter said. “At a broader level of engaging on the S-400 and the Patriot as the alternative, I think there is some gray area there they’d have to navigate pretty carefully.”

For example, Hunter said Esper would probably be able to urge Turkey not to buy the Russian defense system, but could not advocate directly for the Patriot himself. In that case, it could fall on other senior U.S. leaders, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to talk up the American system.

The U.S. has said Turkey can't own both the S-400 and the F-35, for fear that doing so could give the Russians access to the F-35's high-tech secrets. Turkey had planned to purchase 100 F-35s, and also manufactures components for the global program.

If the U.S. kicks Turkey out of the F-35 program, it would also need to find other manufacturers for the parts being built in Turkey.