Photo : Sean Gallup

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon is a comically evil man, so logically, he apparently tried to get a job lobbying for the vape company Juul, according to a new report from The Daily Beast.




Juul, which sell trendy, flavor ed vaporizers marketed to teens by Instagram influencers, have recently come under scrutiny by the FDA and others for, well, marketing nicotine products to teens.

Bannon’s interest in the company was reportedly disclosed in October of last year, when Nick Muzin, a former Ted Cruz staffer, met with Tevi Troy, the vice president of public policy at Juul.


From The Daily Beast:

At the meeting, Muzin pitched Troy on the lobbying services of his firm, Stonington Global. Muzin also brought up Bannon, saying the former White House strategist would help with his company’s lobbying work for the vape company, according to communications by a person with direct knowledge of the pitch, which The Daily Beast reviewed.

Muzin also pitched a connection with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski:



Muzin... highlighted the fact that one of his fellow Stonington lobbyists, James Frinzi, previously worked for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) —one of the Senate’s most outspoken critics of the e-cigarette industry. The message was clear: Frinzi’s access to Murkowski could have big payoffs.


Troy is known to be connected with Bannon. He’s appeared on Breitbart’s SiriusXM radio show on multiple occasions, and he defended Bannon in a Politico op-ed several days after he was fired from the Trump administration .

Juul has invested heavily in lobbying, which makes sense for a company that’s under threat of severe government regulations. In the last quarter of 2018, Juul spent half a million dollars on lobbyists, an increase of 167 percent from the previous quarter.


It’s really too bad that this partnership didn’t work out. Nothing would work better to discourage teens from smoking than associating Juul with a guy who wears five shirts every day and looks like he hasn’t left his house in ten years.