Donald Trump’s transition has come under increased scrutiny for the number of lobbyists who have become attached to it. | AP Photo Trump transition appears to have flouted internal ethics rule on lobbyists A copy of the transition team's code of ethics includes a rule barring lobbyists with overlapping work.

Donald Trump’s transition team appears to have deviated from its own ethics rule barring lobbyists whose work for Trump would overlap with any matters on which they lobbied in the previous year.

According to a copy of Trump for America Inc.’s Code of Ethical Conduct obtained by POLITICO, a member of the transition team must pledge to “disqualify myself from involvement in any particular transition matter if I have engaged in regulated lobbying activities with respect to such matter, as defined by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, within the previous 12 months.”


But at least eight transition team members have done work that appears to flout that internal rule, Senate records show.

Steve Hart, chairman of Williams & Jensen who was tasked with the handoff of the Labor Department, lobbied on labor issues for Anthem, Brinks and Smithfield Foods as recently as September.

Michael McKenna, who has been running the Energy Department transition, is a lobbyist at MWR Strategies for French utility Engie (formerly GDF Suez) and power provider Southern Company.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's David Bernhardt, charged with the Department of Interior, is registered to lobby for Westlands Water District. Bernhardt told POLITICO his colleagues contacted Interior and Justice Department officials, but he has lobbied only Congress for that client.

Jim Carter, the in-house lobbyist for manufacturing company Emerson, has been in charge of tax reform, even though he lobbied on taxation issues as recently as September.

Michael Catanzaro, a lobbyist at CGCN for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Hess, Encana, Noble Energy and Devon Energy, was made responsible for energy independence. Working with him was Mike Ference, a lobbyist at S-3 Group for Halliburton, Koch Industries and Marathon Oil.

Martin Whitmer was charged with transportation and infrastructure even though he is a registered lobbyist at Whitmer & Worrall for the American Association of Railroads, the National Asphalt Pavement Association and the Utilities Technology Council.

Michael Torrey was put in charge of the Department of Agriculture even though he lobbied the USDA as recently as September on behalf of Little Caesars, Dean Foods, the American Beverage Association, and the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau.

These lobbyists and the Trump transition did not answer requests for comment.

The code of ethics was likely put in place under the leadership of Chris Christie, who was pushed aside last week and replaced by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is now leading the transition effort. One source inside the transition team estimates that about 150 team members stood in line and signed this particular version of the code of ethics, as well as a nondisclosure form at a team meeting on Nov. 11, just hours before Trump shook up the team’s leadership and put Pence in charge.

The document says it was last updated Nov. 10, and it’s not clear whether it’s been updated since then. Some of the aides may have joined the transition before this policy was in effect.

If Pence does end up revising the code of ethics, he would have to ask the roughly 200 transition team members to sign the new pledge. The White House is also waiting on a copy of the transition team’s code of ethics before it can legally give the team briefings and allow it go into federal agencies

Trump’s transition has come under increased scrutiny for the number of lobbyists who have become attached to it, despite his repeated claim during his campaign that he wanted to rid Washington of lobbyists’ undue influence and “drain the swamp.”

Pressed during a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday about his reliance on lobbyists, Trump said, “That’s the only people you have down there.”

He added that he still plans to “clean up Washington” but that he has no other option for the time being. “I’m saying that they know the system right now, but we’re going to phase that out,” Trump said.

However, it appears that Pence is trying to make changes now. A senior Pence aide said the vice president-elect has issued a new decree for the transition team: a purge of all lobbyists from the operation.

It’s not clear, though, how quickly such a purge could occur, given how many lobbyists have been in critical positions in the already chaotic transition effort. It's also not clear whether lobbyists are no longer allowed to serve at all or can continue working on policy but not agency teams. It's also unknown whether any of the lobbyists listed above have been recently removed.

According to the document, which spans two pages and requires a signature, individuals who don't comply with the policy may be fired.

The code of ethics uses the definition of lobbying as defined by the Lobbying Disclosure Act. The people above were all registered under that law within the past year, according to Senate lobbying records reviewed by POLITICO.

The policy uses a broader scope for restricting people's activities after the transition: For six months they may not "communicate with or appear before, for compensation, any federal department or agency seeking official action" on any matter for which they had "direct and substantial responsibility" during the transition, according to the document.

The policy also forbids accepting gifts, advising foreign governments or political parties, and using information learned from the transition for private gain.

Kenneth P. Vogel and Nancy Cook contributed to this report.