Trump-Connected Lobbyists Cashed In On COVID-19: Watchdog

At least 40 lobbyists with direct ties to President Trump, including five former administration officials, were able to secure more than $10 billion in federal coronavirus aid for their clients, according to the watchdog group Public Citizen. The fact that former administration employees benefited from a government program directly violates Trump’s own policy he enacted to “drain the swamp” when he took office. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to do away with influence peddling through lobbyists, but Public Citizen reports that the trend has actually intensified during the pandemic after Congress passed more than $3.6 trillion in spending on coronavirus stimulus packages. “The swamp is alive and well in Washington, DC,” said Mike Tanglis, one of the report’s authors. “These booms that these people are having, you can really attribute them to their connection to Trump.”