Last year, Ryan Zinke resigned from his Trump cabinet position as Interior Secretary amid controversy over whether he misused his position. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, was booted during the campaign, during which he was accused of assaulting a reporter. Now, this dream team are getting together to join a D.C. lobbying firm, Turnberry Solutions, according to Politico.
Lewandowski apparently won’t be working as a registered lobbyist, but Zinke will.
“Zinke will if it’s the right clients and it’s something he’s passionate about,” Turnberry partner Jason Osborne told Politico.
Zinke is the first former Trump cabinet member to take advantage of the revolving door connecting lobbying groups and the U.S. government—perhaps because most of his other former staff are busy defending themselves from criminal charges or sitting in jail.
Lewandowski and Turnberry’s Osborne are already bros who worked together at the firm Avenue Strategies after Trump’s election. While there, questions were raised about whether Lewandowski was using his connections to the president to his advantage. He quit in 2017.
Though in 2017 he claimed to have “nothing to do” with Turnberry, Politico reported that they were working out of his D.C. rowhouse.
Now, Lewandowski’s affiliation with Turnberry is finally official.
“Previously it was friends talking to each other, friends worked together in the same building,” Osborne told Politico. “Now we’re actually working for the same company.”
Zinke will reportedly work on lobbying the energy and defense industries, including in Montana, where he served as a congressman before taking the job with Trump. Zinke isn’t allowed to lobby the Trump administration after serving in it, but he can still lobby Congress.
Drain the swamp, amirite?