The Hillary Clinton campaign is making a ceremonial point of banning lobbyists from Clinton’s presidential transition team.
But the ban does not actually accomplish anything, so far as progressives and anti-establishment types are concerned, because the man leading Hillary Clinton’s transition team is a partner at one of Washington’s most well-connected lobbying firms.
Team Clinton spread the word this weekend via Politico’s “Playbook”:
Lobbyists have raised and given millions of dollars to Hillary Clinton — but if you think that will get you a spot on her transition team, you’re wrong. K Streeters haven’t been allowed to join policy groups that help advise the campaign, and so far her transition team — which has grown to roughly two dozen employees — have also barred lobbyists from joining its ranks. It’s not yet clear if a Clinton administration would maintain the Obama administration’s ban on lobbyists working in the executive branch. A source familiar with the transition says no decision has been made, and nothing is expected until after the election.
Obviously, this is a concerted ploy to soothe the hearts and minds of Bernie Sanders supporters.
But the “Playbook” item is hilarious in light of transition team chairman Ken Salazar’s position as a partner at WilmerHale, which counts an office on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
Salazar’s WilmerHale bio details his work for the firm: