"It’s like paying a squeegee-wielding panhandler not to touch your car." https://t.co/iHaTgQO06q
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 13, 2017
Most squeegee-wielding panhandlers don't have access to the nuclear codes. https://t.co/aJJt7N4Yjo
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 13, 2017
Couple a’ Trump’s former gunsels are hustling big businessmen for ‘protection’, and the NYTimes explains how This Is Fine:
… For a fee, Corey Lewandowski, President Trump’s pugilistic former campaign manager, and Barry Bennett, a former Trump senior adviser, will protect you from “tweet risk” — what happens to the stock price and reputation of your company when the president tells his 26 million Twitter followers that you’re killing factory jobs or refusing to sell Ivanka Trump handbags.
“If he’s gonna come after you, there’s nothing we can do to stop it,” Mr. Bennett said of Avenue Strategies, the firm he and Mr. Lewandowski opened in offices overlooking Mr. Trump’s White House bedroom window. “But if you want to figure out how to win in this environment, we can help you.
“We’re your sherpa through turbulent times.”…
So far, the administration “hasn’t done much beyond “a few executive orders,” Mr. Bennett says. So he and Mr. Lewandowski are pressing American companies to “call Jared Kushner and tell him you’re gonna build a new factory,” or invite Mr. Trump to “fly somewhere, cut a ribbon, and high-five 200 employees.”…
Avenue Strategies opened on Dec. 21, the day after Kellyanne Conway, Mr. Trump’s senior counselor, said, “Draining the swamp is not just about lobbying and politicians. It’s also about consultants.” Since then, Trump-related advisers, lawyers, or former campaign hands have opened or joined a host of lobbying and consulting businesses.
The two men say they’re not swamp creatures, because they are not just helping their clients; they are helping Mr. Trump. The firm even operates a fledgling super PAC to help Mr. Trump win re-election. Fired from the campaign and denied a plum job in the administration, Mr. Lewandowski still reveres Mr. Trump and glides past his rival Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, to visit Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. Mr. Lewandowski, who declined to be interviewed, has called any suggestion that he’s cashing in “absolutely disgusting.”…
The Avenue Strategies partners met two decades ago in Ohio: Mr. Lewandowski worked for Representative Bob Ney, and Mr. Bennett for Representative Frank Cremeans. (Mr. Ney was jailed in 2007 on federal corruption charges for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.) Avenue Strategies’ clients often insist on nondisclosure agreements, but Mr. Bennett says most are “Fortune 100 companies.” Two that he can name are both from Ohio: Scott’s Miracle Gro and Community Choice Financial, a payday lender. Their firm is also finalizing a deal to represent the governor of debt-plagued Puerto Rico in talks with its Wall Street creditors…
"Lewandowski, who declined to be interviewed, has called any suggestion he’s cashing in 'absolutely disgusting' ” https://t.co/bqGaaPXKCY
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) March 13, 2017
He is right. It is true, and it is absolutely disgusting! https://t.co/odMnuodN9V
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) March 13, 2017
The Way We Live Now: <em>“Nice Little Bidness Ya Got Here…”</em>Post + Comments (325)