If President-elect Trump wants to drain the swamp, as he reiterated last week, he should start by turning away some of his closest allies.
Corey Lewandowski, who was a green-energy-subsidy-lobbyist before he became Trump’s chief of staff, has set up a “government relations” firm half a block from the White House. He argues that draining the swamp is not very important and has nothing to do with lobbyists. We hope Trump doesn’t agree.
Trump’s pledge is a noble one. But it won’t be if he defines “the swamp” merely as the lair of his political enemies, and thinks he can “drain” it by colonizing it with his friends, who then get rich selling access and rigging the game for their clients.
Lewandowski told Politico that his firm didn’t conflict with Trump’s message because the “swamp’ referred to bureaucracy, not people profiting on government contracts.
This is wrong as a matter of history and good government. Lewandowski and his firm create exactly the sort of boggy terrain against which Trump ran his campaign.
Lewandowski’s is a case of insiders effectively charging admission to the halls of power. This is one of the corrupting forces that stoked the popular anger that swept Trump to victory.
Trump’s promise to drain the swamp sprang from his “five-point plan for ethics reform,” It was all aimed generally at what Lewandowski is doing.
The first two points involved revolving door lobbyists. Lewandowski never worked in the Trump administration, only in the Trump campaign, and so he doesn’t violate the letter of this idea, just the spirit.
Trump’s third point promised to close loopholes in the definition of lobbyist. Lewandowski spent part of this week arguing that his firm wasn’t really a lobbying firm. “I’m not going to be a lobbyist,” he said.
This is a semantic game. Lewandowski’s partner and fellow Trump campaign alumnus Barry Bennett, told the Washington Examiner he plans to register as a lobbyist. The firm, in its announcement, touted its closeness to the White House. Lewandowski also said he would consult for corporations “who want to get a fast answer from the government.”
Trump’s points four and five were about lobbying on behalf of foreign entities. The first win for Lewandowski’s firm was getting Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim a meeting Trump.
So when Trump talked about “the swamp,” he was talking about Lewandowski and his firm. Lewandowski may have realized that by Thursday morning, because he said on Fox News that “‘Drain the Swamp’ is probably somewhere down at the bottom” of Trump’s priorities.
While the most corrupting aspect of the swamp is the fact that public officials know they have a lobbying job waiting for them, the whole lobbying, consulting and influence game is rife with dangers to the sort of good government Trump promises.
If Mexican billionaires can get a dinner with Trump, and win him over by cutting a check to Lewandowski or some other ally, then the swamp will remain as soupy as ever. Money and access to power will still ensure favors, and lobbyists will still set the agenda.
As president, Trump can live up to his promises by not taking meetings that former aides, allies or fundraisers were paid to arrange. Then he could implement his five-point plan with real teeth.
We wish Lewandowski good luck in his new enterprise. But we also hope Trump knows that his real debt of gratitude is to the voters who trusted his promise to unrig the game. Trump has been ruthless during the transition in jettisoning allies and friends who have become liabilities. He needs to do the same in implementing this key campaign promise.
