If you read me on a regular basis, then you’re already familiar with one of my favorite aphorisms, “You lay down with wolves, you get up with teeth marks”. Many of you have provided witty tweaks to that in the comments, and I love it. But this is the fun of immersing yourself into Trumptopia as I do, the man has so associated with so many mangy quadrupeds that you never know which one is going to nibble on his ass next.
You all know that I was born, raised and lived most of my adult life in Chicago, a political cesspool. But even I have never seen such an inept, “Gang that couldn’t shoot straight” bunch of political morons as the Trump Clan. They go through scandals the way His Lowness goes through Tic-Tacs. Part of it is the fact that they’re political neophytes, but it’s mostly because they’re too stupid to learn to “get in front” of an impending scandal, to lay down the paper towels before the glass tips over. And if what I’m going to tell you now happens, it’s going to be a scandal that Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell can feast on for months.
Anybody remember good old Corey Lewandowski? Yeah, the third rate political wanna be who was magically hired to run Trump’s campaign in the early days, I think maybe because he worked cheap. He got canned in a pissing contest with Paul Manafort, who wanted to normalize the campaign. Corey got something important out of his time with Hair Furor’s campaign, he got contacts. And now, he’s ready to cash in and go from being a third rate political hack to a second rate political pain in the ass.
Not too long ago Lewandowski teamed up with Barry Bennett, a longtime GOP bottom feeder with good knowledge of the ins and outs, to form a political strategy and lobbying group. But thanks to a new ARTICLE on Politico, we now know that this is a lobbying group with an inside edge. Lewandowski is pitching access directly to Trump and other administration officials;
A document provided to an Eastern European politician by an international consulting firm that Lewandowski co-founded this year promises to arrange “meetings with well-established figures,” including Trump, Pence, “key members of the U.S. Administration” and outside Trump allies.
Even if you subtract the blatant reference to peddling influence directly to the President of the United States to foreign companies and dignitaries, this has the potential to keep Rachel digging for months. Let’s list just a few for reference and fun.
First, Corey Lewandowski has yet to register as a lobbyist. The official explanation is that he hasn’t done any actual lobbying yet, but as you’ll see a bit further down, this is open to debate. Second, the firm, East West Political Strategies was founded by Lewandowski, Bennett, and an Azerbaijani oil mogul. I can’t help but wonder if Corey and Barry did their “due diligence” to assure themselves that this tycoon has not been accused or tied to either taking or receiving bribes for services, thereby avoiding possible RICO implications down the road. After all, Trump already landed in hot water for dealing with the most corrupt family in Azerbaijan on his failed hotel deal in Baku. Third, other lobbyists are already grumbling about Lewandowski’s unfair advantage, and I’ll bet they know more politicians and movers and shakers than he and Bennett do.
Bennett responded to a request for comment by stating that he had not read the document in question. But it appears that Corey picked up something else in his time bumping up against Trump, a now chronic inability to keep his big mouth shut, which may come back to bite both himself and Barry Bennett in the ass;
However, people who are familiar with Lewandowski’s pitch to potential clients say he has pledged that he would personally call Trump or his Cabinet members if necessary on behalf of prospective Avenue Strategies clients.
*Sigh* What can you say? When they’re stupid, they tend to stay stupid. Bennett has also tried to tamp down the potential risk in Lewandowski’s blatant influence peddling by pointing out that East West has not as yet signed any international clients, so there is no risk of any conflicts or violations of laws or regulations. This may well be true, but it does nothing to lessen the appearance of the ability to “buy availability” to Trump by hiring Lewandowski. And Trump already has enough trouble with the recent revelations of well connected Mar-A-Lago members being able to get personal meetings with Trump for foreign friends or associates of theirs.
But it is now known that in at least one instance Lewandowski came through on his boast of access and got someone a meeting with Trump. So far, Lewandowski and Bennett are hanging their legal hat on the fact that the meeting was not arranged for a client of the firm, he was only a “prospective” client, although considering the fact that it was a foreign national, I’m not sure how much water that pail is going to be able to carry;
In at least one instance, Lewandowski and his team did in fact deliver a meeting with Trump and a prospective client of their firm — Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.
The December sit-down at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort came days after Lewandowski had traveled to Mexico on a business-development trip and met with Slim, who had traded barbs with Trump during the presidential campaign.
“And from that meeting, they all thought it would be interesting if Mr. Slim met with Mr. Trump, and that’s what happened,” said Slim spokesman Arturo Elias Ayub. While Bennett suggested at the time that the relationship might lead to a contract, Ayub stressed that it has not.
The biggest problem that I can see with this is that it doesn’t matter if Carlos Slim was an actual client at the time or not. It sends a loud and clear message to any prospective clients out there that East West actually can produce face to face meetings with Trump or other high level officials. But more importantly, it raises the specter of a couple of serious problems for Trump and his administration as well.
The most obvious problem is that it makes Trump look like just another sleazy, influence peddling politician. He is willing to hold meetings with foreign businessmen as President, at a time that he still holds all of his personal business interests intact. This is a sure fire way to get people screaming about the Emoluments Clause again. Also, there is the fact that Corey Lewandowski is still a very divisive figure in the Trump administration, he made a lot of enemies in his tenure as the campaign manager. Trump already has enough problems and infighting in his west wing, quite a bit of it by his own making, the last thing he needs is outside interference causing even more angst and disturbance.
The Trump-Russia investigation is still the one with the most ability to sink the SS Trumptanic the quickest. But this one, if properly nurtured has the potential to quickly climb the charts and join it as a potential disaster. And now that Politico has put it on the radar, I have little doubt that there are reporters out there that are going to start taking a very serious look at who signs on with East West, and who suddenly starts getting meetings with Trump and other high officials in the administration. My advice? Stay tuned, and buy more popcorn.