Hillary Clinton ‘Bars’ Lobbyists from Transition Team Chaired by Lobbying Firm Partner

Hillary Lobbyists Wink AP

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:

Ken Salazar, a former US Secretary of the Interior, US Senator and State Attorney General, provides legal, strategic and policy advice to national and international clients, particularly on matters at the intersection of law, business and public policy. He counsels firm clients by drawing on his deep experience in energy, environmental and natural resources, and with Seth Waxman, leads the firm’s efforts on tribal issues.
WilmerHale clients include: AT&T, Boeing, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Monsanto, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer, Procter and Gamble, and Staples.

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