{"id":579,"date":"2017-04-04T11:32:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T16:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/?p=579"},"modified":"2017-04-04T11:32:30","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T16:32:30","slug":"koch-influence-in-the-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/579","title":{"rendered":"Koch Influence In The Trump Administration…"},"content":{"rendered":"

The long reach of the Koch bothers into American conservative\/libertarian politics now reaches to the Trump administration. \u00a0They have been actively involved in exerting influence on politicians for years. Their primary goals are to strip regulation on business and reduce tax responsibilities on the wealthiest of Americans.<\/p>\n

They must certainly be pleased with “brother” Trump.<\/p>\n

The Intercept –\u00a0<\/strong>IF THE\u00a0BILLIONAIRE<\/u> Koch brothers\u00a0turn to the White House for favors, they will see many familiar faces.<\/p>\n

Newly disclosed<\/a> ethics forms reveal that a significant number of senior Trump staffers were previously employed by the sprawling network of hard-right and libertarian advocacy groups financed and controlled by Charles and David Koch, the conservative\u00a0duo hyper-focused on entrenching Republican power, eliminating taxes, and slashing environmental and labor regulations.<\/p>\n

Some of the relationships were well-known. Marc Short<\/a>, for instance, now Trump\u2019s chief liaison to Congress, previously led Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the dark money nonprofit\u00a0used by the Koch brothers and their donor cohort to dispense money to allied groups. Freedom Partners, which maintains an affiliate Super PAC, was at the center of the Kochs\u2019\u00a0$750 million<\/a> election effort during the campaign last year.<\/p>\n

But the ethics forms, made available to the public on Friday evening, reveal a number of previously undisclosed financial ties between the Koch network and Trump\u2019s inner circle of political aides.<\/p>\n

Donald McGahn<\/a>, Trump\u2019s campaign attorney turned White House counsel, provided legal services to a range of outside Koch groups working to influence the election. McGahn, through the law firm Jones Day, advised Freedom Partners, as well as i360, the Koch\u2019s big data firm set up to identify and target voters, and Americans for Prosperity, the election advocacy and grassroots lobbying organization run by the Koch brothers.\u00a0Ann Donaldson<\/a>, McGahn\u2019s chief of staff, came to the White House from McGahn\u2019s law firm. Her financial disclosure shows that she also provided legal services to Freedom Partners and i360.<\/p>\n

Kellyanne Conway<\/a>, Trump\u2019s former campaign manager turned close White House advisor, consulted over the last year for Americans for Prosperity\u2019s national foundation, as well as for the Michigan and Ohio chapters of the group. Conway served as a board member for the Independent Women\u2019s Forum, a Koch-backed group whose goal<\/a> is\u00a0\u201cincreasing the number of women\u00a0who value free markets and personal liberty.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Article conrinues\u00a0BELOW THE FOLD<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The long reach of the Koch bothers into American conservative\/libertarian politics now reaches to the Trump administration. \u00a0They have been actively involved in exerting influence on politicians for years. Their primary goals are to strip regulation on business and reduce tax responsibilities on the wealthiest of Americans. They must certainly be pleased with “brother” Trump. … Continue reading Koch Influence In The Trump Administration…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-government","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ovtF-9l","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":576,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/576","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":0},"title":"“1984” And The Rise Of Trump…","author":"Les","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIn particular, this undermining of the concept of facts and the demonization of foreign enemies [by the Trump administration] really resonate in \u20181984\" \u201cNo one is suggesting that we\u2019re living in Orwell\u2019s world. But the road to that world is people just becoming disengaged and allowing their government to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Government"","block_context":{"text":"Government","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/government"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":423,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/423","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":1},"title":"Trump’s Spin Machine At Full Throttle…","author":"Les","date":"March 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the Trump spin machine (alternative facts) continues in full swing at full throttle. CNN - The White House on Monday walked back a key point of President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated allegation that President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 election. Namely, White House press\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ethics"","block_context":{"text":"Ethics","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/ethics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":367,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/367","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":2},"title":"Senator Rand Paul Supports Stand Alone Bill Repealing The ACA…","author":"Les","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On this Kentucky Senator \u00a0Rand Paul\u00a0is just another libertarian dunderhead. Repeal without a replacement first\u00a0makes about as much sense as jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. Not that the republican establishment's replacement plan is a good one mind you. Rand Paul is not backing down. Hours after President\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Healthcare"","block_context":{"text":"Healthcare","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/healthcare"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":532,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/532","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":3},"title":"And, The Gullible Believe…","author":"Les","date":"March 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Tuesday he will not divulge - even to other members of his panel - who gave him intelligence reports that indicated President Donald Trump and his associates may have been ensnared in incidental intelligence collection. Asked by an ABC News reporter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ethics"","block_context":{"text":"Ethics","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/ethics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/320","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":4},"title":"Levin Going Bonkers In Support Of Trump’s Conspiracy Theory…","author":"Les","date":"March 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Levin, another right-wing nut job is making the case that the Obama administration\u00a0was\u00a0involved in wiretapping candidate Trump. Of course the only reference he makes to evidence supporting the allegation\u00a0is to unnamed right-wing sources. Zero hard-core credible evidence was presented, which\u00a0is typical of right-wing conspiracy nut jobs like Levin. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/humor"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":534,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/534","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":5},"title":"Trey Gowdy All In For Nunes (and Trump)…","author":"Les","date":"March 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Rep. Trey Gowdy, another Trump surrogate, has jumped up and on board in support of Chairman Devin Nunes' refusal to name his sources. \u00a0Sources he claims informed him the Obama administration spied on Trump's campaign. Allegations for which no credible evidence has yet surfaced. New Jersey's Republican Governor Christie has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ethics"","block_context":{"text":"Ethics","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/ethics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":580,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579\/revisions\/580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}