hohlt

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ANOne of President Donald Trump’s

newest appointees is a registered agent of Saudi Arabia earning hundreds

of thousands of dollars to lobby on the kingdom’s behalf, according to

U.S. Department of Justice records reviewed by the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/">Center for Public Integrity</a>.Since January, the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry has paid longtime Republican lobbyist Richard Hohlt <a href="https://www.fara.gov/docs/6384-Supplemental-Statement-20170613-1.pdf">about $430,000</a> in exchange for “advice on legislative and public affairs strategies.”Trump’s

decision to appoint a registered foreign agent to the President’s

Commission on White House Fellowships clashes with the president’s vow

to clean up Washington and limit the influence of special interests.Trump

singled out lobbyists for foreign governments for special criticism,

saying they shouldn’t be permitted to contribute to political campaigns.

Hohlt is himself a Trump donor, though his contributions came before he

registered to represent Saudi Arabia.“I will issue a lifetime

ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a

FOREIGN GOVERNMENT! #DrainTheSwamp,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/788854422105235456">tweeted</a> in October.Key advisory bodyThe commission is essentially a part-time advisory body <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/participate/fellows/process">responsible</a> for

making final recommendations to the president of candidates for the

prestigious White House fellowships, which President Lyndon B. Johnson <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/participate/fellows">created</a> in 1964.The candidates are usually accomplished professionals with sterling resumes. Fellows are <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/participate/fellows/about">typically given</a> jobs

in the White House and federal agencies. Past White House fellows

include Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, former Secretary of State

Colin Powell, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas and CNN chief medical

correspondent Sanjay Gupta.Hohlt said he is one of 19

commissioners who met over a weekend this month to interview the

fellowship candidates — the commission’s only formal duty annually.Hohlt

stresses he has never lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of

Saudi Arabia, which has aggressively courted Trump since he became

president in January.“That is not my role,” Hohlt said.What role, then, does he play?According

to Hohlt’s disclosures with the Department of Justice, he registered to

lobby for Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry in October and “provides them

with advice on legislative and public affairs strategies.” He disclosed

no direct contacts with government officials on the Saudis’ behalf as

of April 30, the date covered by the latest Department of Justice

report.Hohlt said he was largely brought in to offer advice on overarching strategy and how the legislative process works.He

did directly contact some congressional offices in late May and June

regarding an arms sale, he said, and those contacts will be disclosed in

his next disclosure report, as required.Hohlt added that he’s

working for the Saudis without a formal contract. If the Saudis asked

him to lobby for something the Trump administration opposed, “I’d say

I’m not going to work on it,” Hohlt said.For example, he said, the administration was in favor of the arms deal.Trump strikes deals with SaudisTrump’s first foreign trip as president came in May, when he visited Saudi Arabia.While there, Trump touted the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gets-elaborate-welcome-in-saudi-arabia-embarking-on-first-foreign-trip/2017/05/20/679f2766-3d1d-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html">“tremendous” deals</a> he

said he struck with the Saudis, including an expanded arms agreement

valued at $100 billion. During elaborate ceremonies, the Saudis heaped

plaudits. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir praised Trump and

praised his “vision,” “strength” and “decisiveness.”Hohlt said he disclosed his Saudi lobbying job to Trump officials during the vetting process before his appointment.White

House spokeswoman Kelly Love said she had “nothing to add” in response

to questions from the Center for Public Integrity about Trump’s

appointment of Hohlt, including whether the Trump administration was

aware Hohlt worked as a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry.Love

referred the question of whether the administration was aware of

Hohlt’s representation of the Saudis to the White House fellows office,

which did not respond to a request for comment.Upon taking office, Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/28/executive-order-ethics-commitments-executive-branch-appointees">executive order on ethics</a> that

included, among other things, a lifetime ban on executive branch

appointees engaging in work that would require registration under the

Foreign Agents Registration Act, among other restrictions on lobbyists.The law, known as FARA, is the same law that mandates disclosure of Hohlt’s work for Saudi Arabia.Trump’s

executive order doesn’t apply to part-time appointees such as Hohlt.

Nonetheless, some government ethics experts still say the appointment

presents a jarring contrast with the president’s statements.And despite Trump’s order, he has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/us/politics/lobbyist-ethics-waivers-trump-administration.html?_r=0">issued ethics waivers</a> to

lobbyists who have taken full-time positions with the administration,

including, for example, Michael Catanzaro, a former energy company

lobbyist who is now a special assistant to the president and <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/31/trump-white-house-waivers-ethics-239011">adviser on energy policy</a>. The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/MICHAEL%20CATANZARO.PDF">waiver</a> allows Catanzaro to participate in matters on which he lobbied.Trump donorHohlt

is a Trump donor. He contributed $2,700, to Trump’s campaign in August

and $5,000 to Trump’s transition in September, the maximum amounts

permitted. Those contributions came before he registered to represent

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry in October.Nonetheless,

“Appointing someone who is registered under FARA as doing work for Saudi

Arabia does seem odd at a time when he’s made a very big deal about not

having people leave the government and then do work where they have to

register under FARA,” said Larry Noble, the general counsel of the <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1OPRB_enUS704US704&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lawrence%20noble%20campaign%20legal%20center">Campaign Legal Center</a>, a nonpartisan campaign reform organization.Kathleen

Clark, a law professor at Washington University in Saint Louis, said,

“There is truth to the slogan that personnel is policy. And so he’s

appointing this lobbyist for Saudi Arabia to a commission that then

recommends people for important positions.”Hohlt also lobbies for

numerous corporate clients. This year, he’s been registered to lobby on

behalf of oil giant Chevron, the Motion Picture Association of America

and a division of tobacco giant Altria, among others.Asked about

any potential conflict of interest, Hohlt pointed to the extremely

part-time nature of his fellowship commission appointment.“I guess I’m an old-fashioned lobbyist,” Hohlt said. “I know how to separate lobbying and not lobbying.”==