The Hill, a news portal covering US-government related news, reported on Friday, 7 April 2017, that Ballard Partners, a Trump-connected firm, has signed a one-year US$900,000 contract with the Dominican government. This reportedly is the Florida-based firm’s first foreign government as a client.
Hill reports that the company helped Trump win the state in the presidential election and recently opened a K Street office in Washington D. C. to expand its business. The disclosure reports filed with the US Justice Department lists that the company will provide “various strategic consulting and advocacy services in relation to businesses with the United States”.
Ballard Partners is owned by longtime Florida lobbyist and fundraiser Brian Ballard.
The disclosure report reveals: “It shall be the responsibility of [Ballard Partners] to consult with [the client] and to advocate on their behalf the situations and matters that [the client] deems necessary and appropriate before the Federal Government of the United States of America”.
The Hill observes in the article that President Donald Trump has imposed tough restrictions on former administration officials lobbying for foreign governments. Indeed, in his first weeks in the Oval Office, he signed an executive order banning for anyone who worked in his administration from ever registering as a foreign agent with the Justice Department. The Hill, nevertheless, observes that the rules do not apply to those who worked for him during the campaign and the transition.
Read more:
The Hill
11 April 2017
