Trump Swamp: Interior Sec. Calls Corporations He Regulates ‘My Clients… My Former Clients’

The American Prospect’s David Dayen late last week noted what he called President Donald Trump’s “most nakedly corrupt tweet”: an appeal to Congress to reject a bill giving tribal sovereignty over 321 Interior-Department-controlled acres to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts. Or as the President described it, “a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren.” The tribe wants to build a casino on the land, which would be just minutes away from two nearby competitor casinos. Those competitor casinos are operated by Twin River Management Group, which employs as a lobbyist the American Conservative Union chairman (and Conservative Political Action Conference host) Matt Schlapp. Schlapp’s wife Mercedes Schlapp is White House Director of Strategic Communications. Matt and Mercedes pretend not to be “elites” but according to the Washington Post, Matt certainly has the President’s ear. Before the President’s tweet, the paper reported, he worked to frame the vote as “potentially giving [Elizabeth Warren] a win” on the issue, even…