Incoming acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper's past as a lobbyist for one of the Pentagon's top contractors is already threatening to complicate one of his department's most sensitive diplomatic tasks
Incoming acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper's past as a lobbyist for one of the Pentagon's top contractors is already threatening to complicate one of his department's most sensitive diplomatic tasks — a high-stakes negotiation with Turkey over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.
“In my view it would preclude him from participating in that sale unless he received a waiver,” said Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel at Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, noting that a waiver would come from the White House counsel’s office. Esper is set to become acting Defense secretary on Monday. His spokesperson did not return a request for comment. Raytheon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hunter agreed that Esper could not weigh in directly on the issue of selling Patriots to Turkey, but that he could talk with foreign officials about other aspects of the deal.
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