Government Watchdog Wants Deputy Pentagon Chief’s Ethics Records

Remember Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn? He was the former Raytheon lobbyist who joined the Obama administration almost immediately after the president announced new ethics rules barring lobbyists from joining the government in their relevant fields. His nomination survived after getting an ethics waiver, whereby he swore he wouldn’t have anything to do with his former company’s business — which is a really difficult promise for a deputy defense secretary to keep. Anyway, he’s been a low-key figure for the past year.

Now, though, the Project on Government Oversight has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Lynn’s ethics records. From a prepared statement emailed to reporters:

“POGO worried that the wide spectrum of the work required by Deputy Secretary Lynn’s position would prohibit him from conducting work free from conflicts of interest,” said POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. “We are requesting this information to make sure that the Pentagon did due diligence to ensure no lines were crossed.”

POGO’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request asks for ethics decisions, ethics or conflict of interest waivers, recusal decisions, and any procedures established on behalf of or as a consequence of William Lynn’s previous experience as a lobbyist for one of DoD’s top contractors. The request also asks for correspondence or information regarding meetings between Deputy Secretary Lynn and Raytheon.