Clients doing business with the Justice Department have become fond of one Washington, DC, lobbying firm during the past six months.
The National Football League, the University of Michigan, and egg manufacturer Hillandale Gettysburg are among the ten customers that Ballard Partners has lobbied on behalf of thus far this year through the Department of Justice or one of its bureaus. That’s more money coming in than Ballard took in from the Department of Justice throughout both the Obama and Trump administrations put together.
In what ways has time passed since then? A member of the firm’s own staff has assumed leadership of the Department of Justice.
The current Trump attorney general, Pam Bondi, was formerly the attorney general of Florida. Prior to her swearing in, Bondi spent six years lobbying for Ballard, where she was a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office and led the practice that focused on corporate regulatory compliance for Fortune 500 corporations.
After Trump’s victory and Bondi’s selection for attorney general, all but one of the customers for whom Ballard claimed to have lobbied the DOJ this year entered into a contract with the company.
Lobbying companies on the other side of K Street are seeing a similar trend, with several of its former staffers holding senior positions in Trump’s government.
Former Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy worked as a lobbyist and advisory board member for BGR Group; the lobbyists there claimed to have reached out to the Department of Transportation on behalf of nineteen clients who had paid over $1.8 million to the business this year. During Biden’s administration, which saw the first big infrastructure measure passed in years and an increase from 14 clients, that number increased. HEADLINESFOREVER reviewed disclosure documents and found that during Trump’s first term, BGR contacted the DOT on behalf of six separate clients.
Prior to their confirmation, Bondi and Duffy both signed ethical agreements. They promised that, absent a waiver from the head of the department’s ethics, they would not be “personally and substantially involved in any particular matter involving specific parties” involving their previous employers, clients of their previous employers, or even their own clients.
Those limitations will expire after one year. While this is happening, businesses can lobby any official within the relevant authorities they choose, provided that they are not themselves subject to any ethical constraints. Furthermore, the ex-lobbyists who are now cabinet secretaries are free to socialize with their old employers whenever they choose.
However, the lobbying efforts of BGR Group and Ballard show how these businesses have taken advantage of their special connections to the Trump administration in the first half of his second term.
Detailed information on individual lobbying contacts inside a particular department or agency is not needed to be disclosed in lobbying filings. Nevertheless, powerful ex-lobbyists in Trump’s administration undoubtedly still have considerable influence inside their respective agencies, even if they avoid direct communication with their previous businesses.
“If it’s known that a Cabinet secretary wants clients to be dealt with on an amiable basis, that can happen without an express directive going out or an ethics agreement being directly violated,” said Jeff Hauser, creator of the organizational ethics monitor Revolving Door Project. “That is why it’s difficult to conceal conflicts of interest” with vague threats to install firewalls, which cannot be confirmed.
Bondi and Ballard’s link
According to Justin Sayfie, a representative for Ballard, the business has met all of the criteria for lobbying.
He issued a statement saying that no lobbyist from Ballard had ever spoken with Attorney General Bondi while she was in office. All of the Ballard lobbyists have strictly adhered to the one-year prohibition on doing so that was imposed upon them upon her swearing-in.
Sayfie chose not to discuss any of the firm’s clients’ activities at DOJ beyond what is included in the mandatory lobbying filings. He also cast doubt on the idea that Ballard would advertise its relationship with the attorney general to potential customers. He asserted that the firm’s track record of successful lobbying spoke volumes in the marketplace.
In 2025, Ballard earned over $1 million from its clients’ lobbying efforts with the Department of Justice.
After retaining Ballard, some clients who were previously at odds with Bondi’s DOJ have experienced a dramatic improvement in their situation. American Express Global Business Travel is a good choice.
Department officials took steps toward dropping their lawsuit challenging a merger between CWT Holdings and a corporate travel management firm that had hired Ballard in March to advocate against antitrust practices. The decision was made at the tail end of July.
The activity of American Express GBT’s only federally registered lobbyist, Ballard, which was limited to the Justice Department, cost the company $200,000, according to documents.
The decision by the DOJ to approve the merger came after a tumultuous few days for the antitrust division of the department, which resulted in the dismissal of two senior deputies for suspected insubordination. Roger Alford, one of those deputies, went on to accuse senior DOJ officials of being influenced by “MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists” in their antitrust enforcement actions. (The American Prospect was informed by a Department of Justice spokeswoman that Bondi was not involved in the AmEx case, and there were no named Ballard clients or lobbyists among those cited.)
Bondi’s ethical measures and whether or not she has received any ethics exemptions were among the many questions that DOJ spokeswoman Gates McGavick failed to answer. In a statement, he acknowledged that Bondi’s previous work had nothing to do with her duties as Attorney General and stated that Bondi always follows the highest relevant ethical standards.
Both Sean Duffy and the Directorate of Transportation
Lobbying records reveal that seven customers of BGR Group, who retained the company after Trump’s inauguration, pressured the Transportation Department. A number of these executives, including Delta’s CEO, met with Duffy earlier this month in Washington, DC, to deliberate ways to update the country’s air traffic control systems.
Through a roundabout route, Delta was formerly one of Duffy’s clients.
The Transportation Secretary has a history of lobbying on behalf of the Partnership for Fair and Open Skies, an alliance of large U.S. airlines and labor groups, of which Delta is a member. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, Duffy and BGR ceased campaigning on behalf of the alliance, which had been mostly involved in a conflict with Middle Eastern airlines. As part of his confirmation paperwork, Duffy revealed that he has consulted for the alliance during the previous two years. However, at his confirmation hearing, Duffy insisted that he had “since had no relationship or contact with the partnership.”
A number of Trump administration initiatives have proved fruitful for Delta and Duffy’s other former airline clients. A total of $12.5 billion was allotted to the improvement of air traffic control systems as part of the Republican megabill that was enacted in July.
Latest news: DOT reveals intentions to shelve or revise some consumer protection measures for air travelers proposed under Biden’s administration. One regulation that airlines have fought in court is one that would have had airlines reveal the costs of items like checked and carry-on luggage as well as schedule changes.
An official from the department referred to the story’s premise as “absurd” and clarified that “Secretary Duffy’s time in advocacy involved a very brief period of work for the Open Skies Partnership,” which was “strictly focused on international affairs and encouraging access for U.S. carriers into foreign markets.” There was zero involvement with domestic aviation policy in that effort.
Duffy “has and will continue to abide by his signed ethics agreement,” the statement noted. Addressing the needs of the American people and President Trump’s ambitious transportation plan govern the decisions made by the Department. That’s all. We do not favor any one person or business over another.
The United States High Speed Rail Association, ST Energy, a government IT contractor that collaborates with the government Aviation Administration (FAA), and Karsun Solutions are among BGR’s additional transportation clients.
BGR has lobbied the Department of Transportation (DOT) on behalf of many long-term customers during multiple presidential administrations. Based on his financial filings, Duffy has ties to a number of companies, including DHL Express, the Canadian National Railway, and Enterprise Products, a pipeline firm.
The Angolan government, which retained BGR in May, is one of the firm’s international clients; the government of Angola has even lobbied DOT on its behalf.
As part of the ongoing implementation of the agreement between Angola and the United States to increase the frequency of flights between the two nations, state-run TAAG Angola Airlines sought permission from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a direct route to Houston earlier this spring. The Department of Justice documents reveal that lobbyists from BGR sought many meetings with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and offered strategic recommendations to Angola. The validity of the gatherings is debatable.
According to BGR spokesman Jeff Birnbaum, “our filings speak for themselves.”