by Alicia Freese vtdigger.org Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is losing one of his senior staff members to a lobbying outfit and law firm. Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, relied on Aaron Cooper as his chief counsel for intellectual property and antitrust law for the committee.
Cooper’s career move marks a full rotation through the revolving door ‘ he worked at the firm that just hired him ‘ Covington & Burling ‘ before coming to Capitol Hill in 2005, according to Politico, which first reported the news Tuesday.
Politico reported that Cooper will ‘help build out a new practice area for the firm focused on intellectual property and antitrust issues.’
Senate ethics rules prohibit senior staff from directly lobbying senators for one year after leaving Capitol Hill. After that, Cooper can communicate with Leahy and testify in front of the Judiciary Committee on behalf of Covington & Burling clients. Those clients include companies such as Microsoft, which, according to OpenSecrets, gave $260,000 to Leahy during the 2012 election cycle.
Senior Leahy staffer leaves to join lobbying firm
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on