CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz
202-408-5565 | [email protected]

Following President Trump’s announcement of Mark Esper as acting Secretary of Defense, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Executive Director Noah Bookbinder released the following statement:

“In Patrick Shanahan, President Trump had an acting Secretary of Defense whose decisions were overshadowed by his previous senior position at Boeing. His successor will likewise risk being tainted by his previous work for a major defense contractor. Esper joined the government following years as a top lobbyist for Raytheon. Already this week, Raytheon has won multiple government contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. While Esper may not have had sway over these types of deals as Secretary of the Army, as acting Secretary of Defense he will have potential influence over such deals, as well as over the controversial proposed merger of Raytheon and UTC to become the second largest defense company in the US. His ethics agreement—and his ability to follow it—will be something we will be watching closely.”