‘MUTUAL BACK-SCRATCHING’ — If Washington politics is mostly theater these days, its theme is Oklahoma’s “All er Nuthin’.” Agencies and lawmakers are considered either wholly beholden to corporations or lackeys for the Marxist left. Reality, of course, is more complicated. Just ask U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Tai has been under fire for months after a FOIA request from the Chamber of Commerce showed her staff setting up meetings for Tai with a variety of progressive groups. Republican lawmakers point to the emails as proof positive that the agency has swung far to the left, particularly after Tai defied Big Tech firms last year by removing U.S. support from digital trade proposals at the World Trade Organization — a key request of lefty groups. House Oversight Chair James Comer even opened an investigation based on the emails. There’s no question Tai is a progressive and has relationships with many left-of-center luminaries, in and outside the administration. But the real story of influence on U.S. trade policy goes much deeper — not just the influence on Tai, but on the staff at her agency as well. To understand that, have a look at a second tranche of FOIA documents from the agency, these requested by liberal nonprofit Demand Progress. They were first reported on last year by Business Insider, but deserve a closer look in light of the recent controversies and digital trade policy developments. The emails reveal the enduring influence that technology firms like Amazon and Google — the very companies Tai defied with her digital trade decision — have over the staff at USTR. Despite Tai’s move, the emails show the close relationships between existing USTR staff members and former agency staff that have moved on to tech companies, including Amazon and Google. In one case in June 2022, a USTR staff member leaked photos of a confidential proposal being negotiated at the World Trade Organization to a former USTR staffer now at Amazon. In another instance, an agency official promised to give a “readout” to a Google employee of a meeting with Brazil’s telecommunications regulator. And at times, Amazon officials would solicit — and receive — advice on personnel and policy from USTR employees, like when Amazon’s Jennifer Prescott asked USTR staffer Daniel Watson about his impressions of an official at the Inter-American Development Bank. Tai’s allies say that these communications are far more damning than any of the emails with progressive groups. And even left-leaning watchdog groups say they show deep problems with the rank and file at the agency. “I have never seen such a record of mutual back-scratching between government staff and revolving door lobbyists as in this set of emails,” said Craig Holman, a government ethics expert at the liberal nonprofit Public Citizen who reviewed the emails at POLITICO’s request, adding that the emails “even suggest illicit activity beyond ethical transgressions.” Beyond simple cooperation with stakeholders, Holman sees a deeper issue in the messages — namely, that they suggest staff at USTR “have been captured by Big Tech with the promise of future lucrative employment.” In other words, they do the companies favors now, in exchange for a potential payout later. So what do we make of all of this — the USTR staff working hand-in-hand with tech firms, only to have their boss defy that influence later? Those close to Tai say it’s evidence of her trying to beat back decades of industry influence that has built up at the agency — a sort of pro-corporate administrative state that developed over decades of policies accelerating globalization. Tai has always been clear that she wants to decrease the corporate influence on trade — saying so in Davos, of all places — and here’s an example of her doing just that. Tai is “trying to navigate a course” between those influences, said a source close to the administration. That’s led her to a place where she supports some tech goals — like a prohibition on tariffs for internet-based e-commerce transactions — while opposing other trade policies that could keep foreign governments from regulating large U.S. tech firms, which is how she saw the digital trade proposals at the WTO. It’s clear that stance has won her enemies both within USTR and at the White House. USTR has lost a number of career and political staff in recent months on the heels of the digital trade decision and other frustrations with a stalled international economic agenda. And the digital trade move continues to be opposed by officials in Biden’s National Security Council, who tech officials vented to in heated meetings at the end of last year. Unlike many staffers, leaders of an agency have political futures to worry about, not just a cushy corporate landing pad, said Public Citizen’s Holman. “No doubt, these senior appointees have an eye on using their inside connections for personal enrichment following public service, but frequently they are guided by political and public pressures,” Holman said. From USTR’s official perspective, neither is true. An agency spokesperson bristled at questions about the influence of tech firms on USTR staff, saying communications with industry and civil society groups have been “consistent.” Still, the agency is clearly feeling some heat on the subject. Today, USTR announced that its Acting General Counsel, Juan Millán, will be designated as the agency’s Acting Chief Transparency Officer to “advise the USTR and consult with the Congress on transparency policy, and coordinate transparency in trade negotiations,” replacing former General Counsel Greta Peisch in the role. If the past is prologue, he has his work cut out. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at gbade@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @GavinBade.
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