Corporate lobbying groups linked to Goldman Sachs have directly lobbied the White House’s National Economic Council headed by Goldman’s immediate past president Gary Cohn, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times. Cohn previously pledged to recuse himself from any Goldman-related matter, but there is no indication he recused himself from the matters that the Goldman-linked groups were lobbying his council on.
Along with directly lobbying lawmakers, major corporations often lobby the government through industry trade associations. Those groups marshal the collective political power of whole industries — and can also allow individual companies to shroud their influence-peddling activities under the veneer of a larger organization. In the case of Goldman Sachs, the company itself has not directly lobbied the NEC this year. However, IBT identified at least three groups linked to the bank that lobbied the council in the first half of 2017. Those groups have spent more than $3.6 million on lobbying the government this year.
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