Call it a swamp, but he’s on firm ground
Man who ran Perry’s presidential bid is now a powerbroker
WASHINGTON — At a West Virginia rally on tax cuts, President Donald Trump veered off on a subject that likely puzzled most of his audience.
“Nine of your people just came up to me outside. ‘Could you talk about 202?’ ” he said. “We’ll be looking at that 202. You know what a 202 is? We’re trying.”
One person who undoubtedly knew what Trump was talking about last month was Jeff Miller, an energy lobbyist with whom the president had dined the night before. Miller had been hired by FirstEnergy Solutions, a bankrupt power company that relies on coal and nuclear energy to produce electricity. His assignment: push the Trump administration to use a so-called 202 order — named for a provision of the Federal Power Act — to secure a bailout worth billions of dollars.
Although Trump didn’t agree to the plan — he still hasn’t — for Miller, a president’s public declaration of interest amounted to a job well done.
How a single lobbyist helped carry a long-shot idea from obscurity to the presidential stage is a twisty journey through the new swamp of Trump’s Washington. Rather than clearing out the lobbyists and campaign donors that spend big money to sway politicians, Trump and his advisers paved the way for a new cast of powerbrokers who have quickly embraced familiar ways to wield influence.
Miller is among them. A wellconnected GOP fundraiser, he served in the past as an adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also a close friend. He ran Perry’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016. And when Trump tapped Perry to lead the Energy Department, Miller shepherded his friend through confirmation.
When Perry came to Washington, Miller did, too. He launched his firm, Miller Strategies, early last year and began lobbying his friend and other Washington officials.
Besides Perry, Miller is close to other Trump-era power players. He is among House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s best friends. In more recent years, Miller developed a friendship with Vice President Mike Pence adviser Marty Obst.
Obst says the two began working closely together when Perry and Pence held leadership roles at the Republican Governors Association several years ago.
“He’s very influential in Washington, a leading fundraiser,” Obst said of Miller in a brief interview.
Now, after 14 months in business, the 43-year-old has collected more than $3.2 million from a roster of clients that includes several of the nation’s largest energy companies, among them Texas-based Valero Energy, according to federal filings.
Miller also has continued to raise money for GOP politicians. He contributed nearly $37,000 of his own over the past year to Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
He is an active supporter of America First Action, a proTrump super PAC that raised $4.7 million in the first three months of 2018. That work earned him a spot at dinner with Trump, McCarthy and other GOP donors in the City Center complex blocks near the White House.
“What happened to draining the political swamp?” asks Dick Munson with the Environmental Defense Fund, who said he sees coal operators “grasping” for bailouts to solve problems of their own making. “It seems when you don’t have solid arguments, you hire well-paid lobbyists and make huge political contributions.”
Miller declined to comment for this story.
Brian Walsh, president of America First Action, said Miller raises money for the group on a volunteer basis. He called Miller “straight shooter” and rejected the notion that he is cashing in on Trump’s election and Perry’s ascension to energy chief.
“He doesn’t play games with people,” Walsh said of Miller.