Elon Musk may be out, seemingly in part over the appointment of the new head of NASA, but Charles Koch seems to be able to fill the administration with his appointees despite specific warnings from President Trump not to send Koch people in.
“As of today, the incoming Trump Administration has hired over 1,000 people,” President Trump tweeted. “It would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch)” along with a long list of others.
But by then it was already too late. The Kochers were already on the inside.
Dan Caldwell, listed as a lobbyist by Americans for Prosperity who worked for a number of Koch network groups, has been staffing up the Department of Defense with ‘Kochlings’.
Caldwell was ousted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over leaks, but allies in the media, along with Tucker Carlson, rallied to try and get him his job back. The network behind the whole thing has reportedly been trying to oust Hegseth and likely replace him with another Koch-ite.
At any rate, the Kochlings keep crawling in.
Justin Overbaugh is set to be the latest affiliate of the Koch-backed Defense Priorities think tank placed in a top post at the Defense Department, approaching confirmation as the deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence and security.
Numerous others affiliates of the isolationist think tank have been picked for top roles in the Defense Department and the Trump administration, including Michael DiMino, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East; William Ruger, the deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration; Dan Caldwell, a senior advisor at the Pentagon who has since been fired; and Daniel Davis, who was initially picked for the deputy director of national intelligence role but had his job offer rescinded amid public scrutiny.
The Koch-Soros org Responsible Statecraft celebrated the exit of Morgan Ortagus and the arrival of Overbaugh. And why not?Charles Koch and his leftist-libertarian alliance, including Soros, now control more of the Department of Defense.
