everything wrong with how business gets done in washington. mr. lynn declined an interview with cnn. pentagon official who tried to discourage cnn from reporting this story issued a statement, saying that since returning to the pentagon deputy defense secretary lynn has not participated or sought to participate in any way whatsoever in any budget or contract decisions involving his former employer. the statement goes on to say that lynn has skrups youly adhered to ethics pledge and agreement but stated there is absolutely no evidence of any impropriety or conflict of interest by deputy secretary bill lynn in carrying out duties at the pentagon. but how did this lobbyist get back to the pentagon? in washington, government watch dogs, like steve ellis, say it s all about those revolving doors. and certainly the revolving door is still spinning. reporter: william lynn s
adhered to his ethics pledge and agreement. it stated that there is absolutely no evidence of any impropriety or conflict of interest by deputy secretary bill linn in carrying out his duties at the pentagon. but how did this lobbyist get back to the pentagon? in washington, government watchdogs like steve ellis says it s all about those revolving doors. and certainly ret involthe r door is still spinning. william lynn s first government job was with senator ted kennedy. he was liaison to the senate services committee. six years later with democrat bill clinton in the white house, lynn moved to the pentagon, eventually becoming the undersecretary of defense in charge of the money. congratulations. in 2001, a power shift. and lynn was heading to the revolving door. early in the bush
which include overseas contracts that must be approved at the pentagon, are up 7% since its former lobbyist moved back to government service. drew griffin. leslie page with citizens against government waste says lynn s hiring by the obama administration is an example of the same old broken government. this is exactly what they, what he, said was not going to happen. this town has a problem, and this town is dysfunctional. you get to say anything you want when you need to say it. but when it comes to actually commitments and making those commitments reality, there is a huge disconnect. it s not happening. the obama administration says it is adhering to its promise, granting a handful of waivers only to those lobbyists like william lynn who are critical pointists. they want more detail.
in this citizen request to the pentagon, the group asked if lynn met with contractors, and if so, when. it s a letter that the project on government oversight hoped they would not have to write. so the change didn t happen. this is not the change that we hoped for, no. andrew griffin is joining us right now. and drew, i understand the pentagon was none too happy about the story, saying william lynn has done nothing wrong, hasn t violated any rules, and nobody is sa could you seeing them of that. why is this group upset with that? they re upset because this sends the wrong message that the administration is more of the same and so unnecessary, they say. one told me it s so uncertain that anyone in this country commanded to be second in the pentagon turns out to be a lobbyist. they argued that president obama could have easily avoided this
administration, that revolving door brought him right here to this building, home of one of the biggest defense contractors where he became their big lobbyist. raytheon is a $25 billion a year defense contractor. it makes and sells guided missiles, including the patriot and tomahawk. as its top lobbyist, william lynn was paid pretty well. by last year, washingtonian magazine estimated his personal wealth at somewhere between 2 and $5 million. but yet another election and yet another revolving door. with bush gone and the democrats in charge, that revolving door revolved again for mr. lynn, who is now right back at the pentagon. the pentagon also pointed out to us that the value of defense department contracts with the company haven t changed. nonetheless, raytheon s sales,