Less than a day after accepting a lucrative contract to lobby congress against Russia sanctions, a former John Kasich adviser has announced he is now backtracking and will reject the agreement.
John Weaver has worked on many failed presidential campaigns — John McCain’s, John Huntsman’s, and Kasich’s — and on Wednesday accepted a contract worth $350,000 to lobby against sanctions on Russia. Weaver and his former boss Kasich had previously accused President Donald Trump’s campaign of colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Weaver had also previously mocked the Trump administration for being weak on Russia sanctions.
Thursday afternoon, after numerous media outlets (including The Daily Wire) pointed out the hypocrisy, Weaver announced on Twitter he would no longer accept the contract and instead work to ensure Trump is not re-elected.
“Nothing is more vital to America & the world than dispatching @realDonaldTrump & his low travelers from the WH,” Weaver tweeted. “While I fear the dangers of nuclear proliferation & know a stable uranium market is important to the USA’s national & economic security — & experts urged this — my laser focus is on 2020 & playing any role — major or minor — in ensuring Trump serves only 1 term. To allow anything to distract from that is a mistake.”
He added: “And I can recognize a mistake when I make it. My attorney has contacted Tenam this morning & informed them I must reject this agreement. No funds were transferred, no actions taken. Now, I’ve got to get back to the barricades. Apologies for the momentary distraction.”
Just four months ago, Weaver was accusing the Trump administration of being soft on Russia, tweeting, “Of course Trump ended the sanctions on [Russian oligarch Oleg] Deripaska. You think Putin invested all of that just for chaos?” He also tweeted, “The ‘president*’ gave Russia two huge gifts today … the decision by tweet to abandon Syria & overturning sanctions on Putin’s oligarch best friends. #NotShocked #OneTermOrLess.”
Weaver also tweeted on April 18, 2019: “This is collusion. This is conspiracy,” in relation to a section of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report that discussed former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort sharing internal polling with his Ukraine business associate Konstantin Kilimnik.
As for working against Trump’s re-election bid, the president probably shouldn’t be worried about Weaver. Weaver worked on both of late Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) failed presidential bids — in 2000 and 2008. In 2012, he advised former Utah Gov. John Kasich’s presidential election campaign and in 2016, he advised Kasich’s campaign. Oh, and let’s not forget that he was a political strategist for George H.W. Bush through his failed re-election bid in 1992.
The man keeps getting hired as an adviser despite an impressive history of failure.
Weaver had claimed he would “work with Congress and, hopefully, make sure they don’t come up with something vis-a-vis Russia that ends up hurting the United States.” He was also set to make $350,000 for a six-month contract, plus expenses and a potential extension.