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Caught Our Eye

GOP chief leaves for Big Tobacco

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on July 7, 2021

Rep. Dan Meuser's (R-Pa.) chief of staff has left the Hill for a smoke break.

Patrick Rooney started this month as senior manager of government affairs at ITG Brands, the country's third-largest tobacco manufacturer. ITG is owned by British multinational tobacco company Imperial Brands, whose subsidiaries made it Washington's sixth-largest tobacco lobbying presence last year.

Rooney had worked for Meuser since the congressman took office in 2019. Meuser is close with ITG, calling the tobacco group "a great and important manufacturing company" after touring a facility in his district. He also accepted $5,000 in campaign donations from the group's PAC last cycle.