The Corporate Cabinet: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats
Corporate Connections: Cooper Industries, DaVita Inc.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats served as a Republican senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999, and again from 2011 to 2017. Between his Senate stints, he was U.S. ambassador to Germany under President George W. Bush, and then a lobbyist with the firm King & Spalding.
- In 2015, Coats was the 20th wealthiest senator with a net worth of $12 million.
- As a registered lobbyist, Coats represented clients including Google, Festo and Lockheed Martin, and earned more than $600k in this role at King & Spalding, a lobbying organization that took in $8 million in fees in 2008.
- Coats was co-chairman of a team of lobbyists at King & Spalding that worked with electrical products manufacturer Cooper Industries to oppose Senate legislation that would have closed a lucrative offshore tax loophole.
- Coats served as a lobbyist for DaVita Inc., one of the largest kidney care providers in the United States.
- During Coats’ time as lobbyist, two whistleblower lawsuits were filed against DaVita. One claimed the company was paying kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals, and the other accused DaVita of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid to increase profits.
- Coats used his Washington connections as a lobbyist to introduce executives from companies like DaVita and Google to members of Congress.
