Top Pentagon Official Contracted Personal Lawyer to Handle Minerals Deal

A top Pentagon official, Stephen Feinberg, hired his personal lawyer Alan Waldenberg to represent the Department of Defense in a $400 million investment deal with critical minerals company MP Materials, while Waldenberg simultaneously serves as counsel to Feinberg's private equity firm Cerberus and manages Feinberg's personal trust and charitable foundation. The arrangement raises potential conflicts of interest, though Waldenberg claims he discussed it with Pentagon ethics staff and kept his clients' interests separate. This deal is part of the Trump administration's broader $2 billion push to reduce Chinese dominance of critical minerals supply chains.