A
prominent
MAGA-world
figure
attempting
to
leverage
a
public-facing
role
into
something
that
looks
suspiciously
like
a
personal
perk?
Though
it’s
an
increasingly
familiar
tale
in
the
Trump
2.0
admin,
this
time
we’re
talking
about
attorney
Elliot
Berke.
According
to
reporting
from
POLITICO,
the
general
counsel
for
the
John
F.
Kennedy
Center
for
the
Performing
Arts,
ahem,
tried
to
book
his
own
cover
band,
the
DePlorables,
to
play
at
the
Center’s
rooftop
“Speakeasy,”
a
venue
described
as
an
“afterhours
jazz
club
hidden
in
the
sky.”
Because
when
you
think
refined
late-night
jazz
vibes,
you
obviously
think…
an
amateur
rock
cover
band
with
a
cringe-worthy
(and
dated)
political
name
that
happens
to
be
the
GC’s
side
hustle.
The
Speakeasy
is
supposed
to
evoke
exclusivity,
ambiance,
maybe
a
little
velvet-rope
mystique.
Berke’s
pitch
was
essentially,
“What
if
instead
we
did
‘Sweet
Home
Alabama’
but
make
it
ethically
questionable?”
Thankfully,
someone
at
the
Kennedy
Center
rejected
the
request,
and
reportedly
the
concern
that
booking
the
general
counsel’s
own
band
might
be,
you
know,
a
conflict
of
interest
played
a
role.
A
quaint
notion,
but
nice
to
see
it
hasn’t
gone
entirely
extinct.
Of
course,
the
official
spin
is
doing
a
lot
of
heavy
lifting
here.
A
Kennedy
Center
statement
insists
that
“programmers
asked
Berke
about
performing,
but
he
did
not
think
the
band
was
the
right
genre
and
did
not
want
the
Speakeasy
to
be
viewed
as
a
vanity
project
for
center
employees.”
Which
is
a
bold
defense,
but
POLITICO
reports
they’ve
seen
the
receipts
that
Berke
did,
in
fact,
push
to
get
the
DePlorables
on
that
stage.
Berke
also
reportedly
advocated
for
booking
the
British
prog-rock
band
Yes,
a
group
he
reportedly
represents.
Now,
to
his
credit,
sources
say
he
avoided
directly
engaging
with
the
band
during
negotiations
to
sidestep
the
appearance
of
impropriety.
In
the
end,
Yes
didn’t
take
the
gig
anyway.
A
spokesperson
for
the
band
said
they
declined
because
they
got
a
better
offer
elsewhere
in
D.C.,
which…
even
prog-rock
legends
know
when
a
situation
feels
a
little
too
messy.
All
of
this
is
unfolding
against
the
backdrop
of
the
Kennedy
Center’s
ongoing
identity
crisis.
Once
a
broadly
respected
cultural
institution,
it
became
an
oddly
specific
fixation
for
the
second
Donald
Trump
administration,
as
loyalists
were
installed
on
the
board
and
they
slapped
Trump’s
name
onto
the
building.
Nothing
says
timeless
artistic
legacy
like
a
rebrand
no
one
asked
for
and
Congress
hasn’t
approved.
So,
yes,
in
that
context,
Berke
trying
to
turn
the
Speakeasy
into
Battle
of
the
Bands:
In-House
Counsel
Edition
almost
feels
inevitable.
When
leadership
treats
a
national
cultural
institution
like
a
personal
branding
exercise,
why
wouldn’t
the
general
counsel
assume
the
rooftop
bar
is
his
shot
at
a
residency?
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].