Revolving door redux: The DEA's recently departed No. 2 returns to a Big Pharma consulting firm

abcnews.go.com:

Washington’s revolving door kept spinning this week as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s recently departed second-in-command returned for another stint with a high-powered consulting firm where he previously advised OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma

WASHINGTON — Washington’s revolving door kept spinning this week as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s recently departed second-in-command returned for a new stint with the high-powered consulting firm where he previously advised Purdue Pharma and a drug distributor fighting sanctions over a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments.

Louis Milione retired from the DEA a second time this summer amid reporting by The Associated Press on potential conflicts caused by his prior consulting for the pharmaceutical industry. Less than three months later, Milione again landed a plum job at Guidepost Solutions, a New York-based firm hired by some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating when he returned to the DEA in 2021 as Administrator Anne Milgram’s top deputy.

Milione had spent four years at Guidepost prior to his return, leveraging his extensive experience and contacts from a 21-year DEA career.

“Should we say Welcome Back?” Guidepost quipped in a social media post this week announcing Milione’s rehire as president of global investigations and regulatory compliance.

Milione is the most senior of a slew of DEA officials to have traded their badge and gun for a globe-trotting consulting job; that includes a dozen at Guidepost alone. His career stands out for two cycles through the revolving door between government and industry, raising questions about the potential impact on the DEA’s mission to police drug companies blamed for tens of thousands of American