Former lawyer for trophy hunting group joins Trump administration

A former lawyer for a trophy hunting organization with ties to the Trump administration has joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Anna Seidman, formerly of Safari Club International (SCI), was hired as assistant director of international affairs for FWS, a spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Monday.

“She is an effective, innovative leader with 20 years of legal and policy experience, including expertise in international environment and natural resource management,” the spokesperson said in statement.  

HuffPost first reported the news on Friday.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Seidman was with SCI for about 20 years, from 1999 until 2019.

She served as its director of legal advocacy and international affairs, a role that involved lawsuits against FWS.

SCI has had ties to both the Trump family and the administration. Last month, the group auctioned off a hunting trip with Donald Trump Jr., which sold for $150,000.

Now-former SCI President Paul Babaz was a member of a controversial administration hunting advisory group that has since disbanded.

SCI describes itself as a “not-for-profit organization of hunters whose primary missions are to protect the freedom to hunt and to promote wildlife conservation.”