Ex-GOP senator lobbies for contentious Minnesota mining project

By Hannah Northey | 05/14/2026 12:52 PM EDT

Congress narrowly voted to lift a mining ban in the Boundary Waters region last month.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 28: National Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition Norm Coleman speaks during the RJC's Annual Leadership Summit at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on October 28, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The summit features the top GOP presidential candidates who will face their first test on the road to the Republican nomination with the Iowa Caucuses on January 15, 2024. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Norm Coleman speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition's leadership summit at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas on Oct. 28, 2023, in Las Vegas. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The ongoing effort to advance mining near Minnesota’s pristine Boundary Waters is getting a bit more K Street lobbying muscle.

Former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, now senior counsel of global regulatory at the law and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells, is lobbying for the Bernhardt Group on behalf of Twin Metals Minnesota, according to a lobbying disclosure.

So too is Daniel Winkler, a longtime aide for former independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who joined Hogan Lovells last year, according to the form. Sinema is a senior adviser at the firm.

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Hogan Lovells and the Bernhardt Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twin Metals declined to comment.

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