Ecto World, a Buffalo, New York–based company that distributes vape products and faces legal troubles, believed it needed an influential friend in Washington, DC.

Over the past three years, officials in New York state and New York City have accused the firm of illegal business practices. In March, police in New York state seized more than 28,000 pounds of illicit vape products linked to the firm, which operates under the name Demand Vape, and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that an investigation had found that the company had been “illegally shipping massive quantities of vape products” across the state and that “criminal charges against Ecto World and its owner will be pursued” by local district attorneys. A year earlier, New York State Attorney General Letitia James sued Ecto World and other vape companies for illegally distributing, marketing, and selling addictive candy- and fruit-flavored disposable nicotine products, many produced in China, targeting sales to children and “fueling the youth vaping epidemic.”

New York City filed a similar lawsuit in 2023, claiming that Ecto World; an affiliate named Magellan Technology; Matthew Glauser, president of Ecto and Magellan; and two other Magellan executives violated “nearly every federal, New York State and New York City law applicable to the marketing, distribution, and sale of flavored e-cigarettes, the sales of which are prohibited under laws enacted by all three jurisdictions.”

“Roger has good relationships with people in the administration,” Glauser said, noting that Stone was “making sure they hear…our message.”

But as it has come under fire in New York, Ecto World has found a champion in the nation’s capital, one it has paid well for: Roger Stone, the longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, conspiracy theorist, and political provocateur who was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in the Trump–Russia investigation, sentenced to 40 months in prison, and subsequently pardoned by Trump. Earlier this year, it retained Stone as a lobbyist and, as of the end of June, had compensated him at least $300,000 for his efforts, according to lobbying disclosure reports filed with Congress. The reports note that Stone would focus on the “Executive Office of the President” regarding the “regulation of e-cigarettes and related products.”

In an interview with Mother Jones, Glauser said, “Contrary to popular belief, we’re actually a responsible company,” and insisted that its goal is to “fix the broken regulatory system” governing e-cigarettes and vaping products. “The reason we brought Roger Stone on is to accomplish that,” added Glauser, a board member of the Vapor Technology Association, a trade group that has been criticized in right-wing media for not doing enough to stop the flow of illicit vaping products from China into the United States.

Trump’s return to the White House has been a tremendous boon to Stone, who not long ago was claiming he had been nearly bankrupted by legal fees and who, with his wife, was accused by the IRS of not paying nearly $2 million in taxes in a case he settled by agreeing to cover that amount plus interest and penalties.

Since Trump’s restoration, Stone’s lobbying firm, Drake Ventures, has signed up a variety of clients, including two Native American tribes, a rare-earth mineral company, a biotech firm developing vaccines, and Roger Ver, a cryptocurrency investor known as “Bitcoin Jesus” who was indicted on federal fraud and tax charges. Ver........

© Mother Jones