This sort of self-dealing has been going on since the 1940’s, and was just the kind of problem that President Eisenhower alerted us to in his prophetic speech* warning the country about the military-industrial complex:
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
*https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp