I think he gave the game away here:

  One silver lining of a “great recession” that we are now 
  in is that there are a lot of incredibly talented people 
  without jobs, or who have lost their jobs....I thought we 
  could assemble a talented group who would enjoy the 
  internships and could also gain valuable experience to add 
  to their resumes.

Nevermind the cost of labor, though: it's obviously worth his time to try to get this effort off the ground. Why? Brand promotion, of course!

Sure, there might not be any directly attributable revenues, but it is very disingenuous of him to claim that he thus cannot afford to pay his interns.

cake: have | eat, pick one.

But his concern for the betterment of the interns is just sanctimonious prattle. He doesn't like to leave money on the table, and he's peeved that the government will prevent him from getting the best price possible.

Actually, from what I read, it seems like he's peeved that the government will prevent him from creating those jobs in the first place -- because without unpaid interns, the whole project will become nothing but a gigantic money pit.