Tag: Trump administration corruption

Trump official spent millions of taxpayer dollars on legal team to dig up dirt on his own staff: report

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On Thursday, NPR reported that Michael Pack, the appointee of former President Donald Trump to lead the parent agency of Voice of America, spent millions on a team of lawyers hunting for dirt on his own employees.

“Last summer, an appointee of former President Donald Trump was irate because he could not simply fire top executives who had warned him that some of his plans might be illegal,” reported David Folkenflik. “Michael Pack, who was CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees Voice of America, in August suspended those top executives. He also immediately ordered up an investigation to determine what wrongdoing the executives might have committed.”

“Instead of turning to inspectors general or civil servants to investigate, Pack personally signed a no-bid contract to hire a high-profile law firm with strong Republican ties,” said the report. “The bill — footed by taxpayers — exceeded a million dollars in just the first few months of the contract.” Continue reading.

Trump’s Justice Dept failed to prosecute cabinet members (4 times)

In a normal term, having a cabinet secretary referred to the Justice Department for prosecution would be extraordinary. With Trump, it happened four times.

First, there was Ryan Zinke. Corruption allegations involving Donald Trump’s scandal-plagued Interior secretary were referred to Justice Department prosecutors, but Trump’s DOJ declined to charge the Montana Republican.

Then there was Alex Acosta, Donald Trump’s scandal-plagued Labor secretary, who was also referred to Justice Department prosecutors, only to have Trump’s DOJ decline to charge the Florida Republican, too.

And who can forget Robert Wilkie, Donald Trump’s controversial VA secretary, who was — you guessed it — referred to Justice Department prosecutors, only to have Trump’s DOJ choose not to charge him, either. Continue reading.

Inspector General’s Report Cites Elaine Chao for Using Office to Help Family

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The Justice Department under the Trump administration declined to open a criminal investigation into the actions by Ms. Chao when she was transportation secretary.

WASHINGTON — While serving as transportation secretary during the Trump administration, Elaine Chao repeatedly used her office staff to help family members who run a shipping business with extensive ties to China, a report released Wednesday by the Transportation Department’s inspector general concluded.

The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department in December for possible criminal investigation. But in the weeks before the end of Trump administration, two Justice Department divisions declined to do so.

Ms. Chao, the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, announced her resignation on Jan. 7, the day after the Capitol riot. At the time of her departure, an aide to Ms. Chao said her resignation was unrelated to the inspector general’s investigation. Continue reading.

Watchdog finds VA Secretary Robert Wilkie questioned the credibility of a House aide who reported a sexual assault at hospital

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and his senior leaders openly questioned the credibility of a House aide who reported a sexual assault at the agency’s flagship hospital in the District, denigrating her and ascribing political motives to her claim, a report released Thursday found.

The tone Wilkie set with his senior staff and reporters influenced the investigation into the veteran’s claim — and led to the agency’s failure to improve an often-hostile environment for women at the D.C. Medical Center, Inspector General Michael Missal found.

And instead of focusing on the hospital contractor who veteran Andrea Goldstein told authorities “bumped his entire body against mine and told me I looked like I needed a smile and a good time,” VA’s senior leaders did the opposite, investigators found, and embarked on a campaign to discredit Goldstein. The contractor did not have credentials to enter the hospital and had been the subject of a previous sexual harassment complaint from a VA employee. Continue reading.

Taxpayers paid more than $24 million for DeVos’ security detail over the last 4 years: report

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A new report detailing the staggering cost taxpayers are paying for U.S. Department of Education Betsy DeVos’ security detail is drawing criticism from the American public.

Over the past four years, DeVos’ security detail has cost taxpayers more than $24 million, according to Politico. An additional $3 million is expected to be spent on DeVos’ security from now through the month of February, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) revealed to the publication on Tuesday.

“No other cabinet secretaries during the Trump administration has or had this agreement with the USMS,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. Continue reading.

Pompeo accused of mixing politics and diplomacy as election nears

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s pre-election speeches in battleground states are drawing increased scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers, who say his remarks cross a line that has traditionally separated foreign policy from domestic politics.

Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, on Monday asked the State Department for documents relating to Pompeo’s “domestic political speeches” to groups in Texas, Wisconsin and Florida.

“It is concerning that the Secretary is suddenly crisscrossing the country at taxpayers’ expense to speak with state legislators and private groups and that these events appear to be increasing in frequency as the November 3rd election approaches,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter. Continue reading.

Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence

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Four House committee chairs are calling on the Justice Department watchdog to open an emergency investigation into whether Attorney General William Barr and other political appointees have improperly influenced the upcoming 2020 presidential election. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) on Friday called on Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz to probe whether Barr’s public comments on ongoing investigations and other actions are a violation of the agency’s longstanding policy and federal law.

“Attorney General Barr has signaled repeatedly that he is likely to allow DOJ to take prosecutorial actions, make public disclosures, and even issue reports before the presidential election in November. Such actions clearly appear intended to benefit President Trump politically,” the top Democrats wrote to Horowitz. Continue reading.

Five Ways Trump And GOP Officials Are Undermining The Election Process

There has long been conflict in the United States over who gets to vote and how. In the years since Barack Obama’s election as president, those voting debates have become increasingly partisan, with Republican elected officials often pushing measures like requiring photo IDs that make it harder for people to vote, and Democratic officials advancing provisions like same-day registration that make it easier to vote.

That long-running conflict over voting has reached a new, more critical phase for two reasons. First, the outbreak of COVID-19 means that people might be risking their health if they opt to vote in person. Secondly, Donald Trump, unlike previous presidents, regularly breaks with democratic norms and values and is now openly suggesting that he might manipulate the electoral system to help him win a second term.

“Trump aides exploring executive actions to curb voting by mail,” was the headline of an article in Politico last weekend (that was a news article, not an opinion piece). Politico’s reporting found that the White House was considering using executive actions to insert itself into the election process, which is usually run by states, including finding ways to make it harder for people to vote by mail. Continue reading.

‘Show us the Flynn tapes’: Rep. Eric Swalwell destroys Trump’s ex-intel chief in epic Twitter clash

AlterNet logoRight now there is an online Twitter battle between California’s Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell and President Donald Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Richard Grenell.  Swalwell is winning, handily.

It all started last week when Rep. Swalwell said he didn’t trust Grenell, who was stepping down both as Trump’s Ambassador to Germany and as his acting DNI, after the Senate confirmed now-former Congressman John Ratcliffe. (Ratcliffe is legally ineligible to hold that position, but Senate Republicans confirmed him anyway.) Continue reading.

 

As Trump removes federal watchdogs, some loyalists replacing them have ‘preposterous’ conflicts

Washington Post logoThe political appointee President Trump installed last week to investigate waste, fraud and abuse at the Transportation Department is the same official in charge of one of the agency’s key divisions.

That means Howard “Skip” Elliott is now running an office charged with investigating his own actions.

Elliott serves simultaneously as the Transportation Department’s inspector general and head of the department’s pipeline and hazardous materials agency, whose mission includes enforcement of safety regulations on nearly 1 million daily shipments of gas, oil and other dangerous compounds. Continue reading.