Tag: Trump administration graft

A Would-Be Trump Aide’s Demands: A Jet on Call, a Future Cabinet Post and More

Access to a government jet 24 hours a day. An office in the West Wing, plus guaranteed weekends off for family time. And an assurance of being made secretary of homeland security by November.

Those were among a list of 10 conditions that Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has given to the White House if he is to become the administration’s “immigration czar,” a job President Trump has been looking to create to coordinate immigration policy across government agencies. The list was described by three people familiar with it.

Mr. Kobach, who once served as an adviser to the hard-line immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio and helped write an Arizona law requiring local officials to verify the citizenship of anyone they had “reasonable suspicion” to believe was an unauthorized immigrant, said he would need to be the main television spokesman for the Trump administration on immigration policy. And he said he wanted a guarantee that cabinet secretaries whose portfolios relate to immigration would defer to him, with the president mediating disputes if need be.

View the complete May 20 article by Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni on The New York Times website here.

EPA watchdog suggests agency recover $124,000 in Pruitt’s ‘excessive’ travel expenses

Agency rejects the idea, calling ‘cost recovery inappropriate’ because officials had approved Pruitt’s trips at the time

The Environmental Protection Agency should consider recovering nearly $124,000 in improper travel expenses by former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, the agency’s inspector general recommended Thursday.

The findings, issued nearly a year after Pruitt resigned amid controversy over his spending, travel and ties to lobbyists and outside groups, highlight the fiscal impact of his penchant for high-end travel and accommodations. Investigators concluded that 40 trips Pruitt either took or scheduled during a 10-month period, between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2017, cost taxpayers $985,037.

The bulk of those expenses were for Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail, which billed $428,896 in travel costs. The agency spent an additional $339,894 on staffers traveling with the former administrator. The “questioned amount” the inspector general’s office identifies for possible recovery is the $123,941 that taxpayers spent on flying both Pruitt and a security agent in first- or business class, instead of coach.

View the complete May 16 article by Juliet EIlperin and Brady Dennis on The Washington Post website here.

New Details About Wilbur Ross’ Business Point To Pattern Of Grifting

The following article by Dan Alexander was posted on the Forbes.com website August 7, 2018:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Credit: Andrew Harrer, Bloomberg News

A multimillion-dollar lawsuit has been quietly making its way through the New York State court system over the last three years, pitting a private equity manager named David Storper against his former boss: Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The pair worked side by side for more than a decade, eventually at the firm, WL Ross & Co.—where, Storper later alleged, Ross stole his interests in a private equity fund, transferred them to himself, then tried to cover it up with bogus paperwork. Two weeks ago, just before the start of a trial with $4 million on the line, Ross and Storper agreed to a confidential settlement, whose existence has never been reported and whose terms remain secret.

It is difficult to imagine the possibility that a man like Ross, who Forbes estimates is worth some $700 million, might steal a few million from one of his business partners. Unless you have heard enough stories about Ross. Two former WL Ross colleagues remember the commerce secretary taking handfuls of Sweet’N Low packets from a nearby restaurant, so he didn’t have to go out and buy some for himself. One says workers at his house in the Hamptons used to call the office, claiming Ross had not paid them for their work. Another two people said Ross once pledged $1 million to a charity, then never paid. A commerce official called the tales “petty nonsense,” and added that Ross does not put sweetener in his coffee.   Continue reading “New Details About Wilbur Ross’ Business Point To Pattern Of Grifting”

Federal Contractors Made Illegal Pro-Trump Super PAC Contributions, Complaint Says

The following article by Stephanie Akin was posted on the Roll Call website August 1, 2018:

Watchdog group wants FEC to investigate

Tourists from North Carolina don “Make America Great Again” hats in the Capitol Rotunda in March 2017. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo)

Updated 8:43 p.m. | A politically connected contractor made a $500,000 contribution this spring to a pro-Trump super PAC the day after it received a payment of almost the same amount as part of a Department of Defense contract, a watchdog group said.

The Campaign Legal Center flagged that contribution and a $50,000 contribution from another company to a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Senate campaign, in separate complaints to the Federal Election Commission filed Wednesday afternoon.

The donations represent rare violations of a 75-year-old ban on campaign contributions from federal contractors, said Brendan Fischer, director of the federal reform program at the Campaign Legal Center.

View the complete article here.

Rick Perry’s premium class travel cost taxpayers $63,500 last year in first 7 months alone

The following article by E. A. Crunden was psoted on the ThinkProgress website May 31, 2018:

He joins a growing list of White House officials linked to outsized spending at the expense of taxpayers.

U. Energy Secretary Rick Perry attends the official arrival ceremony for French President Emmanuel Macron on the South Lawn of the White House April 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is the latest Trump administration official to be linked to costly spending and travel habits. The Energy Department says it spent approximately $63,500 on Perry’s flights alone during his first seven months heading the agency.

According to internal tracking conducted regularly by the Energy Department, Perry took 12 business or first class flights during the 2017 fiscal year, ABC reported Thursday after obtaining the department’s travel logs. Despite the availability of coach fares on all of the flights disclosed, the department paid for Perry’s upgraded travel — adding $51,000 to the total cost in the process. Continue reading “Rick Perry’s premium class travel cost taxpayers $63,500 last year in first 7 months alone”

EPA chief’s aides, security agents made $45,000 trip to Australia

The following exclusive article written by Jeff Mason was posted on the Reuters website April 19, 2018:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses, spent about $45,000 in government money to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled.

Two of his aides and three security agents flew to Australia last August on business-class tickets costing roughly $9,000 each to set up meetings for the EPA administrator. Continue reading “EPA chief’s aides, security agents made $45,000 trip to Australia”

Scott Pruitt just got called out by the country’s top ethics official

The following article by Eric Boehlert was posted on the ShareBlue website April 9, 2018:

The EPA chief’s corrupt, lavish spending isn’t going unnoticed.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies before Congress, December 2017. Credit: Getty/Pete Marovich

Trump and most Republicans won’t take action against crooked EPA chief Scott Pruitt. But the federal government’s top ethics cop just called him out and is demanding answer for why Pruitt is using tax dollars to support his extravagant lifestyle, including a family trip to Disneyland.

“The success of our government depends on maintaining the trust of the people we serve,” wrote David Apol, acting director of the Office of Government Ethics wrote in the letter sent Monday morning to the E.P.A. “The American public needs to have confidence that ethics violations, as well as the appearance of ethics violations, are investigated and appropriately addressed.” Continue reading “Scott Pruitt just got called out by the country’s top ethics official”

Trump inaugural committee directed $26 million for event production to firm connected to Melania Trump adviser

The following article by Michael Kranish and Ashley Parker was posted onthe Washington Post website February 15, 2018:

A quarter of the money spent by the inaugural committee flowed through a firm connected to event planner Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump’s inaugural committee paid $26 million for event production services to a firm connected to a friend of first lady Melania Trump, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who serves as a volunteer adviser in the East Wing, according to officials and newly released tax filings.

The firm passed along the vast majority of the funds — $24 million — to other vendors who provided entertainment, staffing and other services, according to a committee document detailing the spending. Wolkoff, who employed about a dozen staff members for the event, retained $1.62 million for consulting and executive production, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Continue reading “Trump inaugural committee directed $26 million for event production to firm connected to Melania Trump adviser”