Tag: Trump corrupts everyone around him

Misuse of taxpayer funds leads Ethics Committee to reprimand and fine Rep. Schweikert

Arizona Republican designated others to sign off on official disbursements

The House Ethics Committee ordered Thursday that Rep. David Schweikert be fined $50,000 and reprimanded on the House floor for violating federal law and House rules by allowing his office to misuse taxpayer money, skirting Federal Election Commission reporting requirements, using campaign money for personal use and pressuring his staff to engage in campaign work.

The Ethics Committee plans to bring a privileged resolution to reprimand the Arizona Republican for a full House vote. Schweikert must repay the Treasury by Oct. 30.

The Arizona Republican’s Members’ Representational Allowance was misused for non-official purposes from January 2011 to November 2017, the Ethics Committee found. The report comes after the panel received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative entity in the House that found there was a “substantial reason” to believe Schweikert violated federal and House rules. Continue reading.

We ran the CDC. No president ever politicized its science the way Trump has.

Washington Post logoThe administration is undermining public health

As America begins the formidable task of getting our kids back to school and all of us back to work safely amid a pandemic that is only getting worse, public health experts face two opponents: covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the debate last week around reopening schools more safely showed, these repeated efforts to subvert sound public health guidelines introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk.

As of this date, the CDC guidelines, which were designed to protect children, teachers, school staffers and their families — no matter the state and no matter the politics — have not been altered. It is not unusual for CDC guidelines to be changed or amended during a clearance process that moves through multiple agencies and the White House. But it is extraordinary for guidelines to be undermined after their release. Through last week, and into Monday, the administration continued to cast public doubt on the agency’s recommendations and role in informing and guiding the nation’s pandemic response. On Sunday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos characterized the CDC guidelines as an impediment to reopening schools quickly rather than what they are: the path to doing so safely. The only valid reason to change released guidelines is new information and new science — not politics.

One of the many contributions the CDC provides our country is sound public health guidance that states and communities can adapt to their local context — expertise even more essential during a pandemic, when uncertainty is the norm. The four of us led the CDC over a period of more than 15 years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence. Continue reading.

Pompeo is the latest Cabinet official accused of misusing taxpayer funds

Multiple Trump administration officials have resigned in disgrace for abusing taxpayer dollars.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is the latest Trump administration official caught up in an ethics scandal, following a report from NBC News that he used taxpayer dollars to host lavish dinners at the State Department for guests who had nothing to do with the department’s mission.

Since taking the helm of the department in 2018, Pompeo has invited 500 guests to the dinners, with the vast majority being wealthy business leaders, Republican political figures, and conservative media personalities, according to NBC’s report.

The news comes after Trump fired the State Department’s internal watchdog at the behest of Pompeo. The department’s inspector general was investigating Pompeo’s use of government employees to run personal errands, and according to NBC’s report, may have been looking into the elaborate dinner parties Pompeo was holding. Continue reading.

‘It’s all crazy stuff!’: Mike Pompeo tried to defend his shady ouster of a watchdog — and it didn’t go well

AlterNet logoSecretary of State Mike Pompeo found himself under fire Wednesday morning as the outrage and questions surrounding the ouster of his department’s inspector general continues to grow. And when Pompeo took questions at a press conference about the firing of Steve Linick, he failed to give even a plausible explanation for the termination and even contradicted himself.

Pompeo flat-out admitted that he was behind the firing, saying he recommended the move to President Donald Trump. Trump himself said that he knew nothing of Linick and made the move on Pompeo’s say-so.

“I recommended to the president that Steve Linick be terminated,” Pompeo said. “Frankly, should have done it some time ago.” Continue reading.

Pence’s ‘special envoy’ in foreign aid office sparked ethics complaint just weeks after he started his job

AlterNet logoIn early 2018, an incoming Trump political appointee and ally of Vice President Mike Pence made an unusual suggestion to a United Nations agency whose funding hinged on support from a skeptical Trump administration: He pitched them to do business with one of his private-sector clients.

“Might merit your team’s consideration,” Max Primorac wrote in January, weeks before he formally started at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he would eventually become an adviser to Pence.

The client pitch by an incoming official sparked a complaint a month later from an anonymous State Department official, according to documents obtained by ProPublica. The U.N. agency, the United Nations Development Program in Iraq, had by then received over $190 million in funding from USAID, the complaint said. Continue reading.

Barr Takes Cheap Shot At Mueller In CBS Interview

Attorney General Bill Barr took a shot at former Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday in an interview with CBS discussing his controversial decision to withdraw charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

In the interview, Barr asserted without explanation that the counterintelligence investigation into Flynn, which led to criminal charges and became a part of Mueller’s Russia investigation, was unjustified. And he discussed, as he has previously, that he has directed U.S. Attorney John Durham to examine the origins of the probe and its conduct in 2016 and 2017.

That’s when interviewer Catherine Herridge — a former Fox News correspondent who largely tossed Barr softball questions — brought up the Steele dossier. It was an opposition research document from the 2016 campaign containing raw intelligence, including a series of wild allegations about Donald Trump and his associates. The question prompted Barr to sharply criticize Mueller: Continue reading.

Don’t Forget, Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty. Twice.

New York Times logoEven President Trump has said his former national security adviser lied to the F.B.I.

It can be hard to recall, since so many members of President Trump’s inner circle have been indicted, convicted of federal crimes and even sent to prison, but the first felon to emerge from this administration was Michael Flynn.

Mr. Flynn, who served less than a month as the national security adviser before resigning in disgrace, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to F.B.I. investigators about his communications with the Russian ambassador.

When asked about the plea at the time, Mr. Trump said, “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the vice president and the F.B.I.” Continue reading.

Understanding the twists and turns in the Michael Flynn case

Washington Post logoMichael Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017.

But now that Flynn is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea, Trump and his close allies have turned the case into a cause celebre. In the latest twist, they argue that documents released last week show that Flynn was set up by FBI agents.

Flynn’s case has dragged on so long, readers may need a refresher course on how it started and what the Justice Department and the courts have said in rejecting conspiracy theories that Flynn was the victim of a “deep state” plot. Continue reading.

FBI notes on Michael Flynn unlikely to convince judge he was entrapped, legal experts say

Washington Post logoPresident Trump and his supporters seized on newly disclosed documents to argue Thursday that his former aide Michael Flynn was railroaded into pleading guilty as part of the FBI investigation into the 2016 campaign and Russian interference, but legal experts said the material is unlikely to convince a judge that agents entrapped the former national security adviser.

The documents released Wednesday evening include notes showing FBI officials discussed in advance how to handle a January 2017 interview with Flynn about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States before Trump took office. Three people familiar with the matter said the notes were written by E.W. Priestap, the former assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because Flynn’s case is still being weighed by the courts. A lawyer for Priestap did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Flynn’s lawyers, Sidney Powell and Jesse Binnall, have called the materials “stunning” evidence showing Flynn was “set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI.” Continue reading.

Watchdog Group: Top Pence Aide Has ‘Conflicting Financial Interests’

As Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short — according to analysis by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — appears to be playing a prominent role in the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. And CREW reports that Short might be doing so “while holding significant conflicting financial interests.”

In an article posted on CREW’s website on Thursday, Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics), and researcher Meredith Lerner explain: “The financial disclosure report [Short] filed when he entered government in March 2019 shows he may own stocks in companies directly affected by the pandemic response that the vice president’s office is leading. The companies whose stocks he listed in his disclosure include manufacturers of drugs, medical tests, medical devices, medical instruments, personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, antiseptics, airplanes and airplane parts. They also include a major consumer goods retailer, the parent company of Google, and for-profit managed healthcare companies.”

As Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short — according to analysis by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — appears to be playing a prominent role in the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. And CREW reports that Short might be doing so “while holding significant conflicting financial interests.”

In an article posted on CREW’s website on Thursday, Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics), and researcher Meredith Lerner explain: “The financial disclosure report [Short] filed when he entered government in March 2019 shows he may own stocks in companies directly affected by the pandemic response that the vice president’s office is leading. The companies whose stocks he listed in his disclosure include manufacturers of drugs, medical tests, medical devices, medical instruments, personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, antiseptics, airplanes and airplane parts. They also include a major consumer goods retailer, the parent company of Google, and for-profit managed healthcare companies.” Continue reading.