Donald Trump Working To Make Corruption Great Again
HuffPost
The president is firing watchdogs, pardoning corrupt officials and making lots of money from $TRUMP.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has spent his first three weeks in office making corruption easier, for him and anyone else with any degree of power.
In a single 24-hour period on Monday, Trump fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics, whose job it is to watch for conflicts of interest. He pardoned a former Illinois governor convicted of trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat. He is stopping the enforcement of an anti-bribery law. His Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop charges against Eric Adams, who has been indicted on bribery and fraud counts, even as they conceded the decision had little to do with the strength of the evidence against the New York City mayor, who has cozied up to Trump.
In the weeks since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has ordered a likely illegal mass firing of inspectors general. He pardoned a major drug dealer in a quid-pro-quo with libertarians for their support in the November election. He stripped people who have criticized him of their security clearances, making their livelihoods more difficult. His Justice Department eliminated units aimed at kleptocracy and preventing foreign interference in elections.
And, in an unprecedented move for a president, in the days before taking office, Trump set up a “cryptocurrency” scheme that will allow him to take millions, even billions of dollars from domestic and foreign interests seeking his favor, with no way for Americans to ever track a dime of it.
“By all indications, Trump is planning to run a lawless administration and these unprecedented moves are an alarming first step to put those plans into action,” said Donald Sherman, director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington watchdog group.
The president is firing watchdogs, pardoning corrupt officials and making lots of money from $TRUMP.
County officials in Springfield, Illinois, have agreed to pay the family of Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed in her home last summer by a sheriff’s deputy responding to her call for help.
“By and large, we have been a country who has understood that the rule of law has helped us maintain our democracy,” the U.S. Supreme Court justice said.
The president effectively signed over more power to Musk in an executive order Tuesday.
The Tesla mogul's 4-year-old son was seen on camera with a finger in his nose that he later wiped on Trump's desk.
The $238 billion federal agency "is going to potentially be dissolved in the coming days,” warned Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).
The White House fired the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday.
The cost of renaming the base just a few years ago totaled around $8 million.
“I’ve lost count of the number of investigations that are underway with Tesla,” said a former safety adviser at the NHTSA. “They will all be gone.”
The suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will use the funds to fight his state and federal charges, his attorney said.
The president couldn't even accept a win without casting doubt in a bizarre exchange with Bret Baier.
"We will continue to adhere to our mission and values," PBS said despite its decision.
CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin told Anderson Cooper on Monday that it's "one of the most bizarre situations" he's ever seen.