Trump transition team ethics pledge appears to exclude president-elect; CNN, November 27, 2024

 Betsy Klein, Steve Contorno and Arlette Saenz , CNN; Trump transition team ethics pledge appears to exclude president-elect

[Kip Currier: Res Ipsa Loquitur (The thing speaks for itself)]

[Excerpt]

"President-elect Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period that does not appear to include provisions for one key member of the team: the president himself.

“There does not appear to be a provision addressing the requirement for the president-elect to address his conflicts of interest,” said Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service."

How the Trump transition ethics pledge differs from recent norms; Reuters, November 27, 2024

Heather Timmons , Reuters; How the Trump transition ethics pledge differs from recent norms

"U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's team signed an agreement on Tuesday with President Joe Biden's administration to coordinate with federal agencies and share documents, after weeks of delays.

The Trump team also posted a separate ethics pledge on the website of the General Services Administration, which echoes the standard ethics pledge signed by other past presidential candidates, ethics experts say, with some notable differences...

TRUMP'S ASSETS AND CONFLICTS

The standard pledge contains a promise that the candidate, if elected, will "avoid both actual and apparent conflicts of interest" and to "hold only non-conflicting assets, such as assets exempt from conflict by regulation."

The Trump transition team pledge contains no mention of Trump's personal ethics or assets.

It's a notable difference, said Enzo Benoit, spokesman for the Partnership for Public Service, which monitors transitions. But it may be a minor issue because Trump will be bound by the more detailed conflicts of interest requirements when he actually takes office."

Sean Rowe wants to realign the Episcopal Church; Religion News Service via AP, November 19, 2024

YONAT SHIMRON , Religion News Service via AP; Sean Rowe wants to realign the Episcopal Church

How do you see the church in the next four years vis-à-vis the Trump administration?

I’m gonna continue to call the church to stand with the least of these. We have for many years had a significant ministry with refugees. We’re one of 13 federal agencies that resettles refugees. We will continue that work. We want to stand with those who are seeking refuge in this country and stand on our record of success, resettling asylum-seekers and refugees. We’re Christians who support the dignity, safety and equality of women and LGBTQ people. We understand that not as a political statement but as an expression of our faith. We may disagree about immigration policy in the pews. We’re largely united about our support of people who are seeking refuge and asylum and inclusion of all people.

Has the church taken a stand on Christian nationalism?

Our House of Bishops has at least a theological report on Christian nationalism, which I think is well done. We’re after creating an inclusive, welcoming church that helps to transform the world. Christian nationalism really has no place. We will bring forth an understanding of the kingdom of God that is entirely in opposition to those ways of thinking and the values of Christian nationalism.

You yourself were once an evangelical. You went to Grove City College, a conservative evangelical school. What happened?

I attended Grove City College but I did not learn Christian nationalism there. I learned about the rule of law as a core fundamental and that’s what I don’t see in a lot of the thinking that is there now. I always struggled with a lack of an expansive or inclusive worldview that did not account for the complexity of human nature and the world around me. It felt limiting and narrow to me. I had friends who came out as LGBTQ, I traveled to see how other cultures lived and thought. As my world expanded, I came back to new understandings. I’ve gone from being an evangelical Christian, as the term is understood today, to someone who understands God as much broader and the world as much more complex than I once thought."

The Biden administration is without a confirmed ethics czar; Government Executive, July 18, 2023

Eric Katz, Government Executive; The Biden administration is without a confirmed ethics czar

"The lack of a confirmed director should not hinder the Office of Government Ethics' daily operations, but Biden would be smart to pick a new permanent leader soon to signal he is serious about ethics, former agency officials said. 

Emory Rounds, a President Trump appointee whose term carried over into Biden’s tenure, stepped down July 12 when his term expired. Shelley Finlayson, chief of staff and program counsel at the ethics agency, will fill in on an acting basis. 

The agency is responsible for overseeing the ethics plans at each executive branch department and collecting and approving disclosure documents from the federal officials who are required to submit them. It occasionally issues new ethics regulations to update policies and provides guidance and reminders to employees across government."

State officials rush to shore up confidence in Nov. 3 election as voters express new fears about mail voting; The Washington Post, August 16, 2020

Amy Gardner and Seung Min Kim, The Washington Post; State officials rush to shore up confidence in Nov. 3 election as voters express new fears about mail voting

"Attorneys general from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington and North Carolina, among others, have begun discussions on how to sue the administration to prevent operational changes or funding lapses that could affect the election. They expect to announce legal action early this week, according to several involved in the talks.

“This is not just terrible policy, but it may be illegal under federal law and other state laws as well,” said Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D). “A lot of work is being done literally as we speak over the weekend and at nights to try to figure out what Trump and DeJoy are doing, whether they have already violated or are likely to violate any laws and how we can take swift action to try to stop this assault on our democracy.”"

Senior Trump official embellished résumé, had face on fake Time cover; NBC News, November 12, 2019

Dan De Luce, Laura Strickler and Ari Sen, NBC News; Senior Trump official embellished résumé, had face on fake Time cover

"A senior Trump administration official has embellished her résumé with misleading claims about her professional background — even creating a fake Time magazine cover with her face on it — raising questions about her qualifications to hold a top position at the State Department. 

An NBC News investigation found that Mina Chang, the deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, has inflated her educational achievements and exaggerated the scope of her nonprofit's work.

She was being considered for an even bigger government job, one with a budget of more than $1 billion, until Congress started asking questions about her résumé."

Trump administration sues drugmaker Gilead Sciences over patent on Truvada for HIV prevention; The Washington Post, November 7, 2019

Christopher Rowland, The Washington Post; Trump administration sues drugmaker Gilead Sciences over patent on Truvada for HIV prevention

"The Trump administration took the rare step Wednesday of filing a patent infringement lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Sciences over sales of Truvada for HIV prevention, a crucial therapy invented and patented by Centers for Disease Control researchers."

A Confederacy of Grift The subjects of Robert Mueller’s investigation are cashing in.; The Atlantic, February 10, 2019

Quinta Jurecic; A Confederacy of Grift:

The subjects of Robert Mueller’s investigation are cashing in.

"For people in the greater Trump orbit, the publicity of a legal clash with Robert Mueller provides a chance to tap into the thriving marketplace of fringe pro-Trump media. Disinformation in America is a business. And the profit to be turned from that business is a warning sign that the alternative stories of the Mueller investigation spun by the president’s supporters will have a long shelf life."

Why It's Been A Dismal Year For Ethics In Washington; NPR, December 25, 2018

Peter Overby, NPR; Why It's Been A Dismal Year For Ethics In Washington

"Even setting aside the investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and other federal prosecutors, Washington had more than its usual list of scandals in 2018."

Mueller Is Telling Us: He's Got Trump on Collusion; The Daily Beast, December 7, 2018

Max Bergmann, Sam Berger, The Daily Beast; Mueller Is Telling Us: He's Got Trump on Collusion

"Mueller is coming. And he is clearly coming for Trump. Not simply for obstructing justice but for conspiring with a hostile foreign power to win an election. This is a scandal unlike any America has ever seen."

Mueller Exposes the Culture of Lying That Surrounds Trump; The New York Times, December 1, 2018

Sharon LaFraniere, The New York Times; Mueller Exposes the Culture of Lying That Surrounds Trump

"If the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has proved anything in his 18-month-long investigation — besides how intensely Russia meddled in an American presidential election — it is that Mr. Trump surrounded himself throughout 2016 and early 2017 with people to whom lying seemed to be second nature.

They lied to federal authorities even when they had lawyers advising them, even when the risk of getting caught was high and even when the consequences for them were dire.

 

Even more Trump associates are under investigation for the same offense. They are part of a group of people surrounding Mr. Trump — including some White House and cabinet officials — who contribute to a culture of bending, if not outright breaking, the truth, and whose leading exemplar is Mr. Trump himself."

EPA official arrested on felony ethics charges in Alabama; WSFA12 News, November 15, 2018

Michael Biesecker, WSFA12 News; EPA official arrested on felony ethics charges in Alabama

"The Trump administration's top environmental official for the Southeast was arrested Thursday on criminal ethics charges in Alabama reported to be related to a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying for a costly toxic waste cleanup.

Trey Glenn, 47, was briefly booked into a county jail in Birmingham before being released on a $30,000 bond. Glenn was appointed in August 2017 to serve as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Atlanta, which oversees operations in eight states stretching from the Carolinas to Mississippi."

Trump-appointed judge: Get CNN’s Jim Acosta back in the White House; The Washington Post, November 16, 2018

Erik Wemple, The Washington Post; Trump-appointed judge: Get CNN’s Jim Acosta back in the White House


"In a Friday morning court session, Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia lent his thinking to the matter, which resulted in the granting of CNN’s request for the TRO — meaning that Acosta’s press pass will be reinstated, though just “temporarily,” according to a statement from Sanders. In his discussion of the TRO request, Kelly considered the likelihood that CNN would prevail in its arguments that the hard-pass revocation violated due-process considerations. Likely, Kelly ruled. Wednesday’s oral arguments and the judge’s explanation centered on the 1977 case Sherrill v. Knight, in which a “court found that denial of White House credentials was a sufficiently grave infringement on the freedom of the press that it couldn’t just be done by fiat.” In his own summation, Kelly said that Sherrill stands for the proposition that the “Fifth Amendment’s due process clause protects a reporter’s First Amendment liberty interest in a White House press pass.”"

Hundreds protest Downtown with 'Trump chicken' balloon to protect Mueller investigation; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 8, 2018

Bill Schackner, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Hundreds protest Downtown with 'Trump chicken' balloon to protect Mueller investigation 

"The turnout at 6 p.m. roughly coincided with demonstrations across the nation quickly announced for Thursday after Mr. Trump, a day earlier, sought and received the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose recusal from the probe last year drew the president’s ire.

Matthew Whitaker, named as his acting replacement, is seen by critics as a Republican loyalist who they contend may move to end or curb the probe."

Acosta should sue the president, and Americans should shun Sanders; The Washington Post, November 8, 2018

Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post; Acosta should sue the president, and Americans should shun Sanders

"President Trump’s conduct (Sanders surely didn’t do this on her own) violates every democratic norm one can think of — and what’s more, is illegal.

The First Amendment protects the press’s right to report the news and the public’s right to receive that news. The government cannot punish or threaten the press or individuals based on the content of what is reported. In fact, in a public forum, which Twitter was deemed to be, a federal court already ordered Trump to unblock Twitter users who were critical of him."

White House shares doctored video to support punishment of journalist Jim Acosta; The Washington Post, November 8, 2018

Drew Harwell, The Washington Post; White House shares doctored video to support punishment of journalist Jim Acosta

"The video has quickly become a flashpoint in the battle over viral misinformation, turning a live interaction watched by thousands in real time into just another ideological tug-of-war. But it has also highlighted how video content — long seen as an unassailable verification tool for truth and confirmation — has become as vulnerable to political distortion as anything else."

The Saudis and Trump insult our intelligence. Congress shouldn’t.; The Washington Post, October 20, 2018

Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post; The Saudis and Trump insult our intelligence. Congress shouldn’t.

"White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’s bland acknowledgment of Khashoggi’s death and announcement that the White House would continue to “follow” international investigations (that would be the Saudi’s self-investigation?) reminds one of Hannah Arendt’s phrase “the banality of evil.”...

There was no actual condemnation by the administration of this human rights atrocity, no defense of a free press or of the right of Americans (residents or citizens) to travel safely. The administration looks feckless, and if it continues down this road, will earn the ridicule and disdain of Americans, our allies and all free peoples.

In allowing the Saudis to delay this long and failing to demand audio recordings allegedly capturing the murder, the administration has become an accessory after the fact, an enabler of nearly unimaginable evil."

Trump Fans Are Suckers and QAnon Is Perfect for Them; The Daily Beast, August 3, 2018

Rick Wilson, The Daily Beast; Trump Fans Are Suckers and QAnon Is Perfect for Them

"Conspiracies are hard. They're even harder when you're stupid.

They are, however, deeply compelling. Some people need a single, grand unifying theory of why the world refuses to line up with their expectations. When difficult realities confront people without the intellectual horsepower to understand and accept the truth, some turn to conspiracy theories to paper over the holes in their worldview. No matter how absurd, baroque, and improbable, conspiracies grow on their own like mental kudzu where inconsistencies aren't signs of illogical conclusions, but of another, deeper layer of some hidden truth, some skein of powerful forces holding the world in its grip...

[Q] works because stupid people are stupid and because Donald Trump's Administration loves what QAnon does to stoke the fires of paranoia, resentment, and division. QAnon works for Trump because people who are not knowledgeable about the world, politics, government, the intelligence community and reality more broadly are desperately looking for confirmation that they're on the winning team. Q tells them that they're on the right side of history and that for once in their dreary little lives they and only they possess the secret, hermetic knowledge from inside the esoteric cult."

This isn’t religion. It’s perversion.; The Washington Post, June 15, 2108

Dana Milbank, The Washington Post; This isn’t religion. It’s perversion.

"You don’t have to be a theologian to see the difference between people who do God’s work on earth and those who pervert God’s word to justify inhumanity."

News Anchors Reciting Sinclair Propaganda Is Even More Terrifying in Unison; New York Magazine, April 1, 2018

New York Magazine; News Anchors Reciting Sinclair Propaganda Is Even More Terrifying in Unison

"The anchors were forced to read the so-called journalistic responsibility messages word for word by their employer, the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of television stations in the country. The features were one of Sinclair’s now infamous “must-run” segments, consisting of conservative commentary that every Sinclair-owned station is required to air.

Think Progress rounded up many of the “fake stories” segments for a chilling video on Friday, but Deadspin’s Timothy Burke published a much more terrifying version on Saturday, which at one point shows 30 of the segments synced up in unison..."