New York City mayor can hire brother, but only for $1, ethics board says; Reuters, January 27, 2022

Dan Whitcomb, Reuters; New York City mayor can hire brother, but only for $1, ethics board says

"A New York City ethics panel has agreed that Mayor Eric Adams can hire his brother as a senior security adviser, but only at $1 per year and with no power over department personnel.

The decision by the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, made public on Thursday, follows an uproar that erupted after Adams sought to hire his younger brother Bernard as a deputy police commissioner at a yearly salary of $240,000."

"Trump Day", robrogers.com, August 6, 2017

Rob Rogers, robrogers.com; "Trump Day"

The investigation of Jared Kushner fits a very troubling pattern; Washington Post, May 25, 2017

Aaron Blake, Washington Post; The investigation of Jared Kushner fits a very troubling pattern

"Former Obama administration ethics counsel Norman L. Eisen was among those criticizing that move. And here's what Eisen said back in December, when Kushner's potential role in the Trump White House first made news:

The problem with it is it sends a message that if you want to have influence in the administration, do it through the kids. And there’s a tradition. This is not the first time this has happened. I’m just shocked it’s happened in the United States.

It's possible that Kushner's familial relationship with Trump is part of the reason he's been subjected to more scrutiny than any other White House adviser in this probe. And as emphasized above, we have no idea what will come of this.

But if scrutiny of Kushner becomes more intense and there appears to be some validity to it, it will reinforce a central reason why ethics experts say these kinds of arrangements are to be avoided in the first place.

Ivanka Trump’s West Wing job isn’t just unethical. It’s also dangerous.; Washington Post, March 23, 2017

Helen Klein Murillo and Susan Hennessey, Washington Post; Ivanka Trump’s West Wing job isn’t just unethical. It’s also dangerous.

"The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is set to join his administration in an unspecified, but reportedly influential policy role. She claims she will not be a government employee despite having an office in the White House, holding a high-level security clearance and performing government work.

In a statement, Ivanka Trump concedes that there is “no modern precedent for an adult child of the president” but pledges to “voluntarily” comply with ethics rules. What the first daughter fails to acknowledge is that the very nature of her proposed role breaches ethical standards to which previous administrations have adhered for generations. That ethical breach does more than “shake up Washington” by breaking with norms and decorum — it threatens our national security."

The Real Clinton Foundation Revelation; New York Times, 8/31/16

Richard W. Painter, New York Times; The Real Clinton Foundation Revelation:

"Lots of people and groups get favorable treatment, and most of these are interested in making money rather than giving it away.

The problem is that it does not matter that no laws were broken, or that the Clinton Foundation is principally about doing good deeds. It does not matter that favoritism is inescapable in the federal government and that the Clinton Foundation stories are really nothing new. The appearances surrounding the foundation are problematic, and it is and will be an albatross around Mrs. Clinton’s neck...

I’m a Republican, but I believe that Hillary Clinton is the only qualified major party candidate in the race and she should become president. Yet to win, and certainly to succeed as president, she needs to demonstrate that she understands how much appearances matter, as well as facts and law, and that the president should not unnecessarily open herself up to attack."

As National Park Service confronts sexual harassment, this dysfunctional park is Exhibit A; Washington Post, 7/2/16

Lisa Rein, Washington Post; As National Park Service confronts sexual harassment, this dysfunctional park is Exhibit A:

"The culture here became so toxic that the agency’s watchdog has conducted four investigations since 2012, an unusually high number for one of the park system’s smaller sites.

In the latest report, released in June, the inspector general for the Interior Department, the National Park Service’s parent agency, disclosed a pattern of unwanted advances and attention — along with inappropriate remarks — to female subordinates by the chief law enforcement officer. He is still employed by the park but was recently ordered to work at home.

Interviewed at his home in St. Cloud, Fla., the law enforcement officer, Edwin Correa — who was named publicly at a June congressional hearing — denied any inappropriate behavior, calling his actions “cultural misunderstandings.”"

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