Inviting Bribes' as Legal Fees Soar, Trump Ethics Office Lifts Anonymous Gift Ban
Inviting Bribes' as Legal Fees Soar, Trump Ethics Office Lifts Anonymous Gift Ban
"What could be swampier?" asks one critic as Russia probe intensifies focus on White House staff
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
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"The Trump administration is inviting bribes in order to pay for staffers' legal defense of other crimes," writes Norm Eisen of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington. (Photo: Defending Our Future/Twitter)
In a reversal critics described as a "big ethical leap backwards" and an invitation to bribery, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has "quietly" overturned internal policy prohibiting White House staffers with legal defense funds from receiving anonymous gifts from lobbyists. "The Trump administration is inviting bribes in order to pay for staffers' legal defense of other crimes."
—Norm Eisen, CREWPolitico first reported the Trump administration's about-face on Wednesday, which comes just weeks after the resignation of former OGE head Walter Shaub, who said the policy reversal—which was carried out through a few subtle changes to a 1993 policy document—"disgusts" him. "It's very depressing," Shaub told Politico in an interview. "It's unseemly for the ethics office to be doing something sneaky like that. I was hoping it was a technical website glitch," Shaub added on Twitter. "But the acting [OGE] director [David Apol] doesn't feel you deserve any answer, America."
While the changes are superficially minor, they may have deep and far-reaching implications. The "little-noticed" policy move "could help President Donald Trump's aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands," Politico's Darren Samuelsohn observed.
Norm Eisen, the chair of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, argued the change is clear-cut evidence that the "Trump administration is inviting bribes in order to pay for staffers' legal defense of other crimes."
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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/14/inviting-bribes-legal-fees-soar-trump-ethics-office-lifts-anonymous-gift-ban
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