Thread by @weareoversight

Donald Trump’s presidency was defined by multiple financial conflicts of interest and unprecedented abuses of power. Here are some of the most important things we’ve uncovered about Trump’s actions in office — and what we’re still investigating. americanoversight.org/open-questions…

Abuse of Presidential Powers: From pardoning his political allies to pushing for an authoritarian response to nationwide racial justice protests, Trump’s penchant for using presidential powers for his own gain has been well documented.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Documents we’ve uncovered have shed light on many of these instances, including Trump’s 2018 pardon of Scooter Libby, DOJ’s intervention in criminal cases against Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and Trump’s post-impeachment purges.
americanoversight.org/records-shed-l…

We still want to know:
-How have agencies responded to Trump’s pardons, and who was involved?
-How did DOJ, DHS, and Defense respond to Trump’s insistence on a militarized response to nationwide protests?
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Trump’s Pandemic Failures: Covid-19 has left over 300,000 Americans dead. Many of those deaths could have been prevented had the president initially taken the virus seriously. We’re keeping a close watch on these failings with our Covid-19 Oversight Hub.
americanoversight.org/areas_of_inves…

We’ve obtained records that show:
-a cozy relationship between the White House & private-sector actors working on pandemic response
-details about the WH’s efforts to control messaging this spring— including its heavy-handed approach to HHS communications.
americanoversight.org/emails-provide…

Trump’s campaigning led to numerous large indoor events where few wore masks. We obtained records showing that health officials in Tulsa, Okla., had warned that the president’s June 18 rally would directly lead to up to nine initial deaths.
americanoversight.org/tulsa-health-o…

We still want to know:
-How has the White House’s pandemic response left more Americans at risk?
-What were the full details and timeline of Trump’s Covid-19 illness?
-To what extent were officials warned about the dire risks of hosting large events?
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Trump’s Solicitation of Foreign Election Interference: Trump was impeached for withholding congressionally approved aid to Ukraine in an effort to pressure that country’s leadership into investigating Joe Biden. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump in a near party-line vote.

We obtained DOD emails indicating that the “final decision” to withhold the Ukraininan aid rested with Trump alone, contradicting White House claims about the reason for the holdup.
americanoversight.org/final-decision…

We also obtained State Department records showing that Rudy Giuliani’s assistant leveraged White House channels to connect with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the spring of 2019, amid the smear campaign against U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. documentcloud.org/documents/6557…

And we uncovered records showing that Attorney General William Barr met with Giuliani and multiple times in 2019.
americanoversight.org/newly-unearthe…

We still want to know:
-Did Trump and the White House direct key agencies to obstruct the impeachment inquiry?
-To what extent did Trump’s key allies enable his corrupt dealings with Ukraine?

Trump Properties Spending: Trump’s businesses represent an unprecedented financial conflict of interest for a sitting president, from the Trump International Hotel to Secret Service stays at Trump-owned golf resorts.

Our investigations have shown that federal agencies lacked any guidance related to spending taxpayer money at Trump properties. We also identified large expenses by billionaire U.S. ambassador to the U.K. Woody Johnson at Trump’s Scottish golf resort.

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1313954772769280003

And in 2019, we obtained records of Trump World Tower leases to foreign governments that were approved by the State Department, but raise questions about violations of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
americanoversight.org/document/state…

We still want to know:
-How much money have the federal government and other countries spent at Trump’s properties during his presidency?
-What was Trump’s personal involvement in scrapping a plan to relocate the FBI headquarters?
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Trump’s Attacks on the Legitimacy of the Election: Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election began long before he lost it. Once it was clear that President-elect Biden had won, Trump made wildly unfounded allegations about the election being rigged.

We’ve been investigating state-level attacks on voting rights, including uncovering communications between state election officials and voting-restriction activists in Florida, Georgia, and Texas.
americanoversight.org/state-and-loca…

We previously represented Maine Sec. of State Matt Dunlap in his lawsuit compelling the release of records from Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, of which Dunlap was a member.

Those records revealed that the Trump-aligned members of the commission were preparing to issue broad findings of “voter fraud issues,” but had failed to come up with evidence supporting their desired conclusion.
americanoversight.org/voter-fraud-co…

We still want to know:
-What did Trump’s DOJ tell federal prosecutors about pursuing and publicizing “voter fraud” allegations in the leadup to the election?
-Did the administration stifle the release of information about foreign actors attempting to interfere in our elections?

-What happened in the firing of DHS cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs by Trump in the days following the 2020 election?
-What role did the president and the White House play in the delay of the ascertainment of presidential transition?

Even though President Trump’s time left in office is dwindling, the public deserves answers to these questions. We’ll continue to investigate the Trump administration’s corruption and hold it accountable.