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Citizens for Ethics

28 Dec, 15 tweets, 5 min read

2020 is finally, finally almost over.

We’re assuming it’s been as much of a blur for you as it has for us, so here's a quick review of the year in corruption.

As hard as it may be to believe, 2020 started with Trump’s impeachment trial in January. CREW dug into Library of Congress records and found that Trump’s was the first completed trial in US history in which the Senate called no witnesses.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

In March, the pandemic changed everything...but nothing about corruption.

We saw members of Congress dumping stocks after getting classified briefings about the pandemic, so we filed a complaint and called for members to be banned from trading stocks.
citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…

We saw a massive stimulus bill with potential to help people weather the storm, but also potentially huge tax benefits to the Trump and Kushner families.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

We saw members of Congress voting against transparency for the stimulus funds, and then taking money for their businesses.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

And of course, we got a lesson in the dangers of nepotism when we saw Jared Kushner run a “shadow task force” on the coronavirus.

We filed a complaint about the group’s failure to create records and use of private emails.
citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…

In April, we discovered that the Trump family took more trips last fiscal year that required Secret Service protection than the Obama family took in seven years. And a lot of those trips involve staying at Trump properties.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Trump fired Inspectors General left and right in the spring. CREW found 25 actions that Trump took to undermine IGs, including firing the IG who was investigating Elaine Chao’s ethics issues, and replacing him with someone who Mitch McConnell had vetted.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

In July, we got Trump’s financial disclosure, as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s. The forms showed that even though they are passing up their taxpayer funded salaries, they’re making millions more by (corruptly) keeping hold of their businesses.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Ivanka Trump’s interest in Trump’s DC hotel alone made $4 million.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

As the election got closer, members of the Trump administration completely abandoned the law and used any tool at their disposal to push for Trump’s re-election.

During the RNC, Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf performed a naturalization ceremony on air.
citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…

The Interior Department created propaganda videos promoting Trump, and in the final month before the election, 16 members of the administration violated the Hatch Act to boost Trump.

We filed complaints about it all.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

After the election, Trump allies mounted an anti-democratic effort to block the transition of power. The GSA administrator for weeks blocked the release of funds and Lindsey Graham suggested tampering with votes in swing states. We’re still investigating.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Now, CREW is looking forward.

We just released a long report on our proposals to make our government more ethical and democratic, and we’re certainly going to continue pushing for accountability for all that happened this year, and the years before.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Help CREW fight for a better government in the new year by making a matched contribution now, if you’re able. Thank you for your support, and happy new year!
actionnetwork.org/fundraising/do…

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More from @CREWcrew

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

22 Dec

We reviewed the Dominion voting machines in PA and the results may shock you! In counties using Dominion machines, Trump won 52.2%-46.7%. In counties not using Dominion machines, Biden won 50.8%-48.0%. So does this mean Dominion was really rigging the vote for Trump?

No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous. But it does show just how absurd the lies being peddled by Trump and his supporters really are. If you say Dominion was rigged and throw those votes out, Trump actually loses PA even worse than he really did.

The great thing is that all this info is public, and has been public this whole time. See votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/P… for a county breakdown on which machines were used and electionreturns.pa.gov for a county breakdown of results.

Read 5 tweets

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

21 Dec

One of the people asking for legal immunity in the final weeks of the Trump administration is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. President Trump has been a supporter of MBS, even after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…

President Trump’s financial connections to Saudi Arabia have been well established.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

MBS' visit to New York drove a spike in quarterly profits at the Trump hotel in Manhattan during 2018. Though he didn’t stay there, his entourage did, and they spent enough to put the hotel in the black.
citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…

Read 5 tweets

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

14 Dec

Our government is facing a legitimacy crisis. People are taking note of widespread, race-based disenfranchisement, the disproportionate power of certain voters in certain states, and the broken process of Supreme Court nominations.

Something’s got to change, and soon.

1. Guarantee every American’s right to vote.

2. Grant statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, ensuring that their citizens have real representation.

3. Twice in the last twenty years, the presidential candidate who won the support of the most Americans did not win the most electoral votes. States should consider assigning electors based on the national popular vote instead.

Read 6 tweets

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

11 Dec

At least the executive branch and the legislative branch have *some* binding ethics requirements, even if they need serious reforms. The federal judiciary has none. It’s time to change that.

Here's how:

1. The single most important step to a more accountable judicial system is to create an independent ethics commission to create an ethics regime, publicize potential conflicts, police violations and enforce consequences. It’s wild this doesn’t already exist.

2. Federal judges must be required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.

Judges don’t have great track records on this. Look at Justice Thomas, who failed to disclose that his wife worked for the Heritage Foundation. Or Justice Sotamayor, who didn't disclose major gifts.

Read 6 tweets

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

10 Dec

Fixing ethical problems in Washington doesn't end with the White House. Congress needs an ethics overhaul. Here's how to do it:

1. Angry that Members of Congress and their spouses are getting rich from curiously timed stock trades? Let’s ban them from trading stocks.

2. If we really want to deal with the problem, let’s also ban Members of Congress and their senior staff from holding individual stocks.

3. Many Members of Congress are outrageously rich, but we don’t know much about their holdings beyond that. We need to require more in depth financial disclosures.

Read 7 tweets

Citizens for Ethics

@CREWcrew

9 Dec

President Trump has claimed that he’s the most transparent president in history. His administration’s secrecy about who visits the White House, abuse of security classifications and recordkeeping failures prove that’s a lie.

Here’s how to fix what he’s broken:

1. Create clear enforcement measures for the Presidential and Federal Records Acts so there can be real consequences for law breaking (like failing to create records that could link families separated at the border).

2. Ban the use of apps that automatically delete messages for government work. Remember Jared Kushner’s WhatsApp messages with Mark Zuckerberg and MBS?

Read 10 tweets

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