Pres. Trump will leave office tomorrow but our investigations into the corruption that defined his presidency are far from over. Here’s what we’ve uncovered about Trump’s actions in office—& how we’re still working to hold Trump & his enablers accountable. americanoversight.org/open-questions…
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.
Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the election results culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. A violent and heavily armed mob of the president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Five people were killed, including one Capitol Police officer.
We’ve filed FOIA requests with multiple agencies to learn more about how the federal government — including the Defense Department, the White House, and federal law enforcement agencies — responded to the mob attack. americanoversight.org/investigation/…
We’ve also 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 still want to know:
-What did Trump’s DOJ tell federal prosecutors about pursuing and publicizing “voter fraud” allegations in the lead-up 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?
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 400,000 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 last 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 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. americanoversight.org/tracking-taxpa…
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.
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/…
Even now that Donald Trump has left office, the public deserves answers to these questions. We’ll continue to investigate the Trump administration’s corruption and hold those involved accountable.
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As Covid-19 spread, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opted for an open economy, opposed mask mandates, and took a hands-off approach to vaccination distribution. We’re investigating Florida officials’ mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Last July, Florida broke the nationwide record for most reported cases in a single day. Without an organized state response, cases continued to rise.
In November, as Florida approached 1 million cases, DeSantis again chose not to implement any statewide restrictions. wsj.com/articles/as-co…
Even as Trump’s presidency sunsets, it’s still hard to tell how much money went from public coffers into his pockets. Here’s what we’ve learned about government spending at Trump properties after nearly 4 years of investigations: americanoversight.org/tracking-taxpa…
Responses to our FOIA requests revealed that major federal agencies across the government lacked guidance for employees on spending taxpayer money at Trump properties. In practice, this ethical indifference has allowed public funds to enrich the president. americanoversight.org/administration…
We uncovered that billionaire U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Woody Johnson paid £1,143 (about $1,500) for a single day of activities at Trump’s golf course in Scotland in July 2018. scotsman.com/news/politics/…
Missouri and Kansas Attorneys General Eric Schmitt and Derek Schmidt improperly used the authority of their offices to challenge the results of the 2020 election, framing it as an existential constitutional crisis, our @AREvers told the @KCStar. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
Schmitt and Schmidt backed the extraordinary and baseless lawsuit that attempted to overturn the election results in several key states. “These were formal court documents that carried the veneer of legitimacy,” Evers said.
“They were insane legal documents pushing insane legal theories, where the only audience was the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party.”
On April 20, Maggie Gau, chief of staff to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, replied to a White House document touting the successes of Project Airbridge, the White House-led push to distribute and deliver medical supplies.
Writing to a staffer in VP Pence’s office, Gau said, “It is frustrating and disingenuous to assert that millions of PPE supplies are being delivered to the State of Wisconsin when we have not received the supplies we have repeatedly requested.”
Today’s DOJ IG report means very little to the families that were torn apart in 2018, or to the 628 children that still have not been reunited with their parents. They bore the inhumane brunt of the Trump administration’s failures.
The report underscores and confirms the evidence developed by us and others over the last few years. When you combine zealous cruelty and bumbling bureaucratic competence, you get inhumane, tragic results.
Our May 2020 report found the administration failed to take any reasonable steps to prepare to execute its plans. And now, the Department of Justice has reached the same conclusion. americanoversight.org/chaos-confusio…
The 2018 memo also listed “New populations of U.S. orphans” under a section titled “problematic outcomes.”
The memo was based on DHS Civil Rights/Civil Liberties office’s investigation of 27 of the 950 “family separation matters” the office had received since 2016.
It cited problems with:
-“inconsistent, inaccurate, or no record-keeping for all arriving family members” in DHS systems