Conflict of interest laws exist for good reasons.
“Everything that looks like a potential conflict is one.” is not one of them.
“Every actual conflict of interest materially harms the public.” is not one of them.
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“Everything that looks like a potential conflict is one.” is not one of them.
“Every actual conflict of interest materially harms the public.” is not one of them.
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Conflict of interest laws exist because, at least in part, because of the understanding that even the *appearance* of a conflict can erode *public faith in government*.
The agency most responsible for enforcing federal conflict of interest provisions is the Dept. of Justice.
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The agency most responsible for enforcing federal conflict of interest provisions is the Dept. of Justice.
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There is no entity in our entire government that better understands:
1) Even appearances matter
2) Public faith in government matters
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1) Even appearances matter
2) Public faith in government matters
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Yet, I get bombarded with the most arrogant, obnoxious shit when I state the obvious:
1) the Attorney General and DOJ are responsible for engendering faith in the performance of gov’t
2) appearances matter; and
3) that requires communicating effectively with the public
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1) the Attorney General and DOJ are responsible for engendering faith in the performance of gov’t
2) appearances matter; and
3) that requires communicating effectively with the public
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Why, for the love of god, can some people - particularly some of the lawyers who drip with condescension in the replies - not process that the Department of Justice is literally the MOST tasked of any federal agency with managing even the appearance of govt wrongdoing?
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And why, for the love of god, can those people not understand that the DOJ so fully understands their communications responsibility, they have an entire department with a Director, spokesperson, asst spokesperson and staff of 20+ people dedicated to public communications?
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If you believe the DOJ is not responsible for communicating with the public, you are dead wrong.
If you think the DOJ thinks they aren’t responsible for communicating with the public, you are dead wrong.
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If you think the DOJ thinks they aren’t responsible for communicating with the public, you are dead wrong.
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If you think prior administrations’ DOJs communicated this little, you are profoundly wrong.
And finally, if you think the only way a DOJ could communicate would be by talking about specific cases, you were, are and will remain wrong.
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And finally, if you think the only way a DOJ could communicate would be by talking about specific cases, you were, are and will remain wrong.
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This Attorney General and this DOJ are communicating far less than their predecessors.
They not only could be doing the opposite, they already a fully funded and staffed department for that task!
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They not only could be doing the opposite, they already a fully funded and staffed department for that task!
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Lawyers up in my junk about this: your J.D. didn’t come with a bonus degree in communications - just like my decades in comms doesn’t make me a lawyer.
Working at a law firm doesn’t make you an accountant, librarian or IT person just because they have those.
Not your lane.
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Working at a law firm doesn’t make you an accountant, librarian or IT person just because they have those.
Not your lane.
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