TRUMP CORRUPTION INDEX
The Guilty Party Lets Out Early: This Week in Trumpland Corruption
From commuting Roger Stone’s sentence to forcing out key impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, it was another jam-packed week
Is there enough graft, double-dealing, and self-interested chicanery in the Trump administration to publish this column every week? Only time — and Trump — will tell. (But we feel pretty confident.) Presenting this week’s jam-packed installment of the Trump Corruption Index.
I Get By With A Little Help (From The President)
Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime confidant and federal convicted felon, Roger Stone. The president of “law and order” used the power of his office to ensure his political ally spent just a few days in prison, instead of 40 months, and to undermine the results of the Russia investigation. A central character in the Mueller probe, Stone had been found guilty of lying to Congress and obstructing justice by a unanimous jury.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 👬🇷🇺🏛✒️📃
The Swamp Gets Swampier
At least 82 former Trump administration officials have registered as lobbyists since leaving their positions, in direct opposition to the president’s campaign promise of “draining the swamp.” Some of the lobbyists are: Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, former White House deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn, former Mike Pence chief of staff Josh Pitcock, and officials from agencies including the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 💸 💸💸💸
Poor, Unfortunate Country Clubs
The Riviera Country Club, an ultra-exclusive club in Los Angeles that counts Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin as one its members, received between $2 million to $5 million in federal assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP is meant to financially support small businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s managed by the Small Business Administration with help from the Department of the Treasury.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 🏌️♂️💰💰
Is That You, Steve Bannon?
The FBI is investigating the activities of exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, including his work with Steve Bannon. The former White House chief strategist entered into a $1 million consulting contract with Guo Media in 2018, after leaving the Trump administration. The deal has since ended, and Bannon has been spotted at the White House as recently as May. A spokesperson for Bannon told the Wall Street Journal that he hadn’t been contacted by the FBI.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 🕵️♂️
A Forced Retirement
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key witness in President Trump’s impeachment trial, retired after 21 years of armed service because of a “campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” from the White House. Vindman testified in November that Trump’s attempt to get the Ukrainian government to investigate former vice president Joe Biden was “inappropriate.” As a result, the president fired him from the National Security Council in February and allegedly attempted to block his promotion to colonel in recent weeks.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 🎖🇺🇦🔥
It’s A McEnany Family Affair
McEnany Roofing, the Florida commercial roofing company owned by the parents of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, received between $1–2 million dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program. The press secretary told Fox News in late April that PPP was meant to support small businesses with 10 or fewer employees. “That is what this program is designed to do, that is who it is helping,” she said at the time. Her parents’ company employs around 140 people, according to loan data reviewed by The Daily Dot.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 👨👩👧💰
Chick-Pro-Quo
Mountaire Corporation, one of the largest poultry vendors in the U.S., and the Trump administration have “conspired” to strip workers of their rights during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a New Yorker investigation. The Trump administration has allegedly deregulated oversight of the poultry industry to benefit tycoons who supported his presidential bid. Mountaire specifically is owned by Ronald Cameron, who donated nearly three million dollars to groups supporting Trump in 2016.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 🦠🐓💰💰
From The White House to The Wall
President Trump used his favorite social network to complain about a three-mile section of his Southern border wall that was badly built by a private group. “I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and perhaps it now doesn’t even work,” he wrote. (Typos are from the president.) “Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles.” He failed to mention his administration awarded the builder with a $1.7 billion contract in May to build additional stretches of the fences.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 👷♂️💸💸
It’s the Nepotism, Stupid
The Pentagon’s new acting undersecretary for research and engineering is a 33-year-old with a bachelor’s degree in political science who focused on ancient Greek democracy. So, how did Michael Kratsios get that job? He worked for billionaire Peter Thiel, who was an early supporter of Trump’s campaign. After serving as Thiel’s chief of staff, Krastios became the White House chief technology officer. The person he is replacing at the Pentagon is Michael Griffin, a physicist and aerospace engineer who once served as the NASA administrator.
- Corrupt-o-meter (out of a possible 5 emojis): 🚀🚀🚀