Tag: Trump lack of ethics

Trump Asked Sessions to Retain Control of Russia Inquiry After His Recusal

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt and Julie Hirschfeld Davis was posted on the New York Times website May 29, 2018:

Attorney General Sessions announced in March 2017 that he was recusing himself from oversight of the Russia investigation and any other campaign-related matters. Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — By the time Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrived at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner one Saturday evening in March 2017, he had been receiving the presidential silent treatment for two days. Mr. Sessions had flown to Florida because Mr. Trump was refusing to take his calls about a pressing decision on his travel ban.

When they met, Mr. Trump was ready to talk — but not about the travel ban. His grievance was with Mr. Sessions: The president objected to his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump, who had told aides that he needed a loyalist overseeing the inquiry, berated Mr. Sessions and told him he should reverse his decision, an unusual and potentially inappropriate request. Continue reading “Trump Asked Sessions to Retain Control of Russia Inquiry After His Recusal”

Can Presidents Obstruct Justice? Republicans and Democrats Say Yes

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website December 11, 2017:

Durbin: ‘Desperate statement’ suggests ‘they expect to lose on the merits’

Vermont Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, left, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham confer before a hearing in 2015. Both senior Judiciary Committee members say there is ample precedent showing a president can obstruct justice, despite a claim to the contrary by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Republican and Democratic lawmakers say an assertion by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer that a sitting president cannot obstruct justice is dubious, warning the White House there is ample precedent to the contrary.

The members were reacting to Trump lawyer John Dowd’s legal argument in a recent interview with Axios that “the president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [Article II of the Constitution] and has every right to express his view of any case.”

Lawmakers from both parties rejected the claim as legally flimsy, and a few suggested it is politically treacherous. Some Democrats see Dowd’s argument as “desperation” from the Trump legal team, and even some Republican lawmakers are advising the president and his lawyers to find another legal defense strategy. Continue reading “Can Presidents Obstruct Justice? Republicans and Democrats Say Yes”

Trump Declines to Release List of His Mar-a-Lago Visitors

The following article by Eric Lipton was posted on the New York Times website September 15, 2017:

President Trump visited his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida for 25 days between his inauguration and the middle of May. Credit: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining to release the identities of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family’s Mar-a-Lago resort during the days he has spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year.

The surprising move by the Department of Justice, which had been ordered in July by a federal court to complete its review of Mar-a-Lago visitor records, came after weeks of promotion by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the liberal nonprofit group known as CREW, that it would soon be getting the Mar-a-Lago visitors logs.

Instead, on Friday the Justice Department released a State Department list of just 22 names — all of them members of the delegation of the Japanese prime minister — who visited the club in February for a meeting with President Trump. Continue reading “Trump Declines to Release List of His Mar-a-Lago Visitors”

Departing Ethics Chief: U.S. Is ‘Close to a Laughingstock’

The following article by Eric Lipton and Nicholas Fandos was posted on the New York Times website July 17, 2017:

As director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter M. Shaub Jr. has often gone head-to-head with the Trump administration over conflicts of interest. Credit Vanessa Vick for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Actions by President Trump and his administration have created a historic ethics crisis, the departing head of the Office of Government Ethics said. He called for major changes in federal law to expand the power and reach of the oversight office and combat the threat.

Walter M. Shaub Jr., who is resigning as the federal government’s top ethics watchdog on Tuesday, said the Trump administration had flouted or directly challenged long-accepted norms in a way that threatened to undermine the United States’ ethical standards, which have been admired around the world.

“It’s hard for the United States to pursue international anticorruption and ethics initiatives when we’re not even keeping our own side of the street clean. It affects our credibility,” Mr. Shaub said in a two-hour interview this past weekend — a weekend Mr. Trump let the world know he was spending at a family-owned golf club that was being paid to host the U.S. Women’s Open tournament. “I think we are pretty close to a laughingstock at this point.”

Continue reading “Departing Ethics Chief: U.S. Is ‘Close to a Laughingstock’”