Donald Trump’s chief of staff issued a thuggish threat after the Director of the Office of Government Ethics said that Trump’s plan to deal with his conflicts of interest was inadequate.
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Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
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STEPHANOPOULOS: Will the president-elect be taking any further steps to deal with his possible business conflicts?
We saw what he announced this week. But the head of the Office of Government Ethics said that he considered this meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective.
PRIEBUS: Right. And the head of the government ethics ought to be careful, because that person is becoming extremely political. Apparently, may have made a — publicly supported Hillary Clinton as calling out the president with information on Twitter about our disentangle — disentangling of the business over a month ago.
So I’m not so sure what this person at Government Ethics, what sort of standing he has anymore in giving these opinions.
I think Jason Chaffetz was correct to call for an investigation into the Government Ethics Department in the government for the positions that they’ve taken in this campaign.
As former Obama White House ethics czar Norm Eisen tweeted:
This threat that Shaub "ought to be careful" is shocking, mafia-style THUGGERY by @Reince on @ThisWeekABC @GStephanopoulos @abbydphillip https://t.co/tTRtm624jF
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) January 15, 2017
The message being sent was that any government official that dares to suggest that Donald Trump should follow the Constitution would become an enemy of his administration. Trump will use his executive branch powers, and his Republican cronies in Congress will abuse their power to intimidate those who are calling for the president-elect to follow ethical precedents and the Constitution.
Trump and his administration are already showing their thuggish side. The Executive Branch of the United States government is about to become a weapon to be used against the president’s enemies both real and imagined.
The American people will be trading one of the most ethical administrations in history for one that sneers at the concept of government for the people.
Corruption will be the beginning of America’s problems under the administration of Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
