Press Releases Archive
In a letter sent today to Reince Priebus, incoming White House chief of staff, a group of nineteen organizations and individuals with governance expertise challenged Priebus’ comments as “highly inappropriate and an obvious effort to intimidate” the director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub. The signers of the letter included Richard Painter, […]
Ethics and conflict of interest rules exist to protect the American people from corruption, the misuse of public office for personal financial gain and other abuses of public office. However, House Republicans have shown very little interest in ethics and conflict of interest rules – except when anyone tries to make them work. At […]
President-elect Trump today has set a very dangerous path for himself and for the country. President-elect Trump’s press conference today establishes that he will maintain ultimate ownership of his business empire. This approach is bound to result in serious conflicts of interest and appearances of conflicts for his presidency. Conflicts of interest, furthermore, can […]
“America Rising, a Republican opposition research group, apparently has decided that the best way to deflect attention away from the ethics and conflicts of interest issues facing President-elect Trump and some of his proposed cabinet nominees is to attack the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and its Director, Walter Shaub,” according to Democracy 21 […]
In a letter sent today to Senators, reform groups and individuals with expertise in governance issues called on Senators to support and co-sponsor legislation introduced today by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and other Senators, that would require President-elect Trump to divest his business enterprises. (See below for a full list of the signers of the […]
In a letter sent today to House Speaker Paul Ryan, 36 reform groups and individuals with expertise in governance issues called on Speaker Ryan to oppose the Goodlatte proposal and remove it from the House rules being considered by the full House today. (See below for a full list of the signers of the letter.) The […]
In a letter sent today to President-elect Trump, a bipartisan group of organizations and individuals with expertise in governance issues called on Trump to divest his business enterprises or face serious conflicts of interest and Emoluments Clause problems as president. The letter representing voices from all parts of the political spectrum urged President-elect Trump “to […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 urges support for the bill announced this week by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to require presidents and vice presidents to divest all of their assets that could result in conflicts of interest into a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee. President-elect Trump has […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The criminal investigation of a Trump hotel in Brazil, reported by the Washington Post and the New York Times, shows why President-elect Trump has no choice but to divest his business empire into a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee. President-elect Trump has indicated, to […]
A bipartisan group of organizations and individuals, many of whom specialize in ethical and conflicts of interest issues, today called on President-elect Trump to divest his businesses into a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee, or the equivalent. This is the approach that has been taken by Trump’s predecessors for the past […]
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