Ethics & Accountability


We are challenging ethics abuses and transparency issues and demanding accountability from Congress and the Executive Branch, because that’s what the American people deserve.

Tag Archive for: Ethics & Accountability

Trump’s Continued Ownership of Business Enterprises Will Cause Serious Problems for His Presidency and the Country, Says Bipartisan Group of Leading Governance Experts

| |  by

  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 […]

Read more

President-elect Trump’s Statement Today Hasn’t Yet Solved his Pervasive Conflict of Interest Problems

| |  by

  Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President-elect Donald Trump said today he will announce on December 15 how he intends to deal with The Trump Organization in order to avoid conflicts of interest while serving as president. Trump said he would take himself out of the “business operations” of The Trump Organization, but […]

Read more

Democracy 21 Calls on Congress to Promptly Pass Legislation to Require Trump to Comply with Blind Trust Requirements of Ethics in Government Act

| |  by

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In his first two weeks as president-elect, Donald Trump already has shown that he will be a walking conflict of interest until he divests his business empire. President-elect Trump’s original proposal to deal with these issues is an illusion. He proposed to place his business empire in a […]

Read more

Trump Must Divest Himself of All Business Holdings, Reform Groups and Ethicists Say

| |  by

Statement from Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President-elect Trump is about to become a walking financial conflict-of-interest. For example, Trump’s business enterprise reportedly owes hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bank of China. This is a state-owned bank which means that, as a businessman, Trump owes this money to the Chinese government. How will […]

Read more

Trump’s Proposed “Blind Trust” for his Business Empire Would be Blind to Everyone but the Trump Family

| |  by

Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer According to a POLITICO article today, “Donald Trump’s vast business holdings will be placed into a blind trust with his three children in charge, according to the president-elect’s attorney.” The so-called “blind trust” scheme outlined by Trump’s lawyer is absurd. In a real blind trust, an independent trustee who has no connection […]

Read more

Fred Wertheimer – “If Elected President, Trump or Clinton Must End all Family Ties with the Trump Organization or Clinton Foundation”

| |by

Last year in a Vanity Fair article, I said that “if Hillary Clinton is elected president, all three Clintons should cut their ties with the [Clinton] Foundation for as long as she’s president.” This position remains the same today and this same principle also applies to Donald Trump. If Trump is elected president, he and […]

Read more

Constitutional Scholars Oppose House Effort to Impeach IRS Commissioner

| |  by

  In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, fifteen constitutional scholars opposed the effort in the House led by the Freedom Caucus to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen.  According to the letter, “When it comes to impeachment, the Constitution leaves many open and difficult questions. Whether the […]

Read more

Constitutional Lawyers Send House Leaders Letter Opposing Impeachment of IRS Commissioner

| |  by

  In a letter sent today to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, more than a dozen constitutional law professors opposed the resolution to impeach John Koskinen sponsored by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). The impeachment resolution is a privileged resolution able to be brought directly to the House floor by any […]

Read more

Tax Law Professors Urge House Leaders to Oppose Impeachment Resolution of IRS Commissioner

| |  by

Enclosed for your information is a letter from 124 tax law professors from all parts of the country sent on August 28, 2016 to House Speaker Ryan, House Democratic Leader Pelosi, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brady and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Democrat Levin. The letter urges them to oppose any resolution to impeach […]

Read more

Fred Wertheimer: “House Freedom Caucus Pushes for Sept Vote on Unprecedented & Baseless Impeachment Resolution Against IRS Commish Koskinen”

| |  by

  In July, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) introduced a resolution of impeachment (H.Res. 828) against Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen. In August, Rep. Jim Jordan (D-OH), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said that House Freedom Caucus members would push for a House vote on the impeachment resolution when Congress returns in September. Under […]

Read more