The Art of the Lie – Democracy 21 & Common Cause Release New Report Documenting President Trump’s Historic First Year Failure on Integrity and Accountability Issues
The Art of the Lie – Nonpartisan Watchdog Groups Release New Report Documenting President Trump’s Historic First Year Failure on Government Integrity and Accountability Issues
As President Trump prepares to deliver his first State of the Union later this week, Democracy 21 and Common Cause are releasing a new report, “The Art of the Lie,” which pulls together a dizzying series of events and provides an overview of this unprecedented presidency. The report bundles together the crises, conflicts of interest, and new lows of the last year in 20 distinct issue areas to capture Trump’s failed first year record on matters of government integrity and accountability.
Among other case studies, the report discusses the president’s more than 2,100 lies, false and misleading statements, and untruths from his first year in office – an average of nearly 5.9 per day; his attacks on law enforcement and intelligence agencies; his accusations that the press is the “enemy of the American people,” and some of the 245 vacant positions that he had failed to nominate someone to fill one year into his first term – leaving the Trump administration by far with the fewest number of Senate-confirmed nominees in place compared to the last four presidents.
“In his first year in office, President Trump has been an historic failure when it comes to ensuring the integrity and accountability of our government. President Trump has been unlike any previous President in his incessant, irresponsible attacks on the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, the media, members of Congress and judges, and private citizens, among others,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21. “President Trump lives in his own world, failing to distinguish between truths and lies. In his first year, President Trump appears to be the biggest spreader of false, misleading and untrue information we have seen in national office. By repeatedly undermining our democratic norms and constitutional principles, President Trump has failed the American people. However, the American people will not fail. Our fundamental values, democratic norms, and constitutional principles will endure, President Trump notwithstanding,” said Wertheimer.
“Americans deserve a leader who is honest and who abides by high ethical standards and we the people have been let down by Donald Trump in our nation’s highest elected office,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “There is no question that the President of the United States used his first year in office to debase the guardrails that protect our democracy. For more than a year, Americans have faced a near daily barrage of news out of the White House that can be overwhelming and confusing to piece together – even though we all know that things are not normal. That is why we are releasing this report today – to serve as a resource for Americans to assess Trump’s destructive actions on matters of government integrity and accountability, and to examine some of the problems we’ll need to solve together to demand change. I have every confidence that Americans will rise to the occasion,” said Hobert Flynn.
The report can be accessed here.
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