RSS Feed
June 2nd, 2017 
Awake Goy 
Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Host of Hardline Radio Show
When it came to lobbyists and industry insiders working for the current administration, publicly Donald Trump declared strict limitations , but privately he decided to throw out his self-imposed rules and let them all in.
In a backward draining of the swamp, Trump has allowed exceptions to his own standards by hiring at least 17 former and currently registered lobbyists, and other persons whom have a dubious relationship with industries that benefit from the current administration.
According to the White House website, 14 ethics waivers have been granted to Trump’s cabinet which covers the entire team. People such as Michael Catanzaro who used to lobby for the oil and gas industry and Shahira Knight, a former Fidelity insurance executive.
Catanzaro’s clients from his time with the CGCN Group includes Devon Energy which may be why Trump gave him the position of special assistant to the president on matters of energy policies. He is responsible for “broad policy matters and particular matters of general applicability relating to energy and environmental policy issues.”
But then there is the Wall Street and financial industry insiders working for Trump’s US Department of Treasury, State and Defense who have yet to confirm to the public that they were granted ethics waivers in order to work for Trump.
“Blanket” waivers being offered to presidential employees who “may participate in communications and meetings with news organizations regarding broad policy matters” is how members of the Trump administration like Steve Bannon can remain part of his former alt-right website and still maintain his position as chief strategist to the president without a conflict.
Kellyanne Conway, a recipient of the ethics waiver, keeps in contact with her political polling corporation while counseling the president without a conflict.
And Joshua Pitcock, chief of staff to Mike Pence, is allowed to work for the vice president while still interacting as a lobbyist working toward goals that benefit the state of Indiana.
Pitcock’s waiver states in part: “It is important that you be able to communicate and meet with the State of Indiana, and disqualification from such meetings or communications would limit the ability of the Office of the Vice President to effectively carry out Administration priorities.”
Late last month Trump’s administration fought hard to get the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to back off from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other agencies that do not want to comply with turning over ethics waivers given to lobbyists hired by this current administration.
In a letter addressed to Mick Mulvaney, director of the OMB, OGE director Walter Shaub wrote: “The unusual nature of your letter highlights OGE’s responsibility to lead the executive branch ethics program with independence, free from political pressure. Accordingly, OGE declines your request to suspend its ethics inquiry and reiterates its expectation that agencies will fully comply with its directive by June 1, 2017. Public confidence in the integrity of government decisionmaking [sic] demands no less.”
Shaub pushed back, noting that Congress has supported the OGE’s access to such waivers, citing a 2009 letter written by Senator Chuck Grassley wherein his agency was tasked with obtaining such waivers and making them publicly available on the internet.
This exchange stemmed from the Trump administration’s incessant push for the OGE to back off from exposing the “dozens of former lobbyists and industry lawyers are working in the Trump administration, which has hired them at a much higher rate than the previous administration.”
Despite rhetoric to the contrary, Trump has hired numerous industry attorneys and former lobbyists. Attempts to keep this fact a secret drives Mulvaney and his quest to get the OGE to turn a blind eye.
Susanne Posel
Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OccupyCorporatism/~3/Yw6gMZMFbyE/
Posted in 
Tags: 
