Captain Obvious
12-30-2018, 04:56 PM
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/30/678928181/the-year-in-washington-scandals-the-swamp-remained-murky-in-2018
This year has been a dismal one for ethics in Washington. Even without a repeat of the 2017 tide of sexual harassment cases in Congress and not counting the results of the Mueller investigation, the D.C. "swamp" remains as stagnant as ever.
It was a year when President Trump pushed out three of his own Cabinet officers over ethics concerns: Secretary David Shulkin at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Ryan Zinke at Interior and Administrator Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Shulkin ran into trouble first, over the winter. Lawmakers faulted him for vacationing, on the government's tab, in between two important conferences. He was apologetic, telling a House committee, "I do recognize the optics of this are not good. I accept responsibility for that."
Colorado GOP Rep. Mike Coffman snapped back at that: "It's not the optics that are not good. It's the facts that are not good."
Besides the travel issue, another factor was at play here. Shulkin had been resisting as the administration pushed to privatize some veterans services. He told NPR after his dismissal that political adversaries in the White House kept him from defending himself (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/29/597866101/fired-va-secretary-says-white-house-muzzled-him)in the travel scandal.
Trump's nominee to succeed Shulkin was an unlikely pick: the president's personal physician, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson.
He withdrew when senators started questioning (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/26/605471807/dr-ronny-jackson-withdraws-as-va-nominee) his professional behavior, including accusations that he oversaw a hostile work environment and of alleged malfeasance. Finally Trump himself ushered Jackson out the door by bad-mouthing the job. He told reporters, "Adm. Jackson, Dr. Jackson is a wonderful man. I said to him, what do you need it for?"
Meanwhile, Pruitt set off more than a dozen ethics investigations (https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/594078923/scott-pruitt-out-at-epa). Among the issues: flying first class against federal regulations; using his 24-hour security detail — itself an unusual arrangement for Cabinet officers — to run errands or take him across town with sirens and lights going; constructing a soundproof booth built in his office, costing $43,000; and even trying to buy a used mattress from Trump's hotel near the White House.
Pruitt, in an interview with Ed Henry of Fox News, said he was under attack because he was so effective. With the changes he brought to EPA, he said, "worldviews clash. Individuals don't like it, particularly the environmental left. Those groups had their reign at this office and this agency before we arrived. That's clearing the swamp."
After Pruitt's departure, the most intensely investigated Cabinet member was Zinke. Allegations against him included the use of a federally chartered airplane for nonofficial travel and possible conflicts of interest in a land deal between a foundation founded by Zinke and a development project involving the chair of the oil services company Halliburton (https://www.npr.org/2018/06/22/622441793/emails-raise-questions-about-interior-secretary-zinkes-link-with-oil-executive).
Zinke's final error may have come in late November. Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat, wrote that Zinke should resign immediately, and Zinke tweeted about Grijalva, "It's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle," without explanation.
Zinke sent the tweet Nov. 30. Trump announced Zinke's resignation Dec. 15. Grijalva is expected to become chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department, in January.
Law professor Kathleen Clark, who studies ethics in government at Washington University in St. Louis, said the procession of problematic appointees, combined with the administration's other ethical problems, lead to a clear conclusion: "The tone from the top in this administration is quite clear. And it's contempt for ethics standards.
This year has been a dismal one for ethics in Washington. Even without a repeat of the 2017 tide of sexual harassment cases in Congress and not counting the results of the Mueller investigation, the D.C. "swamp" remains as stagnant as ever.
It was a year when President Trump pushed out three of his own Cabinet officers over ethics concerns: Secretary David Shulkin at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Ryan Zinke at Interior and Administrator Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Shulkin ran into trouble first, over the winter. Lawmakers faulted him for vacationing, on the government's tab, in between two important conferences. He was apologetic, telling a House committee, "I do recognize the optics of this are not good. I accept responsibility for that."
Colorado GOP Rep. Mike Coffman snapped back at that: "It's not the optics that are not good. It's the facts that are not good."
Besides the travel issue, another factor was at play here. Shulkin had been resisting as the administration pushed to privatize some veterans services. He told NPR after his dismissal that political adversaries in the White House kept him from defending himself (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/29/597866101/fired-va-secretary-says-white-house-muzzled-him)in the travel scandal.
Trump's nominee to succeed Shulkin was an unlikely pick: the president's personal physician, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson.
He withdrew when senators started questioning (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/26/605471807/dr-ronny-jackson-withdraws-as-va-nominee) his professional behavior, including accusations that he oversaw a hostile work environment and of alleged malfeasance. Finally Trump himself ushered Jackson out the door by bad-mouthing the job. He told reporters, "Adm. Jackson, Dr. Jackson is a wonderful man. I said to him, what do you need it for?"
Meanwhile, Pruitt set off more than a dozen ethics investigations (https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/594078923/scott-pruitt-out-at-epa). Among the issues: flying first class against federal regulations; using his 24-hour security detail — itself an unusual arrangement for Cabinet officers — to run errands or take him across town with sirens and lights going; constructing a soundproof booth built in his office, costing $43,000; and even trying to buy a used mattress from Trump's hotel near the White House.
Pruitt, in an interview with Ed Henry of Fox News, said he was under attack because he was so effective. With the changes he brought to EPA, he said, "worldviews clash. Individuals don't like it, particularly the environmental left. Those groups had their reign at this office and this agency before we arrived. That's clearing the swamp."
After Pruitt's departure, the most intensely investigated Cabinet member was Zinke. Allegations against him included the use of a federally chartered airplane for nonofficial travel and possible conflicts of interest in a land deal between a foundation founded by Zinke and a development project involving the chair of the oil services company Halliburton (https://www.npr.org/2018/06/22/622441793/emails-raise-questions-about-interior-secretary-zinkes-link-with-oil-executive).
Zinke's final error may have come in late November. Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat, wrote that Zinke should resign immediately, and Zinke tweeted about Grijalva, "It's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle," without explanation.
Zinke sent the tweet Nov. 30. Trump announced Zinke's resignation Dec. 15. Grijalva is expected to become chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department, in January.
Law professor Kathleen Clark, who studies ethics in government at Washington University in St. Louis, said the procession of problematic appointees, combined with the administration's other ethical problems, lead to a clear conclusion: "The tone from the top in this administration is quite clear. And it's contempt for ethics standards.