Trump may have committed “serious” ethical violations by giving three officials including his close personal aide Natalie Harp cash gifts of $45,000 each, according to a former White House “ethics czar”, as a watchdog group called for an investigation.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics over the US president’s handouts to a handful of staff, arguing that an investigation is “clearly warranted”.
Norm Eisen, who was a special counsel to Barack Obama for ethics and government reform, said the payments were a possible breach of regulation 18 USC 209, a federal conflict of interest statute that prohibits the US government’s executive branch employees from receiving payment beyond their salary for performing their official duties.
Possible breach? Looks like an obvious breach.
The White House has denied that they represent a breach of ethical codes.
But Eisen said the denials strained credibility. “It appears to raise the most serious issues under 18 USC 209, which prohibits supplementation of income,” he said. “The White House denies that these payments represent income supplementation but that is hard to believe under the circumstances.”
How is 45k added to your salary not income supplementation? It ain’t income diminution, now is it.
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