Ethics Issues
1989
1989 Trump called for the reinstatement of the death penalty and paid for full-page advertisements in several New York City newspapers. For context, in 1989 five Black and Latino boys were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/central-park-five-trump.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/nx-s1-5108632/central-park-five-trump-debate
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/22/why-are-the-central-park-five-suing-donald-trump
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1779055166234356
https://entertainmentnow.com/news/central-park-five-donald-trump/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case
2008
2008-07-01 Justice Samuel Alito – the person who helped overturn Roe v. Wade – took luxury fishing trips with GOP mega donors Leonard Leo and Paul Singer. Alito wrote an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal claiming ProPublica misleads its readers and that he didn’t have to report on the luxury trip. After the trip, Alito did not recuse himself from a case before the Supreme Court involving Paul Singer, or from a 2023 tax case involving an attorney who interviewed him for articles in the Wall Street Journal. It wasn’t until 2026 when Alito did recuse himself from an oil industry case due to a discovered conflict with his ConocoPhillips stock.
https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court
https://fixthecourt.com/2026/01/alito-recusal/
2009
2009-05-30 In 2009 Republicans pissed their pants over the Obamas attending a Broadway play, yet in 2025 through 2026 they took little accountability for:
~~~ JD Vance pressuring the Army Corps of Engineers to release river water for his birthday,
~~~ Kash Patel using a government jet to visit his girlfriend numerous times,
~~~ Kristi Noem spending $250M in taxpayer money to fund a selfie-campaign disguised as ICE commercials,
~~~ Trump destroying the White House for his ballroom,
~~~ The Trump administration stealing of SNAP funds from children,
~~~ The Trump administration spending billions and trillions in taxpayer money to fund an elective war in Iran,
~~~ Trump suing the DOJ and making taxpayers give him $230M,
~~~ Trump sending $40B in American taxpayer dollars to fund Argentina,
~~~ DOGE firings that cost American taxpayers roughly $135B,
~~~ Forcing American taxpayers to fund rich private schools while cutting funding to public schools,
~~~ Passing tariff costs onto American taxpayers,
~~~ Charging American taxpayers $125M to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War,
~~~ Forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for a lawsuit Trump filed with the IRS and Treasury for $10B, or
~~~ Rerouting $8B in national emergency funds into building the border wall.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/30/RNC-slams-Obama-Broadway-date-night/75081243725725/
https://newschannel9.com/news/entertainment/on-broadway-obama-takes-a-bow-mocking-republicans
2020
2020-12-19 Trump posted on social media “Big protest in D.C on january 6th Be there, will be wild!”
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-december-19-2020
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-january-6-univision-town-hall/
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/january-6-committee-hearing-trump-extremists/
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/7/13/trump_summoned_mob_after_unhinged_meeting
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62140410
2021
2021-01-17 An upside-down flag was spotted hanging outside Samuel Alito’s Virginia home, and an “An Appeal to Heaven” flag was hanging outside his second home in New Jersey. Both versions of the flag displays have been associated with ultra right-wing Christian Nationalist causes.
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2022
2022-03-29 Kash Patel published a politically biased children’s book called “The Plot Against The King”, featuring “Hillary’s horrible plot” against Trump, fake heralds, and “Komey’s spying slugs”.
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5213692
2022-04-10 The House Oversight Committee investigated a $2B Saudi Arabia investment into Jared Kushner’s firm (Trump’s son in law).
2023
2023-09-15 Starting as early as 2023, multiple articles have been published about an alleged open affair between Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski.
2024 March
2024-03-06 A news article reported about a podcast from this date where, RFK allegedly boasted about his friendships with multiple sex offenders.
https://www.rawstory.com/rfk-jeffrey-epstein/
2024 August
2024-08-12 Trump used the Epstein “Lolita Express” to fly to campaign events.
https://x.com/MiamiHerald/status/1823099687538184446
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1514436049193330
2024 November
2024-11-29 News outlets reported that Pete Hegseth’s own mother wrote him a letter back in 2018 accusing him of being an abuser, then later defended her son and apologized for the letter December of 2024.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/30/politics/pete-hegseth-mother-email-new-york-times
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/04/congress/pete-hegseth-mother-email-00192546
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseths-mother-email-defense-secretary-donald-trump/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-hegseths-mother-accused-005200776.html
2024 December
2024-12-23 The House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz.
https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Committee-Report.pdf
2025 January
2025-01-29 During a confirmation hearing, Bernie Sanders asked RFK why his non-profit Children’s Health Defense is selling anti-vax propaganda onesies for infants on their website.
2025 February
2025-02-10 Trump fired the head of the independent Office of Government Ethics David Huitema.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-office-of-government-ethics-director/
2025-02-14 New York US Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned after refusing to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams per order of Pam Bondi who wanted Sassoon to quash the federal indictment as a favor to Trump.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyz4lm4q1mo
2025 May
2025-05-09 During a press conference, reporters asked Karoline Leavitt about Trump meeting business contacts in the Middle East, to which Leavitt berated the reporter for asking, stating it was “frankly ridiculous” that anyone “would suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit” and further stated that this administration holds itself to the “highest of ethical standards”.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1022049649537020
2025-05-21 Saudi Arabia gifted Trump with a luxury jetliner.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/14/politics/video/trump-plan-accept-qatari-jet-digvid
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/14/world/video/qatar-pm-becky-anderson-trump-luxury-jet-digvid
2025 June
2025-06-02 Iraqi war vet Hagan Scotten resigned rather than follow an order from Bondi to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/fb-14401037/Read-Resignation-Letter-Hagan-Scotten.html
2025 July
2025-07-11 Pam Bondi fired the Justice Department’s top ethics advisor Joseph Tirrell. For context, Joseph Tirrell wanted to investigate Kash Patel for accepting luxury gift items from Connor McGregor because accepting those luxury items violated the FBI ethics codes.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-justice-department-purge-top-ethics-adviser/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/attorney-general-pam-bondi-fires-top-justice-department/story?id=123746598
2025-07-16 Several senators proposed the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to prevent presidents from using their presidential library as a tool for corruption and bribery.
2025 August
2025-08-06 Carolina Amesty, an elected official in Florida was charged by the Justice Department for taking over $100,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds. She hired Pam Bondi’s brother Brad Bondi. In August 2025 the DOJ dropped all charges against her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9200it2zr9s&list=WL&index=5
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/windermere-woman-charged-covid-relief-fraud
2025-08-19 Trump promoted Eric Schmitt’s book on Truth Social “The Last Line of Defense - How to Beat the Left in Court”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115057235181892448
2025-08-28 Real-estate developer Sid Chakraverty was charged with illegally claiming millions of dollars in tax incentives. Pam Bondi’s brother Brad Bondi was on his defense team. In August 2025 the DOJ dismissed charges against him. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/operators-lux-living-and-big-sur-construction-and-chief-accountant-indicted-wire-fraud
https://abcnews.com/US/doj-drops-charges-client-ag-pam-bondis-brother/story?id=125073335
2025-08-28 The Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the UN Review of Human Rights Record, stating it would not participate in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review. The ACLU issued a press release calling this an attempt to evade accountability.
2025 September
2025-09-18 During an interview, the Israeli Minister said Gaza would be a “real-estate bonanza” after the war. An article quoted Smotrich saying he started negotiations with the US on how to divide Gaza, claiming there was a business plan sitting on Trump’s desk, and declaring the “demolition phase” was complete.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/18/middleeast/israel-smotrich-gaza-land-intl
2025-09-20 Footage from 2024 was uncovered of Tom Homan accepting a $50K bribe from FBI agents in exchange for securing government contracts. The Trump administration shut down the investigation. As MAGA loyalist Megyn Kelly put it on a Truth Social post, MAGA does not care if Tom Homan took a bribe or not.
https://x.com/megynkelly/status/1969520771115385206
2025 October
2025-10-12 In response to the scandal involving Tom Homan caught on tape accepting a $50K bribe, JD Vance buckled down in an interview with ABC George Stephanopoulos, stating, “George, you’ve covered the story ad nauseum. Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear…”. He repeatedly circumvented the question and refused to answer or confirm the bribe that was caught on tape.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/12/jd-vance-george-stephanopoulos-00605032
2025-10-24 Open AI announced plans to sell erotica to boost sales. For context, AI has a massive environmental impact. It is also unregulated at the demands of the Trump administration.
https://apnews.com/article/ai-erotica-chatgpt-openai-sam-altman-d52e00cedf34a8120af7af66981da295
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2025/10/15/openai-chatgpt-erotica-sam-altman/86716163007/
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/15/erotica-coming-to-chatgpt-this-year-says-openai-ceo-sam-altman.html
https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117
https://hbr.org/2024/07/the-uneven-distribution-of-ais-environmental-impacts
2025 November
2025-11-03 Against judge orders, Trump refused to release contingency funds for SNAP benefits. He also refused to dip into other pots to fund the $8B needed to continue benefits through November, stating he would only release partial funds but that it “could take months”. Unrelated but for context on the US economy at this time, we had just paid $20B in bailouts to Argentina, meanwhile the US reached a record high in national debt, and the president had just thrown a massive Great Gatsby party for his billionaire friends.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-defies-court-snap-ruling
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/g-s1-96296/trump-deadline-contingency-funds-snap
2025-11-03 Despite judge rulings, the Trump administration announced they will restart SNAP benefits but will only pay out half the amount people normally get.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/nx-s1-5596121/snap-food-benefits-trump-government-shutdown
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-partially-fund-snap-months/story?id=127138175
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/04/trump-snap-funding-shutdown-food-aid-00635141
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/politics/trump-administration-supreme-court-snap-benefits
2025-11-03 News outlets reported that Kash Patel lashed out after they uncovered his use of a government jet to visit his 26-year-old girlfriend. Right after the story was uncovered, Patel fired 27-year veteran for the FBI critical incident response group Steven Palmer. For context, one of the tasks of the critical incident response group is to oversee the fleet of jets.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/02/fbi-fires-top-official-kash-patel-jet-use
2025-11-18 In a lawsuit between the International Association of Cruise Lines and the State of Hawaii, the cruise line was challenging a new tourism tax on ships that stop in Hawaii. They hired Brad Bondi as their lawyer. The DOJ intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the cruise lines.
https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/DOJ-seeks-intervene-CLIA-lawsuit-against-Hawaii
https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/DOJ-seeks-intervene-CLIA-lawsuit-against-Hawaii
https://abcnews.com/Politics/dems-call-probe-troubling-pattern-legal-wins-pam/story?id=130945630
2025-11-18 The White House rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi crowned prince to discuss Trump family investments in Saudi Arabia, AI chips, nuclear energy, and the Abraham accord to name a few. For context, this leader was investigated for the brutal murder and dismembering of a Washington Post journalist.
https://thehill.com/homenews/5610821-trump-white-house-red-carpet-saudi-crown-prince-photos/
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5608100/saudi-prince-white-house-visit
https://apnews.com/article/trump-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-505b32527e58d4bd49d5bc917efb4936
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khashoggi
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/world/middleeast/trump-family-business-saudi-arabia.html
2026 February
2026-02-01 News outlets reported on the Trump family cryptocurrency business World Financial selling 49% of its crypto to Emirati royal family.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/trump-uae-crypto-deal
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/01/trump-uae-crypto-world-liberty-financial/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/spy-sheikh-stake-trump-crypto.html
2026-02-03 French prosecutors raided Elon Musk’s X office as part of investigations into allegations of CSAM material produced by GROK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3ex92557jo
2026-02-24 Kash Patel used the FBI jet and taxpayer money to fly to Italy for the Olympics.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/politics/kash-patel-fbi-jet-use-explained
2026 March
2026-03-05 Pam Bondi attempted to limit ethics probes into DOJ lawyers.
2026-03-14 After Trump brokered a deal to sell TikTok to Larry Ellison, the Trump administration gained a $10B transactional payout, which is 70% of the company’s $14B worth.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/business/trump-tiktok-10-billion-fee.html
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5787721-trump-equity-stakes-companies/
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/18/nx-s1-5648844/tiktok-deal-oracle-trump
2026-03-25 House GOP leaders blocked a motion to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over his venture capital firm investing in a rare earth mineral company months before it received a $620M loan from the Pentagon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFkuH7GRX8&list=WL&index=1&t=388s
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/donald-trump-jr-subpoena.html
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-jr-subpoena-blocked-by-republicans-11738454
2026-03-26 Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote that $1.5B in S&P 500 futures were sold minutes before Trump announced a 5-day pause on attacking Iran. On X, Senator Murphy wrote, “…let me say it again – a $1.5B bet, bigger than any futures purchases made at the time, 5 minutes before Trump’s post. Who was it? Trump? A family member? A White House staffer? This is corruption. Mind blowing corruption”. Dozens of million-dollar bets were being made on the prediction market platform PolyMarket about Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFkuH7GRX8&list=WL&index=1&t=388s
https://www.commondreams.org/news/traders-bet-trump-iran
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5798756-murphy-trump-oil-iran-insider-trading/
https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/2036277990489764135
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/commodities/articles/senator-chris-murphy-calls-1-103700373.html