#ethics review

[learnprogress]

BREAKING: Government Ethics Office Drops Major Bomb on Ivanka and Jared.

Ivanka Trump may no longer be a part of the Trump family business—at least, not if she wants to keep being part of the new Trump family business of running the country. The bomb was dropped in a letter from the Office of Government Ethics and posted online by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

No one in the Trump Administration consulted the Government Ethics Office about Ivanka’s White House position. However, they say it appears that she is meeting the legal standards required from a government employee.

Of course, they won’t know whether or not she’s actually adhering to ethics guidelines until she complies to their current request for more information.

According to the letter posted online, Ivanka has some compliance issues to take care of. Within 30 days of her appointment to the White House, Ivanka must file disclosures detailing her finances, and the finances of her husband Jared Kushner and their children. She can get two 45-day extensions to provide this info, but that’s it.

Ivanka will also be required to file periodic reports showing her continuing financial situation for as long as she works in the White House. This includes an annual financial disclosure report.

The letter is a response to an official request filed by Sen. Warren and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE). It provides detailed information about what Ivanka will have to do in order to continue working in the White House.

The Trump Administration did not file paperwork with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) regarding Ivanka’s White House role, an unpaid position of undetermined status. Because they didn’t, Sens. Warren and Carper decided to raise the red flag on their own.

The rules of government ethics and the White House are pretty clear. Due to conflict of interest, White House appointees cannot participate “personally and substantially in particular matters directly and predictably affecting their financial interests.”

After receiving her financial disclosure, the OGE will determine whether or not Ivanka and Team Trump have complied with their guidelines.

As an actual employee of the White House, Ivanka must now follow ethics laws and guidelines. Because Ivanka still continues to own fashion and jewelry brands under her name, Senators Warren and Carper have raised questions about her ethics.

However, it’s not Congress who must keep Ivanka compliant with government ethics rules. It’s the White House’s job to monitor her compliance to ethics. Do you think the White House will do that?

POLL: Are Ivanka and Jared corrupt?

What’s your opinion? Do you think Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are violating ethics rules? Vote in our poll, and share your answer!

Ivanka’s appointment to the White House came as a surprise to the entire country. At first, the position was said to be voluntary. Now, she has her own office space but still no clear job title.

According to Team Trump, Ivanka will serve as her father’s “eyes and ears” in the White House, whatever the heck that means. Someone will have to clarify Ivanka’s position and make sure she is separating herself from her duties—whatever they are—to the country.

Why didn’t the White House report to the Office of Government Ethics on their own, and will Ivanka comply with their request? Share this story, and show everyone what’s really going on in the White House.

The post BREAKING: Government Ethics Office Drops Major Bomb on Ivanka and Jared. appeared first on Learn Progress.

from BREAKING: Government Ethics Office Drops Major Bomb on Ivanka and Jared.

[learnprogress]

BREAKING: Ethics Panel Opens Massive Investigation Into MAJOR GOP Leader. Arrest Him?

Trump puppet Devin Nunes is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Ethics committee. Nunes abused his power and disclosed classified information about Russiagate without authorization.

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes and his committee see many classified documents. These classified documents remain classified until the agency that made the original designation declassifies them.

Instead of following procedure, Nunes saw classified information and immediately ran to the White House to tell Donald Trump, the subject of the investigation, what he saw. He did so before any other members of the committee knew, which is a gross violation of House rules.

To make matters more damning, he also held a news conference to let everyone know what he did. It’s like he was proud of his rule-breaking ways.

Wow, what a dummy! Nunes had to know what he did was wrong since he was chairman of the committee. If he did not, then he does need to lead or be on the committee.

The fallout from fellow committee members caused Nunes to step aside from his committee chairmanship when Trump’s ties to the Russians is the topic of discussion.

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) decided to look at the matter. In a joint statement from House Ethics Committee Chairwoman Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) and the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Ted Deutch (Fla.), the committee stated that Nunes violated federal law.

Nunes violated the law when and Congressional rules when he held “a press conference where he announced that intelligence agencies incidentally collected information about associates of President Trump.”

Nunes pointed to the OCE investigation when he decided to step aside from the intelligence committee’s Russian investigation. His decision to step aside was that various left-wing groups as Moveon.org and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the OCE to investigate whether Nunes disclosed classified information.

MoveOn.org’s ethical complaint read as follows:

“The disclosure of this information by Chairman Nunes was evidently intended to try to lend some credence to President Trump’ claims that former President Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped — claims that have been repeatedly been shown to be absolutely baseless, as confirmed by FBI Director Comey in his testimony before Chairman Nunes’ own committee.

In his quest to assist President Trump politically, however, it appears that Chairman Nunes has committed serious violations of law and House Rules.”

“The charges are entirely false and politically motivated, and are being leveled just as the American people are beginning to the learn the truth about the improper unmasking of the identities of U.S. citizens and other abuses of power,” Nunes responded in a statement.

“I will continue to fulfill all my other responsibilities as Committee Chairman, and I am requesting to speak to the Ethics Committee at the earliest possible opportunity in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims,” Nunes said.

It appears that Nunes is in hot water on his ignorant disclosure of classified information. The OCE usually reviews complaints from outside organizations as MoveOn.org before launching an investigation and then passing the results to the House Ethics Committee.

In Nunes’ case, the Ethics Committee began its investigation without waiting for the OCE to take up the matter. It appears that Nunes and his career are both toast!

Devin Nunes has no business leading the House Intelligence Committee since he showed that he cannot be trusted with sensitive information. Paul Ryan must strip Nunes of his chairmanship and membership on all committees since he is a threat to national security and all ongoing investigations.

If you agree that Nunes is not competent to lead the House Intelligence Committee or to sit on Congress, please share this article on Facebook.

The post BREAKING: Ethics Panel Opens Massive Investigation Into MAJOR GOP Leader. Arrest Him? appeared first on Learn Progress.

from BREAKING: Ethics Panel Opens Massive Investigation Into MAJOR GOP Leader. Arrest Him?

[elptaxguardians]

Tommy Gonzalez Accidentally Unethical

Tommy Gonzalez Accidentally Unethical

Confused about what the ethics commission actually decided?  Well, you’re not alone, Tommy Gonzalez and his attorney are, too.  The Ethics Commission determined that Tommy Gonzalez violated the ethics policy regarding repaving streets in District 2 (Romero’s district) and installation of speed humps in front of Cathedral High School.

In order to understand what the Ethics Commission decided to do…

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[elptaxguardians]

Tommy Gonzalez Ethics Hearing Rescheduled To June

Tommy Gonzalez Ethics Hearing Rescheduled To June

According to the El Paso Times, Tommy Gonzalez’s ethics hearing has been rescheduled to June 1st.  According to documents released by the Ethics Commission in April, attorney Ross Fischer “found ‘clear and convincing evidence’ that Gonzalez violated city policies and procedures regarding streets resurfacing and the installation of speed humps in front of Cathedral High School.”

Gonzalez’s…

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[shaindyl]

MY ETHICS PROPOSAL WAS FINALLY APPROVED! WOOHOO!

[shaindyl]

The ethics proposal revisions have been uploaded so I am rid of the fucking thing for the next while at least. Good vibes for it passing ethics this time are appreciated.

[shaindyl]

Addendum to my earlier venting

I just got the loveliest email from the prof who’s going to be the second reader on my dissertation, who also happens to be a member of the Jewish community where I live. I sent her my ethics proposal several days ago just to keep her in the loop and she wrote me this evening to say how impressed she was with the work I’ve done and how important this is going to be to Canadian Jewish historical scholarship.

It was so good to have that validation after getting the ethics proposal back, I can’t even tell you.

[shaindyl]

fashionablyfrum

replied to your

post

:

I need to vent

Ugh, sounds AWFUL. Good luck!!

It is awful, and imho, far more onerous than it needs to be. The general consensus amongst most grad students and profs is that ethics boards need to justify their existence so they get excessively nitpicky. I’ve heard of proposals being sent back because they were stapled improperly. No joke.

BTW, you might find my dissertation topic interesting: I’m going to be gathering and analysing oral histories of Canadian Jewish women who were active in the war effort during WWII. I’m going to be interviewing women in Montreal and Toronto - I’m looking forward to it, but getting through this bloody ethics process is making me question it a little. I maybe should have gone with my other idea, which was a biography of one of the first rebbetzins on Holy Blossom around the turn of the 20th century. She had a fascinating life. But I’ll save that for a postdoc, should I survive to that point.