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BREAKING: President-elect Trump picks Goldman Sachs president & COO Gary Cohn to be National Economic Council Director - @NBCNews

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) December 9, 2016

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Why Donald Trump’s ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ return is another questionable business decision

Ethics experts point to a number of red flags.

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A brief rundown of Trump’s appointments

Labor: donor Treasury: donor Commerce: donor Deputy Commerce: family donor Education: party donor SBA: donor

— Adam Smith (@asmith83) December 8, 2016

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Trump Names Big Donor (And Minimum Wage Opponent) As Labor Secretary

From the AP: 

“President-elect Donald Trump is expected to add another wealthy business person and elite donor to his Cabinet, with fast-food executive Andrew Puzder as labor secretary.”

The Californian was one of Trump's earliest campaign financiers, serving as a co-chairman of his California finance team and organizing fundraisers well before most major donors got on board with the eventual Republican nominee. Together with his wife, Puzder contributed $150,000 in late May to Trump's campaign and Republican Party partners, fundraising records show.

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If he keeps a stake in his company, persistent questions about whether he is acting in the country’s interest or his business interest will be “unavoidable.

Republican elections and ethics lawyer Jan Baran on Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest, in this New York Times story about how he’s not doing nearly enough to address the many questions. 

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Trump raises millions for transition

He appears cool to a suggestion that he kick off his inauguration with a Fifth Avenue parade, then board a helicopter atop Trump Tower and fly to Washington.

“Close to 1,000 people crowded into the elegant midtown Manhattan restaurant for the $5,000-a-head fundraiser, including billionaire investor and commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross and Mark Burnett, the creator and executive producer of Trump's reality show, ‘The Apprentice.’ The audience included a strong showing of Washington lobbyists who have flocked to support the transition, despite Trump's denunciations of lobbyists on the campaign trail.”

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As Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Scott Pruitt let energy company donors treat his office like their own lobbying firm to protect their profits at the expense of the health of American families. Whether it’s appointing big donors to his cabinet, or special interest acolytes to government agencies, the swamp Trump pledged to drain is starting to overflow.

Every Voice’s David Donnelly on Trump’s appointment of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. 

Pruitt has received thousands of dollars over the years from the executives and PAC of Devon Energy, the company mentioned in the New York Times article that highlighted his work on their behalf. He’s received hundreds of thousands more from the energy interests.

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Donald Trump Nominates Another Major Donor for Administration Position

President-elect Donald Trump announced yesterday that wrestling executive Linda McMahon was his choice to lead the Small Business Administration.

McMahon donated $2,700 directly to Trump’s campaign and $6 million to a super PAC supporting him. Before he ran for office, McMahon and her husband Vince donated $5 to Trump’s controversial family foundation.

The appointment isn’t the first major donor to get a nod, as Buzzfeed reported late last week. 

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December 2, 2016 -- A campaign finance watchdog group sent new evidence to the Federal Election Commission on Friday to support its call for an investigation into whether President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign illegally coordinated with super PACs.

“A campaign finance watchdog group sent new evidence to the Federal Election Commission on Friday to support its call for an investigation into whether President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign illegally coordinated with super PACs.”

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Appointing big donors and Wall Street-types to your administration isn’t draining the swamp, it’s feeding the alligators.

Adam Smith, Communications Director at Every Voice, on Donald Trump’s big money cabinet. Buzzfeed.

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Holy conflict of interest! The firm holding Trump's debt may be up for sale.

Would you want to buy up a US president's debt?

Does Vladimir Putin want to buy any of Trump’s debt?

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Trump’s Swamp #1: What You Can Do To Fight Back

President-Elect Donald Trump said he'd "drain the swamp" in Washington, but so far he seems more interested in feeding the alligators. We're starting a new regular newsletter so you can join us in fighting back against Trump's attacks on our democracy. In every issue, we'll provide a few short updates on what's going on and how you can take action. Here's the first issue. If you'd like to get this in your email, sign up here.

1. A full and total shutdown. This week, Trump tweeted that he'd be moving to address his numerous conflicts of interest, but it's not simply enough to hand the business over to his kids. He has to divest entirely and put his money in a blind trust that's not controlled by his children.

What you can do: Sign our petition that we'll deliver to him. "Americans deserve a president who is accountable only to them, not to his businesses or foreign business partners. Tell Donald Trump to sell off his business and put it in a true blind trust so he can't be bribed or corrupted by foreign governments or corporate interests."

2. Landing teams are corporate launch pads. The "landing teams" for Trump—his aides who go to government agencies to ensure a smooth transition—are filled with corporate interests, Public Citizen reported this week. Nearly three in four members of these teams "have some corporate affiliation or work for corporate-backed think tanks. More than a dozen of the landing team members are former lobbyists."

What you can do: tweet this quote: "We are witnessing the wholesale takeover of government by an extremist faction of the corporate class."

3. Foreclose on families, allow big donors in the cabinet. Trump has selected his top fundraiser as his pick for Treasury Secretary, a man with a history of hurting hard-working Americans to line his pockets. In fact, his bank tried to take away the home of a 90-year-old Florida woman because of a 27-cent payment error.

What you can do: Share this post on Facebook. "Foreclosing on a 90-year-old woman over 27 cents and other heartwarming tales from Steven Mnuchin's days at OneWest."

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Trump might be a dream come true for megarich campaign donors

Dark money helped elect him. And now the "rigged" system could get even worse.

“Political money, in other words, is flowing freely in ways not seen since the pre-Watergate era. And there is little evidence to suggest President Trump has any interest in fixing the system.”

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Rep. Tom Price investments raise conflict of interest questions

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of health and human services, Tom Price, could have conflicts of his own.

Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services is Rep. Tom Price, whose "stock portfolio includes investments in pharmaceutical, medical device, and health insurance companies, the heart of the industries he would be overseeing as secretary" and "[s]ome of these same companies donated to Price’s campaign."

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The New York Times and Bloomberg News have new visualizations of Trump’s many conflicts of interest that he’s taken action to get rid of.

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Duterte just named Trump's business partner in the Philippines as his envoy to Washington. https://t.co/e40eNC0Ipk https://t.co/GQFIKawu6H

— Adam Smith (@asmith83) December 2, 2016

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The three latest nominees tapped by President-elect Donald Trump were major financial backers of his White House campaign.

Washington Post, “What do Trump’s latest Cabinet nominees have in common? They all represent big money that backed him.” November 30, 2016.