When the director of the Office of Government Ethics resigns because he cannot keep up with one administration’s violations, it’s clear that a serious problem is happening. Walter Shaub, the ethics director who served from 2013 until 2017 when repeated clashes with the Trump administration simply became too much for one man to handle, laid out just one week of Trump’s and the GOP’s ethics violations, and it’s stunning.
While impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to the Mueller probe is on most American’s minds, any violation of the public trust is an impeachable offense. On that note, Shaub laid out a significant number of violations committed by the president in just one week that would have had the GOP screaming for the impeachment of a Democratic president even if they were spread over an entire presidential term.
Trump endless violations of the emoluments clause, his efforts to pad his bank accounts as a benefit of the presidency, the massive cover-up job being done by his top law officials, and his endless lies are more than enough to violate the public trust. In fact, the public has no trust in Trump, and for good reason. His tendency to lie as easily as he breathes makes most Americans wary of believing anything he says. As a world leader responsible for the fate of every American citizen, that is a frightening concept.
The human rights violations, obvious crimes and attempts to cover them up, and multiple conflicts of interests across his presidential administration should get an equal amount of attention as the Mueller probe. It’s long past time to act and hold Trump accountable.
Twitter was in full agreement with Shaub. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
