“President Trump greatly appreciates his supporters & donors; however, unlike politicians of the past, he is not bought by anyone & does what’s in the best interest of the country,” Danielle Alvarez, a spox for the #Trump transition, ridiculously said in a statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.”

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #donors #power #billionaires #appointees #favors

On the list are #LindaMcMahon & #HowardLutnick, who served as co-chairs of the transition & were subsequently appointed as the secretaries of #education & #commerce, respectively. #SteveWitkoff, #Trump special envoy to the #MiddleEast, donated, as did #StanleyWoodward Jr., the third-ranking official in the #DOJ. #DominickGerace II, who was sworn in as the #USattorney for the Southern District of Ohio in August, is also listed as a donor.

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #billionaires

At least 3 of the entries on the list matched names of Washington #lobbyists, but their identities could not be confirmed. Lobbyists with those names did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening. Because the list did not include addresses, hometowns or professions, it was not possible to confirm the identity of many other individuals described as #donors.

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #Trump #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited

Prior administrations, including Trump’s in 2016, signed that agreement, which in addition to the disclosure obligation caps individual donations at $5,000 & bars #foreign contributions. By declining to sign, the second #Trump transition sidestepped those strictures & presumably could accept far larger contributions.

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #donors #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited

Almost exactly 1 yr ago, #SusieWiles, now serving as Trump’s chief of staff, described the decision not to sign the #GSA agreement as a way to “save taxpayers’ hard-earned money”🤨. At the time, she also pledged to disclose the names of #donors & to ensure that no noncitizens contributed….

#Trump had reported raising $6.5M for his first presidential transition, all from private donations under the $5k cap. In 2021, President Joe #Biden disclosed $22.1M in contributions to his transition.

#USpol

#Watchdog groups had raised alarm about the lack of #transparency surrounding the most recent #Trump transition, noting that by not revealing who was contributing—& how much they had chipped in—it was nearly impossible for the public to know about #ConflictsOfInterest or #PayToPlay arrangements.

#law #government #corruption #donors #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited

“They claimed they were saving taxpayers money, but what they were doing was hiding the ball about who is buying the #government,” said Max Stier, the president of the nonpartisan nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which promotes best practices in the federal government & runs the Center for Presidential Transition.

#law #corruption #PayToPlay #Trump #donors #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited

Last week, that group released a report on the #Trump transition that criticized it for “significant departures from established norms,” noting that it started late & relied heavily on a handful of outside think tanks, chiefly the #HeritageFoundation & the #AmericaFirstPolicyInstitute, to develop policy & hire personnel for the new administration.

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #donors #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited
https://presidentialtransition.org/reports-publications/lessons-learned/

The report called on #Congress [good luck] to create laws requiring transitions to disclose the names of #donors who give over a threshold amount as well as to publicly account for spending by the transition, which it said would “create public scrutiny that encourages the transition team to police itself tightly against conflicts of interest.”

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #Trump #power #billionaires #appointees #favors #DarkMoney #CitizensUnited

The transition organization, formally known as #Trump Vance 2025 Transition Inc., was incorporated in Florida & registered with the #IRS as a type of non-charitable nonprofit. As such, it does NOT have to pay #taxes, but cannot give its donors a tax break for their gifts.
By law, it must file an annual report with the IRS showing what it raised & how it spent its money, though it is not required to disclose #donors’ names. That report must be provided to the public upon request.

#law #DarkMoney

3 of the #donors also gave to Trump’s inaugural fund. #LindaMcMahon & #PaulSinger each donated $1M, while #MarleneRicketts, the wife of the founder of #TDAmeritrade, contributed $1.1M. In total, #Trump raised a record $250.4M for his inauguration, more than 2X the amount raised for his first one.

#HowardLutnick was also a donor to the $300M White House #ballroom construction project, acc/to a list disclosed last month.

#law #government #corruption #PayToPlay #power #billionaires #DarkMoney