A recipe for corruption

 

PREVIOUSLY LOST IN SPAM FOLDER!

April 2, 2022

NEW FROM POGO Introducing: The Continuous Action We’re excited to announce a new podcast from former director of the Office of Government Ethics (and POGO’s own) Walt Shaub and seasoned journalist and host of Trumpcast and This is Critical, Virginia Heffernan. The Continuous Action is a podcast miniseries exploring the labor of democracy. In their own words, they’re going in search of the government our nation deserves. Tune in for spirited discussions on everything from voting rights and whistleblowers to government surveillance. Listen to the trailer for a sneak-peek of what’s to come. This week, Politico reported on the influence the former CEO of Google has on a key White House office. Eric Schmidt’s foundation, Schmidt Future, indirectly paid the salaries of two employees in the White House Office of Science and Technology. At the same time, more than a dozen officials in the small office have worked with Schmidt previously.   So a tech billionaire who sits on the boards for several tech companies, is helping fund a White House office and is close to several staffers there. Even if this is technically legal, it still raises a lot of ethical red flags. It’s problematic for powerful individuals with ties to the tech industry to influence a government office that advises the president on tech policy.   If you’re not outraged enough already, here’s a detail that caught our eyes. A Schmidt Futures staffer, while working as an unpaid consultant for the White House office, secured funding from the foundation so that he could bring a new staffer into the White House. One ethics official in the White House raised concerns about the move, but the process proceeded anyway.   It’s a troubling display of industry influence over a federal agency. As this Vox piece points out, it raises serious questions about why the White House Office of Science and Technology takes funding from a foundation backed by a tech industry official who could benefit financially from the office’s policy recommendations — it’s a recipe for corruption. ANALYSIS A Potential Watershed Moment on Supreme Court Ethics Clarence and Ginni Thomas’s conduct was egregious. Supreme Court ethics reform is about more than just them. Read More ANALYSIS COVID-19 Test Giveaway a Potential Conflict for USPS’ DeJoy Postmaster General Louis DeJoy could profit off the Biden administration’s COVID-19 test kit giveaway — and could be violating a federal ethics law.  Read More ANALYSIS POGO Urges Congress to Stop Contract Pricing “Whack-a-Mole” Implementing a robust sanctions policy toward Russia but failing to fix anti-money laundering loopholes in the U.S. financial system is like fighting an adversary with one hand behind your back. Read More TESTIMONY Congress Should Act to Improve FOIA As Congress discusses FOIA, POGO highlights existing issues impacting the law and suggests ways to improve the system for requesters and promote greater access to information. Read More OP-ED TransDigm’s ‘excess profits’ on defense contracts reveal costly loopholes in the law This kind of wasteful spending does nothing to enhance our national security. It only fleeces hard-working Americans. Reform is long overdue. Read More in Cleveland.com LETTER Letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Body-Worn Camera Program Coalition urges CBP to amend its body-camera to ensure it serves as a tool of accountability for the largest law enforcement agency in the U.S. Read More OVERHEARD WATCHLIST Senior Policy Analyst Sean Moulton talks about instances of waste, fraud and abuse in the distribution of federal pandemic relief funds on C-SPAN. ONE LINERS “Outsiders are not subject to government ethics rules or the government’s transparency requirements. They may put their own interests before the American people, and we have no way of knowing how that changes outcomes.” Walt Shaub, Senior Ethics Fellow, in Vox   “I think the program that has justifiably gotten the most attention for the level of fraud that we've seen, and potentially waste, would be the Paycheck Protection Program.” Sean Moulton, Senior Policy Analyst, on C-SPAN   “People are trying to use the [Supreme Court] to effectuate change that they are not able to do at the electoral level.” Sarah Turberville, Director of The Constitution Project at POGO, on the Black Agenda Podcast

pogo.org The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.

Project On Government Oversight 1100 13th Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 United States