SOTU FACT SHEET – President Trump: Failing Hard-Working American Families with Rampant Corruption & Cronyism
Leading up to President Trump's State of the Union on Tuesday, February 4th, our office is sending out a series of reports entitled "President Trump: Failing Hard-Working American Families," on President Trump's record since he took office in 2017 and how his claims match up with reality. This is one of those reports.
PRESIDENT TRUMP PROMISED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT HE WOULD DRAIN THE SWAMP, HOWEVER HIS ADMINISTRATION IS THE MOST CORRUPT IN MODERN HISTORY, AND HE HAS CONSISTENTLY PUT HIS PERSONAL AND POLITICAL INTERESTS AHEAD OF THE COUNTRY'S.
The abuses of power for which President Trump were impeached were unprecedented in American history, but his use of the federal government for his personal and political gain has been the defining characteristic of the Trump presidency.
THE FACTS: PRESIDENT TRUMP ABUSED HIS POWER, IMPEACHED BY THE HOUSE FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, AND OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS
- On December 18, 2019, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors, and obstruction of Congress.
- President Trump betrayed his oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" and defied the public's trust. He abused his office to advance his scheme and then ordered the categorical and indiscriminate obstruction of the impeachment inquiry.
- "We're fighting all the subpoenas." – President Trump [4/24/2019]
- Dozens of subpoenas were ignored including 12 key witnesses who were blocked by the President.
- 71 requests for documents from the Trump Administration and all requests for information from the President were ignored.
- Trump has established a pattern of corruptly soliciting foreign interference into our elections to benefit his reelection.
- President Trump confessed to abusing his office for his own personal, political purposes – and indicated that he would do it again. And when he got caught, he tried to cover it up – finding ready accomplices in Republicans who voted to block additional witnesses and relevant material in the Senate trial.
- "Honestly, we have all the material. They don't have the material." – President Trump [1/22/2020]
- No other President in American history has abused his office to undermine our elections, and in so doing, jeopardized our national security and betrayed our Constitution.
THE FACTS: TRUMP'S PRESIDENCY HAS BEEN RIDDLED WITH SCANDAL SINCE DAY ONE
●Trump-Russia investigation led to 37 indictments (34 individuals, 3 Russian businesses) – with seven guilty pleas and five people sentenced to prison (including the president's long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen)
●Treasury Secretary Mnuchin refuses to disclose how much money the Secret Service is spending on presidential travel until after the 2020 election
●Trump's grown children (Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka, Jared) profiting handsomely in private businesses around the world – whether its real estate transactions, selling clothing and jewelry, or securing difficult to obtain trademarks in China.
●Defense Department refuses to cooperate with House oversight investigations into US military spending taxpayer dollars suddenly at Trump Turnberry, the President's Scottish resort
●Trump Administration attempt to host the 2020 G-7 Meeting at Trump National Doral, the President's resort in Miami, Florida
●Jared Kushner's continued personal relationship with Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman even after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi
●White House Security Clearances scandal
●Misuse of millions in taxpayer dollars by HHS Secretary Tom Price, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, VA Secretary David Shulkin,Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao
●Multiple investigations into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's actions during his tenure
●Barbaric policy of separating children from their families at the southern border and the Trump Administration's failure to reunite these families
●Trump Administration's callously insufficient response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico
●Trump Inaugural Committee under federal investigation
●Trump sharpies an official Hurricane Dorian projection map and then forces NOAA officials back him up despite evidence to the contrary
●Trump Organization investigated for violations of Constitution's emoluments clause (hotels, golf courses, undocumented workers)
●Improprieties at the Trump Foundation
●Trump University Investigated for Fraud.
●The more than two dozen women who have accused the President of sexual misconduct, including several who are actively suing him still today.
THE FACTS: PRESIDENT TRUMP'S CABINET STOCKED WITH INDUSTRY LOYALISTS AND LOBBYISTS
According to the Associated Press, "In less than three years, President Donald Trump has named more former lobbyists to Cabinet-level posts than his most recent predecessors did in eight, putting a substantial amount of oversight in the hands of people with ties to the industries they're regulating."
- Education Secretary: Betsy DeVos, founder of American Federation for Children – a pro-school voucher and charter school organization
- Interior Secretary: David Berhnardt, former oil and gas lobbyist
- Former Acting Defense Secretary: Patrick Shanahan, former Senior Vice President of Boeing
- Defense Secretary: Mark Esper, former Raytheon lobbyist
- EPA Administrator: Andrew Wheeler, former coal industry lobbyist
- HHS Secretary: Alex Azar, former President of Eli Lilly USA
- U.S. Trade Representative: Robert Lighthizer, former lobbyist for U.S. steel companies
THE FACTS: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ROCKED BY RECORD TURNOVER…
- President Trump's Administration is marked by record turnover in the executive office as well as at the Cabinet level.
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, National Security Adviser (2/13/2017) | Nadia Schadlow, Dep. National Security Adviser (4/11/2018) |
Katie Walsh, White House Dep. Chief of Staff (3/30/2017) | Maj. Gen. Waddell, Dep. Natl. Security Adviser (4/12/2018) |
John McEntee, President Trump's Personal Aide (3/12/2018) | Joseph Hagin, Dep. Chief of Staff (6/19/2018) |
James Comey, FBI Director (5/9/2017) | Scott Pruitt, EPA Administrator (7/5/2018) |
K.T. McFarland, Dep. National Security Adviser (5/19/2017) | Don McGahn III, White House Counsel (8/29/2018) |
Mike Dubke, WH Communications Director (6/2/2017) | Nikki Haley, UN Ambassador (10/9/2018) |
Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary (7/21/2017) | Jeff Sessions, Attorney General (11/7/2018) |
Reince Priebus, White House Chief of Staff (7/28/2017) | John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff (12/8/2018) |
Anthony Scaramucci, WH Communications Director (7/31/2017) | Nick Ayers, Chief of Staff to Vice President (12/9/2018) |
Ezra Cohen-Watnick, Sr. Intel Director, NSC (8/2/2017) | Ryan Zinke, Interior Secretary (12/15/2018) |
George Sifakis, Dir. of WH Office of Public Liaison (8/18/2017) | Gen. Jim Mattis, Defense Secretary (12/20/2018) |
Steve Bannon, Chief Strategist (8/18/2017) | Raj Shah, Principal Deputy Press Secretary (1/5/2019) |
Sebastian Gorka, Adviser (8/25/2017) | Brock Long, FEMA Administrator (2/13/2019) |
Keith Schiller, Director of Oval Office Operations (9/20/2017) | Heather Wilson, Air Force Secretary (3/8/2019) |
Tom Price, HHS Secretary (9/29/2017) | Bill Shine, Deputy COS for WH Communications (3/8/2019) |
Dina Powell, Dep. National Security Adviser (12/8/2017) | Linda McMahon, SBA Administrator (3/29/2019) |
Omarosa Newman, WH Public Liaison Office (12/13/2017) | Kirstjen Nielsen, DHS Secretary (4/7/2019) |
Carl Higbie, Chief of External Affairs for CNCS (1/18/2018) | Randolph Alles, Director of Secret Service (4/8/2019) |
Brenda Fitzgerald, CDC Director (1/31/2018) | Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General (5/11/2019) |
Rob Porter, White House Staff Secretary (2/7/2018) | Kevin Hassett, Chair CEA (6/2/2019) |
David Sorensen, White House speechwriter (2/9/2018) | Sarah Huckabee Sanders, WH Press Secretary (6/13/2019) |
Rachel Brand, Assoc. Attorney General (2/9/2018) | Fiona Hill, Sr. Dir. for Europe & Russia, NSC (6/17/2019) |
Gary Cohn, Director of National Economic Council (3/6/2018) | Patrick Shanahan, Acting Defense Secretary (6/18/2019) |
John McEntee, President Trump's Personal Aide (3/12/2018) | William McGinley, DAP & Cabinet Secretary (6/28/2019) |
Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State (3/13/2018) | Alex Acosta, Labor Secretary (7/12/2019) |
Andrew McCabe, FBI Dep. Director (3/16/2018) | Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence (7/28/2019) |
Rick Dearborn, White House Dep. Chief of Staff (3/18/2018) | Jason Greenblatt, Envoy for Middle East Peace (9/5/2019) |
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, National Security Adviser (3/22/2018) | John Bolton, National Security Adviser (9/10/2019) |
David Shulkin, VA Secretary (3/28/2018) | Kevin McAleenan, Acting DHS Secretary (10/11/2019) |
Hope Hicks, WH Communications Director (3/29/2018) | Rick Perry, Energy Secretary (10/17/2019) |
Michael Anton, NSC Spokesperson (4/8/2018) | Richard Spencer, Navy Secretary (11/24/2019) |
Thomas Bossert, Homeland Security Adviser (4/10/2018) |
- Max Stier of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that specializes in federal government management describes the impact of this constant churning: "The disruption is highly consequential…When you lose a leader, it has a cascade effect throughout the organization."
… AND VACANCIES
- According to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that tracks political appointments in the federal government, there are 234 vacancies in positions that require Senate confirmation. Among the positions without confirmed appointees are the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the Director of National Intelligence.
- The Trump Administration has failed to put forward any nominee for 174 of these positions.
MANY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NOMINATIONS HAVE BEEN WITHDRAWN OR DEFEATED IN THE SENATE, AMONG THEM:
- Mina Chang – Assistant Administrator for USAID
- Rep. John Ratcliffe– Director of National Intelligence
- Patrick Shanahan– Defense Secretary
- Heather Nauret – UN Ambassador
- Christopher Sharpley – CIA Inspector General
- Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson– VA Secretary
- Kathleen Hartnett White– Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
- K.T. McFarland– U.S. Ambassador to Singapore
- David Jonas– Energy Department General Counsel
- Scott Garrett– President of the Export-Import Bank
- Michael Dourson– Assistant EPA Administrator
- Sam Clovis– Under Secretary of USDA
- Rep. Tom Marino– Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
- David Clarke – Assistant DHS Secretary
- Mark Green– Secretary of the Army
- Andrew Puzder– Labor Secretary