White House Moves to Block Ethics Inquiry Into Ex-Lobbyists on Payroll -
By ERIC LIPTONMAY 22, 2017
The Trump administration, in a significant escalation of its clash with the government’s top ethics watchdog, has moved to block
an effort to disclose any ethics waivers granted to former lobbyists who now work in the White House or federal agencies.
The latest conflict came in recent days when the White House, in a highly unusual move, sent a letter to Walter M. Shaub Jr., the head
of the Office of Government Ethics, asking him to withdraw a request he had sent to every federal agency for copies of the waivers.
“I have never seen anything like it.”
Marilyn L. Glynn, who served as general counsel and acting director of the agency during the George W.
Bush administration, called the move by the Trump White House “unprecedented and extremely troubling.”
“It challenges the very authority of the director of the agency and his ability to carry out the functions of the office,” she said.
