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Mark Meadows, talking to journalists outside the hearing, just said that President Trump "has a deep-rooted concern about corruption."
It's really hard to convey just how absurd that statement is.
It's really hard to convey just how absurd that statement is.
One of the first things Trump did in office was to weaken SEC regulations that required oil and gas companies to disclose bribes paid to foreign governments https://www.npr.org/2019/10/09/768134196/trump-says-hes-concerned-about-corruption-but-advocates-say-his-record-is-weak
The Trump administration has sought repeatedly to cut foreign aid programs tasked with combating corruption in a number of countries, *including Ukraine* https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/10/23/trump-administration-sought-billions-dollars-cuts-programs-aimed-fighting-corruption-ukraine-abroad/
Trump has railed against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for years, called for its repeal, and his administration might not be enforcing it vigorously https://www.npr.org/2017/11/08/561059555/trump-used-to-disparage-an-anti-bribery-law-will-he-enforce-it-now
Trump's company has probably violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal
In fact, the Trump Organization has probably violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in multiple countries https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-attempted-moscow-tower-other-partners
Trump's administration has been riddled with unprecedented ethics scandals, both in quality and quantity. Multiple cabinet members have left under a cloud of ethics scandals, at least one might be under criminal investigation. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/30/zinke-email-justice-energy-1627744
In just under three years in office, Trump has paid or been ordered to pay $27 million in legal settlements for fraud and charity-abuse.
This happened just last week https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-ordered-to-pay-2-million-to-charities-over-misuse-of-foundation-court-documents-say/2019/11/07/b8f804e2-018e-11ea-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html
This happened just last week https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-ordered-to-pay-2-million-to-charities-over-misuse-of-foundation-court-documents-say/2019/11/07/b8f804e2-018e-11ea-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html
Then there's the fact that Trump has refused to divest his stake in his company, opening himself to unprecedented conflicts of interest—allowing wealthy interests and foreign governments to personally enrich him while trying to influence him https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-conflicts-of-interest-tracking/
I could do this all day. The fact of the matter is that anyone claiming that Trump cares at all about corruption has the burden of proving so, against a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
