FBI Director Kash Patel purchased $15,000 to $50,000 in Krispy Kreme stock on May 9, 2025, at a decade-low price of $3.17 per share, while the FBI was actively investigating the ransomware group ‘Play’ responsible for a major Krispy Kreme data breach that exposed personal data of over …
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel released a comprehensive investigative report documenting that 13 senior Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act prior to the 2020 election, with the violations characterized as demonstrating “willful disregard for the law” and occurring …
The Department of Health and Human Services launched a $300 million advertising campaign called “Defeating Despair” to promote the Trump administration’s COVID-19 response, with the effort conceived by political appointee Michael Caputo and timed to air before the November …
President Trump delivered his Republican National Convention acceptance speech from the White House South Lawn before 1,500 attendees in an unprecedented use of federal property for a partisan campaign event, culminating four days of systematic Hatch Act violations that transformed the White House …
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech to the Republican National Convention from a hotel rooftop in Jerusalem during an official diplomatic trip to the Middle East, becoming the first sitting Secretary of State to address a party convention in modern history. The U.S. Office of Special …
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf presided over a naturalization ceremony in the White House Cross Hall that was orchestrated specifically to create content for the Republican National Convention, with the footage broadcast that evening as part of the RNC programming. The U.S. Office of …
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated the Hatch Act at an August 24, 2020 event in Mills River, North Carolina, related to the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. During the official USDA event attended by President Trump, Perdue told the crowd that people lined up along the motorcade route …
The Interior Department Inspector General opened an investigation into Secretary David Bernhardt’s California water policy decisions that benefited Westlands Water District, his former lobbying client. The investigation examined whether Bernhardt violated ethics agreements by influencing new …
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unless they backed President Donald Trump’s false claim that Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama. Ross called acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs on September 6, …
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel issued an extraordinary recommendation that White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway be removed from federal service for repeated Hatch Act violations, calling her conduct “egregious, notorious, and ongoing.” Special Counsel Henry Kerner, himself a Trump …
The Commerce Department Inspector General found that Secretary Wilbur Ross lied to Congress about multiple issues, including the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census and his divestment of Navigator Holdings stock. Ross twice told Congress the addition of the citizenship question was …
The Senate confirmed David Bernhardt as Interior Secretary on April 11, 2019, by a vote of 56 to 41 despite extensive conflicts of interest from his career as an oil and gas lobbyist. A Center for American Progress analysis determined Bernhardt had the dubious distinction of being the most …
The HUD Office of Inspector General investigated allegations that Secretary Benjamin Carson used his office for the personal benefit of his son, Benjamin Carson Jr., a federal contractor, by allowing him to participate in official Department matters including a June 2017 HUD “listening …
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma spent more than $5 million in taxpayer funds on Republican-connected communications consultants to boost her personal profile, according to a July 2020 HHS Inspector General report. The 15-month investigation concluded that …
President Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin on March 28, 2018, after an Inspector General report found he improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon tennis matches and allowed taxpayers to pay for his wife’s travel on an 11-day European trip in July 2017 costing at least …
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel sent a report to President Trump recommending disciplinary action against White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway for violating the Hatch Act during television interviews where she promoted Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and attacked Democratic candidate Doug …
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spent $31,561 on custom-made dining room furniture for HUD Secretary Ben Carson’s office in late 2017, in apparent violation of federal law requiring Congressional approval for department head office redecoration costs exceeding $5,000. The …
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed through the Paradise Papers investigation that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. maintained a stake in Navigator Holdings, a shipping firm that received millions of dollars annually from a Russian gas company whose …
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a government jet to take him and his wife Louise Linton on their honeymoon to Scotland, France, and Italy in summer 2017, sparking an inquiry by the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General. The highly unusual request for a U.S. Air …
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton took a government plane to Louisville and Fort Knox, Kentucky on August 21, 2017, ostensibly for official business but coinciding with viewing the total solar eclipse. Mnuchin viewed the eclipse from the lawn of Fort Knox alongside Senate …
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined that White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino violated the Hatch Act when he used his position to call on Trump supporters to defeat Republican Congressman Justin Amash in a primary election. Although Scavino posted the tweet from his personal …
U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), the longest-serving Republican senator in history and former President Pro Tempore, was indicted on seven felony counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms. The indictment alleged that Stevens knowingly failed to report receiving more than …
Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), former Senate Majority Leader, abruptly resigned from the Senate effective 11:30 PM on December 18, 2007, explicitly timing his departure to avoid the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. The new ethics law, taking effect January 1, 2008, would have required a …
Center for Public Integrity investigation revealed that from January 2000 through June 2005, lawmakers and aides accepted at least 90 trips worth approximately $145,000 from sponsors matching firms registered to lobby the federal government. Analysis of privately funded congressional travel showed …