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Sarbanes Statement on Trump Administration’s Disclosure of Ethics Waivers

June 1, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) issued the below statement today after the Trump Administration – responding to intense public pressure – finally disclosed ethics waivers for several top White House officials:

"Candidate Trump claimed that he would bring change to Washington and promised to ‘drain the swamp' of special-interests and big-money lobbyists. Today, we learned that President Trump has done just the opposite, appointing numerous high-powered, corporate lobbyists to key White House positions and exempting them from conflict-of-interest rules. This is more proof that President Trump's pledge to ‘drain the swamp' was a con, designed to deflect attention from what would become his swamp-monster Presidency. In the days ahead, as we learn more about the Trump Administration and its army of big-money lobbyists, the Democracy Reform Task Force and House Democrats will demand the President explain why he is breaking his promise to the American people."

Additional waivers to lobbying and conflict-of-interest rules are expected to be announced in the coming days and weeks as the Trump Administration is forced to comply with disclosure requests from the Office of Government Ethics and Congressional inquiries.

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