Elizabeth Warren's letter to Donald Trump
President-Elect Donald J. Trump
During your campaign for President of the United States, you railed against "powerful
special interests" that have "rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive
benefit." 1 You excoriated trade deals that you described as "mortal threat[ s] to American
manufacturing" and "disaster[ s] .... pushed by special interests. "2 You promised that you would
"not be controlled by the donors, special interests and lobbyists who have corrupted our politics
and politicians for far too long,"3 and that you would "drain the swamp"4 in Washington D.C.
And you won election largely on the strength of these promises.
The American people are watching to see if you were sincere in your campaign promises
to look out for the interests of working families, rather than the interests of the rich and powerful.
Now it is time to live up to those promises. Unfortunately, you already appear to be failing.
Within days of your election, you have elevated a slew of Wall Street bankers, industry
insiders, and special interest lobbyists to your transition team. Even more are rumored to be
named as potential cabinet members. Based on public reports, your transition team and your
potential cabinet include over twenty Wall Street elites, industry insiders, and lobbyists making
decisions that could have huge implications for their clients or employers. They include, among
many others, a former Goldman Sachs executive who is rumored to be a Treasury Secretary pick;
a paid consultant for Verizon who is making key decisions on your administration's Federal
Communication Commission; a "top lobbyist" whose firm lobbied on behalf of issues related to
the Trans-Pacific Partnership who is shaping your Labor Department; and a climate-change denying,
oil industry-paid think tank fellow who is leading your environmental team's transition.
If you truly stand by your commitment to making government work for all Americans -
not just those with armies of lobbyists on payroll - you must remove the lobbyists and financial
bigwigs from your transition team and reinstate a group of advisors who will fight for the
interests of all Americans. Maintaining a transition team of Washington insiders sends a clear
signal to all who are watching you - that you are already breaking your campaign promises to
"drain the swamp" and that you are selling out the American public.
The remainder of this letter provides additional detail on the members of your transition
team that raise concerns because they appear to have worked for or are working for special
interests instead of the American people.
-more-
http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/2016-11-15-Trump_Letter.pdf