SHADOWS OF SECRECY BEGIN TO SPREAD ACROSS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Source: AP
Sep 17, 3:10 AM EDT
SHADOWS OF SECRECY BEGIN TO SPREAD ACROSS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
BY LAURIE KELLMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- There are cracks in the curtains President Donald Trump tried to draw around the government early in his presidency, but the slivers of light aren't making it easier to hold federal officials accountable for their actions.
Trump still refuses to divest from his real estate and hotel empire or release virtually any of his tax returns. His administration is vigorously pursuing whistleblowers. Among scores of vacant senior jobs in the government is an inspector general for the Department of Energy - led by Secretary Rick Perry, former governor of Texas - as it helps drive the region's recovery from Hurricane Harvey.
Rebuilding from the deadly storm seems certain to be a $100 billion-plus endeavor involving multiple federal departments and an army of government contractors. If the ghosts of Katrina, Sandy and other big storms are guides, the bonanza of taxpayer dollars is a recipe for corruption. And that makes transparency and accountability all the more critical for a president who has bristled at the suggestion of either one.
"This is an administration that wants to do things their own way and a president that wants to do things his own way," said Rick Blum, director of News Media for Open Government, of which The Associated Press is a member. (Trump) is frustrated by the institutions our founders established. And he's going to have to learn that the public deserves a free and independent press."
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUNSHINE_YEAR_WASHINGTON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-09-17-03-10-43
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at odds with each other. Unfortunately all of them are bad and although all of them do have one thing in common - RW so called "Christians" with the exclusion of t-rump and family who are opportunists and are just as evil as the GOPs.
The USA is in the middle of these fractions.
dump doesn't want transparency because his modus operandi is to operate as a criminal conman, in secrecy.
Plus, since he made off with 17 million in Federal funds for "hurricane damage" to Mar-A-Loco in 2005, he knows that there will be ample opportunity during the rebuilding to reward cronies and punish opponents.
I only hope the press holds him accountable and can get enough information to expose a massive clusterf*ck in the making.
Oh, the irony of the morans voting for him because they believed he would "drain the swamp." Of course, they won't care as the GOPee criminals gather to loot the Treasury.
