Tag
Mechanisms for monitoring and checking government power, including congressional oversight, inspectors general, the GAO, and judicial review. Incidents involve the dismantlement or circumvention of these accountability structures.
4 incidents
Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general across the federal government without the advance notice to Congress that the Inspector General Act generally requires, and a later federal ruling said the notice failure violated the statute.
Systematic destruction of the government oversight apparatus: 17 inspectors general fired, heads of the Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics removed, whistleblower retaliation cases up 9x at DOE, and federal employees reporting fear of speaking up or reporting wrongdoing.
The State Department IG's report, released in September 2020, found that Pompeo had used department staff and resources for personal and political purposes in violation of federal regulations. Staff described being directed to walk Pompeo's dog, pick up his dry cleaning, make restaurant reservations, and run other personal errands. Susan Pompeo, who had an official role as diplomatic spouse, used State Department resources for what the IG characterized as non-official events. At least 17 dinners charged to the State Department were found to include politically-oriented guests or personal guests rather than serving diplomatic purposes. Pompeo had fired IG Steve Linick in May 2020; Linick said the firing was retaliation for the investigation. Pompeo denied wrongdoing.
The four soldiers — Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. La David Johnson — were killed in an ambush 12 days before Trump publicly acknowledged their deaths. Trump's delayed response and his disputed call to Johnson's widow — in which witnesses say he told her her husband 'knew what he signed up for' — became a national controversy. Trump denied the account. The incident also exposed the extent of U.S. military operations in Africa that Congress had not been notified about.