Powerful GOP House Oversight Chair Threatens to Investigate Federal Ethics Watchdog Critical of Trump

Congressman Accused of ‘Outrageous Thuggish Behavior’

In a troubling sign of the times the powerful Republican Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is going after the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and its director, Walter Shaub. 

Shaub weighed in on Donald Trump’s plan, announced this week, to ensure his businesses do not pose a conflict of interest. Shaub, an attorney who has worked in at least five different federal government offices, called Trump’s plan “meaningless” and “wholly inadequate.” He is far from alone, as many ethics experts agree Trump’s plan is a sham.

Apparently, however, criticizing it was enough for Chaffetz to threaten Shaub.

“He seems to be acting prematurely at best, without doing investigations or thorough looks,” Chaffetz said, according to Politico. “He’s rendering opinions publicly that really cause you to scratch your head. We need the Office of Government Ethics to act ethically. Ironically, that’s not what they’re doing,” Chaffetz claimed.

Rep. Chaffetz penned a harsh letter to Director Shaub, accusing him of possibly “blurring the line between public relations and official ethics guidance” by making public statements and using his office’s Twitter account to weigh in on what Trump should do.

He also appeared to threaten to close down the Office of Government Ethics, writing the OGE’s “statutory authorization lapsed at the end of fiscal year 2007 and the Committee has jurisdiction in the House of Representatives for reauthorizing the office.”

Before the election, Chaffetz himself used his Twitter account to make a stunning public statement, promising to vote for Donald Trump because, he suggested, Hillary Clinton is worse, and “bad” for America:

As the election neared, Chaffetz threatened Clinton, promising to continue to investigate her, saying, “we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up.”

And even after Clinton lost the election, Chaffetz refused to stop his witchhunt, promising to continue to investigate Clinton even though she’s now a private citizen.

In late November House Democrats urged Chaffetz to investigate President-elect Trump’s huge conflicts of interest and vast inappropriate actions even before taking office.

To that, Chaffetz has been silent.

Some responses via Twitter:

 

Image by Don LaVange via Flickr and a CC license 

You can respond directly to Jason Chaffetz by sending your comments to him on Twitter: @jasoninthehouse or via his official government website.
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