Restore Public Trust led fight to root out unethical behavior by Trump’s Cabinet members

WASHINGTON – One year ago this week, accountability watchdog Restore Public Trust launched with the intent to root out corruption and demand transparency in the Trump administration. This week, to celebrate one year of accountability, the group released a video marking some of its top wins of 2019.

Watch the video here.

Restore Public Trust has put pressure on a number of Trump administration officials for corruption, malfeasance, and unethical behavior since its launch. Among its top successes are the following:

• Exposing Elaine Chao’s rampant corruption. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is the epitome of Washington’s political swamp. Restore Public Trust’s research has driven attention towards Chao’s favoritism toward Kentucky, the state her husband Mitch McConnell represents in the Senate (and where he will fight for reelection next year). The media has called out Chao’s abuse of her office to help bolster her family’s shipping company and to pad her own pockets. In September, the House Oversight Committee announced it would investigate Chao for her numerous potential ethics violations.

• Holding officials involved in family separation accountable. In response to Trump’s horrific family separation policy, Restore Public Trust publicly called on 500 of the nation’s top corporate leaders not to give officials involved in implementing the policy cushy jobs once they’ve left the administration. The group has not let up in its efforts, and in September, former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was integral in executing the harmful policy, canceled an appearance at The Atlantic Festival following widespread public blowback.

• Calling on the Trump administration to drop the citizenship question from the 2020 census. Restore Public Trust filed a lawsuit related to the lies Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Congress and the public about his decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The group applauded the House’s vote to hold Ross and Attorney General William Barr in criminal contempt of Congress, and soon after, the Trump administration decided to drop the census citizenship question entirely.

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