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Welcome to Week 28 of the Revolving Door Project’s Corruption Calendar: the weekly roundup where we highlight new and egregious examples of corporate corruption in the Trump administration. Read our first twenty-seven issues here and follow us on Bluesky and X for updates.
In Week 26 of this newsletter, my colleague Timi Iwayemi highlighted how the present Trump-era is proving to be a boom time for the influence industry, writing that “corporate lobbyists, the quintessential venal Washington operatives, are laughing to the bank with the uptick in business since President Trump entered office.” Our lead story, which explores the latest palace intrigue at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, shows what happens when these MAGA-affiliated lobbyists hold sway over government officials: corporate interests triumph over robust law enforcement.
In addition to that story, this week includes many more examples of how the Trump administration’s wholehearted embrace of nonenforcement leaves us all more vulnerable to corporate malfeasance. Without any further ado, here are the weekly highlights:
Enforcing the Law? What Law?
MAGA Coup At The Antitrust Division. Trump’s pick to lead the Antitrust Division, Gail Slater, had some anti-monopolists hopeful that the Trump administration would take at least some populist antitrust action at the DOJ. To that end, back in January, the Antitrust Division filed to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The two companies are rivals, as both “make wifi systems for big campuses, like universities or corporations, and there are just three firms in the market.” But instead of following through on the challenge, the Antitrust Division later reversed course and settled the Hewlett Packard-Juniper case in late June. New reporting revealed that Slater wasn’t on board with the settlement, and she was overruled by Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, who negotiated with HPE’s Trump-friendly consultants. In the latest development, Slater’s two deputies were apparently fired on Monday, further undermining Slater’s ability to lead the Division. As David Dayen described, “The ouster showed that the pay-to-play gang is defeating the right-populists in a battle for control inside the government.”
- For more on the Trump Administration’s disinterest in enforcing antitrust law or cracking down on rogue corporations, check out Public Citizen’s regularly updated Corporate Enforcement Tracker.
Trump HUD Flushes Years-Long Housing Discrimination Investigations Down The Drain. Over the past seven years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development built seven cases looking into allegations that “that state and local governments across the South and Midwest illegally discriminated against people of color by placing industrial plants or low-income housing in their neighborhoods, and by steering similar facilities away from white neighborhoods.” One of the more prominent cases involved an asphalt plant near Flint, Michigan, whose communities famously faced a clean drinking water crisis for half a decade. Per ProPublica, in three of these cases, department officials had already found defendants to have violated civil rights related laws such as the Fair Housing Act.
However, as is exceedingly the norm in this Trump era, evidence of obvious wrongdoing is a mere inconvenience for an administration committed to nonenforcement of laws. That and well…the administration’s open embrace of white supremacist ideology presumably explains HUD’s decision to ignore mounds of evidence and close these cases. Tragically, this decision to preserve the legacy of environmental racism will leave communities across increasingly vulnerable to various forms of pollution. A concerning prospect with the likely coming explosion of data center development.
Welcome To PollutionMania!!! This week the Trump Administration handed yet another victory to the oil, gas, and coal industries. In a nearly 300-page proposal, Lee Zeldin’s Environmental Protection Agency outlined its unscientific case for revoking the 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, the foundation on which much of federal action to address the climate crisis rests. In simple terms, the Trump administration is making the legal argument—which will undoubtedly be litigated in the courts—that greenhouse gas emissions are not a threat to human health and wellbeing. And if the administration gets its wish in the courts, all future federal efforts to limit emissions and protect all of us from polluting industries are in serious peril.
ICE Circumvents HIPAA Laws To Kidnap Immigrants. Terrifying new reporting from 404 Media reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is leaning on confidential patient data to find new targets for deportation. According to their reporting, ICE agents have been using the ISOClaim search, which includes privileged information such as names, telephone numbers, addresses, and even license plates, to locate people to be detained. As Patrick Eddington and Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer point out in the Houston Chronicle, agents are sidestepping the need for a warrant, obtaining records from third-party clearinghouses and databrokers. This circumvention of normal processes threatens the health and safety of citizens and immigrants alike. Eddington and Singer describe it best: “Doctors have an ethical duty to protect patient confidentiality. When patients no longer trust that what they share stays private, they may withhold important information — or stay away entirely. That undermines doctors’ ability to diagnose and treat them. The danger isn’t just personal. If people with contagious, potentially deadly diseases avoid seeking care out of fear of ICE, they put all of us at risk. One infected, untreated person can spark an outbreak.”
The Trump Administration Continues To Take Care Of Its Allies…
Big Oil Gets (More Than) One Big Beautiful Tax Break. During the campaign, Trump promised to give oil barons like Kelcy Warren and Harold Hamm whatever they wanted if they gave him $1 billion in campaign donations. Now, according to new reporting from The New York Times, they are getting exactly what they want. As part of the now infamous One Big Beautiful Bill, Big Oil is raking in around $18 billion in tax breaks, reducing the amount of money that energy companies have to pay to drill on public lands, while delaying penalties for excessive methane emissions
Trump Continues To Shower The Crypto Industry With Gifts. According to The New York Times, the Trump administration is encouraging new crypto-friendly policies to help the controversial industry expand, announced Wednesday in a new report. The Times reported that the proposals were largely an elaboration of existing ideas “the White House had already backed, crystallizing the Trump administration’s permissive approach to crypto regulation.” This is yet another example of the Trump administration’s willingness to enact the regulatory wishlist of an industry that has so deeply captured our politics with its very deep pockets.
- For more about the crypto figures Trump is particularly close to, check out our Billionaires in Trump World tracker and our new visualization of Marc Andreessen’s crypto investments.
Trump DOJ Dismisses Fraud Case Against Donor. This week Bloomberg Law reported that the DOJ is shuttering a corporate fraud case against major Trump donor and ally Andrew Wiederhorn, a fast food mogul. According to Bloomberg, the founder and chairman of FAT Brands concealed $47 million that he took from FAT and its affiliate. Court filings show that the charges were all dropped without prejudice. The White House also fired the lead prosecutor on the case.
Notably, Wiederhorn donated almost $19,000 to Trump and other Republican entities during the 2024 election cycle, half of which came just weeks after his indictment.
Big Beautiful Billy’s Gift To Intuit Et Al. IRS chief Billy Long has said his agency will be ending the direct file tool despite its widespread popularity among Americans. (It’s a great tool, my colleague Dylan Gyauch-Lewis can attest.) According to CNBC, Long told attendees at a tax professionals summit that “Big beautiful Billy wiped that out. I don’t care about Direct File. I care about direct audit.” The tool allowed roughly 30 million Americans to file their taxes for free. Prior to the passage of Trump’s massive spending bill, tax prep companies like Intuit were spending millions in a lobbying blitz to get rid of the tool.
Trump Cronies Continue To Reap Rewards For Their Fealty. The daughter of Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivitia recently announced her new regional press secretary position on X. This is not Victoria LaCivita’s first communications position within the Trump administration, but it is another example of how Trump’s loyalists, and their families by extension, gain from loyalty to him.
…And Trump Himself
Trump Is Allegedly Using Taxpayer Dollars To Maintain His Qatari Bribe. Remember when President Trump accepted a plane from the Qatari government that was supposed to be the new Air Force One? Well, as The American Prospect’s Robert Kuttner highlighted, Trump is apparently using $934 million dollars to renovate and maintain the aircraft. While Trump denies that he owns the plane and claims that it belongs to the Department of Defense, Air Force One serves as a secure and mobile transport for the President. Additionally, the plan to donate the plane to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation when he leaves office means that, in effect, Trump got a free plane from the government of Qatar that he can use as Air Force One, maintain on the taxpayer’s dime, and keep after office. Just another example of how the oval office is a self-enrichment scheme for Mr. Trump.
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