Ethics in Government

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been scandal-plagued for years. Paxton’s most recent slate of scandals include his impeachment in May of 2023 – which resulted in his removal from office for more than three months – due to alleged bribe-taking and Paxton’s questionable relationship to Texas GOP mega-donor Nate Paul. Paxton was ultimately acquitted by the Texas State Senate, after his billionaire backers threatened to primary anyone who voted against him, leading to none of his impeachment articles receiving the 21 votes required to convict. Relatedly, Paxton was also previously accused of retaliatory firings relating to FBI whistleblowers, and the resulting $3.3 million settlement from that inquiry (a number that Paxton wanted Texas taxpayers to foot for him) is what triggered the impeachment inquiry in the first place. That money has not yet been approved by the Texas legislature, and its withholding re-sparked whistleblowers’ lawsuit against Paxton to continue in November 2023. 

Uncovering Crow’s and Leo’s full relationships with the Court is precisely the sort of scenario for which Congress has subpoena powers in the first place. As of now, these plutocrats have been able to scoff at the will of elected leaders. Durbin’s actions, or lack thereof, will inform whether history remembers this Congress as stepping up or shrugging off one of the greatest threats to the American legal system in our lifetimes.

In October of 2021, the Federal Reserve was embroiled in scandal. The heads of the Boston and Dallas Feds resigned following personal trading scandals that raised concerns about conflicts of interest and lax ethics guidelines. Further reports of potentially inappropriate trading by Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair Clarida rocketed across the business media due to these officials’ immense access to sensitive financial information and influence on monetary policy. Despite their decidedly questionable profiteering off pandemic panic, Powell and Clarida have since had their reputations effectively laundered by the media in a whitewashing effort that has attempted to clear them of all wrongdoing. To make matters worse, the Fed’s FOIA office is doing everything in its power to prevent internal documents relating to the scandals from reaching the light of day.

Accounting’s technical jargon makes the industry obscure to most Americans. It’s likely your next-door neighbor has no idea of the PCAOB’s activities, its responsibility to protect investors, or its history of negligence. That’s expected, but chair Williams is now working to turn the ship around to fix the shortcomings of one of America’s most consequential oligopolies, and it will improve the economic lives of an unaware public.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Waved Maloney Through Without So Much As A Whisper About His Connections To Coinbase, The Cryptocurrency Firm That Has Employed Him Since His Nomination Was Announced.

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) is a national organization dedicated to electing and reelecting state-level Republican Attorneys General. It is a partisan political  organization, but it also functions as a dark money influence machine selling access to AGs, their staff, and their offices. 

Demetrios Kouzoukas’s nomination battle offers the perfect opportunity for Democrats to prove themselves to voters.

Dissenting Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, meanwhile, warned that the agency’s approval of a vertically integrated crypto market threatens to open a Pandora’s box.

How the Grinchmaster General stole Christmas (and how to get it back).

RDP Founder and Executive Director Jeff Hauser joined The American Prospect’s Holiday Telethon to discuss airline regulation, ethics and good governance, and more.

We need a democratic process for appointing leaders of regional Fed banks.

RDP Senior Researcher Vishal Shankar joins the Ralph Nader Radio Hour to discuss Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s ongoing sabotage of the Postal Service.

CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam’s term doesn’t end until 2026, but there are rumblings of an early exit to the private sector. Place your bets where he’ll end up next!

The Revolving Door Project, A Government Ethics Watchdog, Alerts Media Of Possibility That CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam Is Considering Leaving Government To Cash Out In Private Industry