From the beginning, the Trump administration has been marked by self-enrichment and lavish spending, from EPA head Scott Pruitt’s wasteful first-class travel to HUD Secretary Ben Carson’s $31,000 dining room set.
In the April 13 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” Drew Courtney and Diallo Brooks sat down with Adam Smith, communications director of Every Voice, to talk about the Trump team’s spending scandals, its money-in-politics corruption, and what voters can do about it.
“This administration doesn’t feel like it should be accountable,” Adam said. “They just feel like they are above the law and they should not have to be accountable to constituents and the American people. This is an example that’s set from the top. From day one, Donald Trump has said, ‘ethics, norms, things like that don’t apply to me.’ So people below him think the same thing.”
Adam also outlined the ways that Trump appears to be directly violating the Emoluments Clause, or anti-bribery clause, of the Constitution.
For the Trump administration, Adam said, “self-enrichment and giving big donors and cronies whatever they want is the top priority—and it’s hurting everyday people.”
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