Ex-ethics chief says Trump wants to defang office
He criticizes White House’s pick to head agency as a ‘cordial’ watchdog
The former director of the Office of Government Ethics accused the White House on Tuesday of moving to undercut tough enforcement of ethics laws by installing a friendly figure as acting head of the agency.
In an interview with Capital Download, Walter Shaub said an early test of the office’s independence could arise soon in a case involving the incoming White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci.
Shaub repeatedly clashed with President Trump and his administration when he served as the federal government’s top ethics watchdog, a job he left last week.
Working a few blocks away from the White House at a nonprofit advocacy group called the Campaign Legal Center, Shaub continues to be a thorn in Trump’s side, accusing the president of ignoring and abusing long-standing norms for ethical behavior.
He told USA TODAY’s video newsmaker series that the White House deliberately leapfrogged over the agency’s second-ranking official, Chief of Staff Shelley Finlayson, in favor of appointing general counsel David Apol as acting director.
“He may fulfill a lifelong ambition of loosening up the ethics program,” Shaub said of Apol.
Shaub said the two men disagreed on a series of conflict-of- interest issues and other questions.
Shaub said White House officials described their relationship with Apol as “cordial.”
“You don’t want a cordial watchdog,” he said. “You want a vigorous watchdog.”
Elizabeth Horton, a spokeswoman for the Office of Government Ethics, declined to comment.
The first big test, Shaub predicted, will be a request by Scaramucci for a certificate of divestiture, which would allow him to avoid paying a huge capital-gains tax bill on the pending sale of his stake in SkyBridge Capital, an organization of hedge funds that he founded in 2005.
“It would be incredibly inappropriate to issue a certificate of divestiture, and I think we should all watch to see what Mr. Apol does,” he said.
Shaub noted that the sale was announced in January, when Scaramucci planned to join the administration but before he had a specific job.
The ethics agency website’s explanation of the procedure — designed to avoid imposing a financial penalty if an official is forced to sell an asset to avoid a conflict of interest — underlines a provision that the certificate must be obtained before the sale takes place.
Scaramucci’s lawyer, Elliot Berke, said in an interview that the hedge fund owner moved to sell SkyBridge only because he planned to join the administration.
“It was clear from even before the inauguration that President Trump wanted Anthony Scaramucci to work for his administration,” Berke said. “The administration has been working with us, along with the relevant ethics officials, to find an appropriate place for him while we process the request for a certificate of divestiture.”
After waiting in limbo for months, then becoming chief strategy officer at the ExportImport Bank, Scaramucci was named Friday to become White House communications director next month.
Shaub said he had an encouraging phone call Monday with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
Gowdy urged Shaub to send a letter with his proposals to improve the ethics process.
Friday, Shaub is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club. He said he has some ideas for reporters on how to cover ethics issues.
“You don’t want a cordial watchdog. You want a vigorous watchdog.” Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics