Whitaker’s Conflicts Grow: He Accepted $1.2 Million From A Dark Money Group

Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker is unconstitutional and raises many questions of Trump’s intent to interfere in the Mueller investigation. If that weren’t enough, since his appointment we’ve learned even more about Whitaker’s potential conflicts of interest serving at the Department of Justice.

 

Whitaker accepted $1.2 million from an undisclosed, dark money political organization. What was Whitaker being paid to do?

 

New York Times: “Matthew G. Whitaker, the acting attorney general, was paid more than $1.2 million in the past few years by a group active in conservative politics that does not reveal its donors, according to financial disclosure statements released Tuesday. The disclosure raised questions about who Mr. Whitaker’s financial patrons had been before he joined the Justice Department last year and whether he might have any undisclosed conflicts of interest.”

 

On multiple occasions, Trump tried to interfere and pressure Whitaker to investigate Clinton.

 

CNN: “President Donald Trump on multiple occasions raised with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Matt Whitaker, who was then-chief of staff to Jeff Sessions, whether the Justice Department was progressing in investigating Hillary Clinton, according to a source familiar with the matter.”

 

Whitaker may have violated the Hatch Act by taking donations from politically connected donors to his Senate campaign while working at DOJ.

 

New York Times: “Mr. Whitaker also faced new questions on Tuesday about donations to his unsuccessful 2014 campaign for a United States Senate seat in Iowa. Mr. Whitaker’s campaign committee received four donations totaling $8,800 this year, a few months after he joined the Justice Department, records show. Executive branch officials are generally prohibited by a federal law, the Hatch Act, from knowingly soliciting or accepting campaign donations.”

 

Whitaker’s placement as acting attorney general was unconstitutional, and Senate Democrats are suing to block him from serving.

 

Daily Beast: “A group of Senate Democrats is suing to block Matt Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general on grounds that his placement in the post was unconstitutional.”

 

Senate Democrats are seeking answers from DOJ about whether Whitaker shared confidential information about Mueller’s investigation with Trump.

 

Senator Schumer: “Did Matthew Whitaker share confidential information about Mueller’s investigation with President Trump? @TheJusticeDept Inspector General must investigate now.”