Government Ethics director ordered controversial tweets praising Trump, email reveals
Andrew Couts and Dell Cameron — Dec 30 at 2:14PM
U.S. Office of Government Ethics Director Walter M. Shaub personally ordered an OGE official to post a series of controversial tweets praising President-elect Donald Trump for his claimed efforts to reduce conflicts of interest, the Daily Dot has learned.
Emails obtained by the Daily Dot through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show Shaub approved the exact wording of the tweets and asked for them to be posted to the official OGE Twitter account.
The out-of-character wording of the tweets, which included words like “Bravo!” and “Brilliant!” sparked an uproar in the political press for an enthusiasm that some interpreted as mocking Trump’s signature bravado and, in particular, his use of “Sad!” in his own tweets.
Reporters from NBC News, USA Today, and up to 32 other media outlets immediately requested information from OGE about whether its account had been hacked. Twitter also reached out to OGE a few hours after the tweets were posted out of concern that the account might've been breached by hackers.
“Hello can you explain the tweets on your account praising President-Elect Donald Trump for divesting his business interests?” an evening news producer at CBS News wrote in an email to OGE. “Was your account hacked?”
In a statement to the Daily Dot and other media outlets, Seth Jaffe, who heads the agency’s ethics law and policy department, assured that the tweets were intentional.
“Like everyone else, we were excited this morning to read the President-elect's Twitter feed indicating that he wants to be free of conflicts of interest. OGE applauds that goal, which is consistent with an opinion OGE issued in 1983,” Jaffe said. “Divestiture resolves conflicts of interest in a way that transferring control does not. We don't know the details of their plan, but we are willing and eager to help them with it.”
more:
http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/oge-trump-tweets-walter-shaub/
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