President Donald Trump has a history of blasting Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s team of prosecutors, labeling them as “Angry Democrats.” While Mueller himself is a Republican, Trump has pointed to political contributions that many of the other prosecutors have made to Democrats in the past. The latest such attack came in a Friday morning tweet storm, when he referred to donations made to Hillary Clinton‘s campaign.
Of course, a past political contribution to a particular candidate on its own doesn’t mean anything, as Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, pointed out. Shaub pulled campaign contribution records to prove it. While members of Mueller’s team may have donated to Hillary Clinton in the past, so did some other notable people—like Trump himself.
Campaign contributions don’t create conflicts of interest. Do your followers know you donated to Hillary Clinton? pic.twitter.com/zfpzylwrpb
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 7, 2018
Shaub also posted records showing that the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, also gave to Clinton, and her husband Jared Kushner donated to Democrat Cory Booker in 2013.
“Do these donations create conflicts of interest for them, Mr. Trump?” Shaub asked. “Or does that only happen when you don’t like someone?”
Know who else donated to Clinton? Ivanka Trump.
Guess who Jared Kushner donated to in 2013? Cory Booker.
Do these donations create conflicts of interest for them, Mr. Trump? Or does that only happen when you don’t like someone? pic.twitter.com/x7m04ExaAh— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 7, 2018
Trump may dismiss these past donations from his family members and himself as being motivated by business interests instead of political ideology, but that’s part of the point Shaub is making. People make contributions for a variety of reasons, and the fact that they made them is not proof that they are somehow compromised in their current role.
In fact, Shaub pointed out that donations are “legal activity that Congress encourages.”
What‘s a modest political donation by a federal official? It is legal activity that Congress encourages. It reveals a viewpoint, but people who don’t make donations have viewpoints too. A modest donation tells you nothing about the service a Fed provides. https://t.co/E96NtGx3JM pic.twitter.com/QT3C1dh39r
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 7, 2018
He cited 5 U.S. Code § 7321, which says:
It is the policy of the Congress that employees should be encouraged to exercise fully, freely, and without fear of penalty or reprisal, and to the extent not expressly prohibited by law, their right to participate or to refrain from participating in the political processes of the Nation.
“A modest donation tells you nothing about the service a Fed provides,” Shaub said.
[Image via MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images]
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