Trump frees former assistants from ethical promise and ban on lobbying

In one of his last acts of office, President Donald Trump exempted current and former members of his government from the provisions of their ethical promise, which includes a five-year ban on their former agencies.

The ethical promise was set out in one of Trump’s first executive orders, signed on January 28, 2017, as part of his campaign promise to ‘drain the swamp’. This required Trump’s political appointments to agree to the lobbying ban, as well as to promise not to undertake work that would require them to register as a “foreign agent” after leaving government. Trump’s order authorized the attorney general to investigate any breaches of the ethical promise and, if necessary, to file civil lawsuits.

Trump signed the one-page repeal of the order on Tuesday, and it was released by the White House shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, hours before his term ended.

The new order reads: “Employees and former employees who are subject to the obligations in Executive Order 13770 will not be subject to those obligations after the afternoon of 20 January 2021.”

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President Bill Clinton signed a similar order with weeks left on his last term, allowing former assistants to start lobbying immediately after leaving office.

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