Trump: Manipulates Policies for His Own Personal Gain and Financial Benefit

Good advice from history’s smartest man

(Unlike some self-identified “stable genius”)

Sick irony of how Trump manipulates government agencies that could prove him and his policies harmful is this story from the NY Times. 

Highlights below to prove my point with this introduction:

WASHINGTON — A federal investigative office has found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the Trump administration was retaliating against a whistle-blower, Dr. Rick Bright, when he was ousted from a government research agency combating the coronavirus, and said he should be reinstated for 45 days while it investigates, his lawyers said.

The lawyers, Debra S. Katz and Lisa J. Banks, said in a statement that they were notified late Thursday (May 7) that the Office of Special Counsel (OLC), which protects whistle-blowers, had “made a threshold determination that HHS had violated the Whistleblower Protection Act by removing Dr. Bright from his position because he made protected disclosures in the best interest of the American public.” 

The two lawyers’ statement further said: “Dr. Bright should not be denied the right to have his complaint investigated fully and fairly before he is formally transferred to NIH — a move that will harm not only him, but the country as well. This country is in an unprecedented health crisis and needs the expertise of Dr. Bright to lead the nation’s efforts to combat Covid-19 (i.e., working to find a vaccine and cure, which he has skills to do).” 

Banks and Katz said: “It was a common occurrence for agencies to heed the OLC requests to stay personnel actions when it finds evidence that retaliation occurred.”  

For example: In its budget request to Congress for the 2021 fiscal year, the OLC reported negotiating 31 stays for removal with federal agencies in the last year and said: “It had achieved 27 disciplinary actions, upholding accountability and sending a clear message that the government does not tolerate whistle-blower reprisals.”

They also said Dr. Bright, who was reassigned to a narrower job at the NIH, had tried to expose “cronyism and corruption at HHS while pressing for a more robust coronavirus response and opposing the stockpiling of anti-malaria drugs championed by Trump.”

Now, the impact of this and the heart of the story vis-à-vis on how Trump manages his protection angle that I addressed above that he uses to skirt the law, rules, regulations, and such to save his own skin.

The OLC finding comes just days after the lawyers filed a whistle-blower complaint saying that Dr. Bright’s removal last month as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) was payback.

However, the OLC recommendation is not binding.

For example, a year ago, the same office said senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, should be fired for repeatedly violating legal prohibitions on using her position for political purposes (she was seen on TV wearing and hawking a bracelet sold by IvankaTrump). Trump ignored that OLC recommendation.

The impact of any non-binding OLC opinion: It is now up to the secretary of HHS, Alex Azar, to decide whether to let the special counsel investigate and send Dr. Bright back to BARDA. 

If Azar refuses, Dr. Bright’s complaint would ordinarily be sent to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), an independent quasi-federal agency that decides whistle-blower reprisal claims.  

But, the Trump Ploy: The Senate has not confirmed Trump nominees to the MSPB. That has left it without members to rule on Dr. Bright’s, or any other case. 

FYI: At the FAQ section of the MSPB someone asked: “Why the lack of members and what’s the overall impact?” And, guess what? The FAQ section has since been removed.

My 2 cents: Not much to add – this is a very comprehensive analysis of Trump and I believe more and more people have finally caught on to his shenanigans, con game, and anti-everything schemes like laid out above.

How all this translates into removing him from office in November remains to be seen – but know this: His slick schemes will go right into election night and if he loses expect a huge legal blowback and it will not be pretty – not one bit.

A related Trump 2020 scheme might very well be this one that I posted about here - FYI.

Thanks for stopping by.