TalkingPointsMemo: OGE To Direct Staffers’ Legal Defense Funds To Bar Anonymous Donations

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The acting director of the Office of Government Ethics said Thursday that he will maintain the watchdog’s practice of directing legal defense funds established for employees of the executive branch to bar contributions from anonymous sources.

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Walter Shaub, the former OGE director who resigned after Trump took office, also criticized a “lack of transparency” in the new legal advisory from Apol. In a series of tweets, he noted that OGE did not make it clear whether it will require funds to publicly disclose their donors, nor did it publicize any guidance for who can be a funds’ trustee, among other issues.

The advisory stated that the legal defense funds must comply with certain gift rules, which Shaub noted bar contributions from a source who is donating because of the beneficiary’s official position.

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