Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren ripped into President Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, in a scathing op-ed titled “My Plan to End Corruption,” published on Monday.
Citing Barry’s recent resignation as senior judge for the United States Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Democrat charged that Trump’s elder sister, who is 82, resigned to prevent an investigation into fraud allegations. Barry left her post earlier this year after serving on the 3rd Circuit’s highest court for 19 years as an appointee of President Bill Clinton.
Barry had previously served as a judge for the District Court of New Jersey beginning in 1983. Warren, who asserted that Barry’s departure was intended to end a federal investigation into the “Trump family’s decades-long tax schemes, including potential fraud,” linked to a New York Times story about Trump family finances from last year. The story asserts that Barry actively participated in manipulating her family’s fortune to avoid heavy taxes.
An investigation into the judicial conduct stemming from the alleged tax schemes began earlier this year. Having not heard cases in over two years, Barry filed her official retirement papers in April. As a retired judge, she is not subject to investigations into conduct.
“Under my plan,” Warren vows, “investigations will remain open until their findings are made public and any penalties for misconduct are issued.”
Warren’s campaign promise was part of a larger intention to “Close the loophole that allows federal judges to escape investigations for misconduct by stepping down from their post.” Warren also names former Appellate Judge Alex Kozinski and the contentious confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as evidentiary of judicial corruption.
“When Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski was confronted with a judicial ethics investigation for sexual misconduct towards young female law clerks, he resigned — and the investigation immediately ended,” Warren said. “Similarly, sexual assault and perjury complaints against Brett Kavanaugh were dismissed when he was confirmed to the Supreme Court, and Donald Trump’s sister Maryanne Trump-Barry resigned from the bench, ending an investigation into the Trump family’s decades-long tax schemes, including potential fraud.”
Warren also condemned conservative lawmakers for championing small government, seemingly holding them responsible for the failings of federal programs. “It’s true that right-wing politicians have spent a generation attacking the very idea of government,” she said. “But it’s also true that these days, our government doesn’t work for most people. Sure, it works great for the wealthy and the well-connected — but for everybody else, it doesn’t.”
Her plan also espouses “Medicare for all,” the ending of private health insurance, and universal childcare as necessary to end corruption in the U.S. government. But it is the president that she holds the most responsible for what she describes as a lack of trust in government.
“Make no mistake about it: The Trump Administration is the most corrupt administration of our lifetimes,” Warren stated. She ends her plan to end corruption in the White House with a promise that “big structural changes … will once again restore our trust in government by showing that it can work for all of us. And when I’m President, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
