Ethics watchdogs and Trump critics pounce on ‘very sketchy’ release of Matthew Whitaker’s financial disclosure forms

Because of that, the left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Justice Department for all versions of the forms, a list of staff who reviewed and approved them, and any communication by staff about the forms and delays in certification.

“This is very, very sketchy and something that I presume will be the subject of significant oversight come January,” wrote Dan Pfeiffer, former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, on Twitter in response to the FOIA request.

Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in the Obama administration, said there is something “VERY rotten” going on.

“DOJ told us they were ‘working on’ our request but it turns out what they were working on was CHANGING Whitaker’s reports — multiple times. We don’t know what they added, deleted or modified. But we’re going to pursue that information,” said Shaub, who is a senior adviser to CREW.

On Wednesday, the watchdog group American Oversight called on multiple federal offices to open investigations into Whitaker’s forms.

One complaint was submitted to the Office of Special Counsel alleging potential violations of the Hatch Act, and the other was sent to the Office of Government Ethics and the Department of Justice’s Ethics Office, alleging a failure to disclose.

Whitaker was and still is the only creditor of his 2014 U.S. Senate campaign in Iowa, arising from a personal loan he made to his campaign — of which nearly $50,000 has not been repaid.

If the 2018 contributions were made to retire that debt, the money would benefit Whitaker personally, which means he could have violated a Hatch Act requirement that a federal “employee may not … knowingly solicit, accept, or receive a political contribution from any person.”

Separately, Whitaker’s disclosure forms show that he failed to report the nearly $50,000 loan he made to his 2014 campaign, which is a significant asset. OGE guidance mandates that a loan made to anyone other than a family member must be reported on a PFD as an asset.

“Matthew Whitaker faces scrutiny from the Office of Special Counsel, the Office of Government Ethics, and Congress. If he didn’t lead it, it would be reasonable to expect him to be investigated by the DOJ as well. Until we get answers about Whitaker’s conflicts of interest and honesty, the public will suffer from a crisis of confidence about the rule of law under this administration,” said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight.

The release of financial disclosure forms came as Whitaker’s legitimacy is being contested in at least three federal lawsuits.

The most recent came on Monday, when three Senate Democrats — Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island — argued in a lawsuit filed in Washington that Whitaker’s failure to be Senate confirmed means he cannot be a Cabinet official, and thus Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be the acting attorney general.

House Democrats are also poised to lead investigations into Whitaker and the Trump administration when the new Congress convenes in January and they have the majority.

Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings on the House Oversight Committee, Jerry Nadler on the House Judiciary Committee, Frank Pallone on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Adam Schiff on the House Intelligence Committee have said “serious questions are now arising about [Whitaker’s] fitness to serve in this position of trust.”