Corruption Calendar Week 4: Messrs. Trump And Musk Want You To Know The Presidency Is For Sale
Welcome to the fourth installment of the Revolving Door Project’s Corruption Calendar, where each week, we highlight the corporate corruption shaping the Trump Administration’s agenda. Read our first three issues here and follow us on Bluesky and X for #CorruptionCalendar updates.
Trump And Elon Gifts To The Rich
Week 4 of Trump’s presidency proves yet again that Trump is only in it for his billionaire buddies. This past week, Trump and Musk repeatedly reminded us that the federal government is ready to serve the interests of their wealthy friends. In fact, in one case, Trump managed to pair this ongoing corruption with another core theme of his administration: demonization of immigrants. As our Jeff Hauser noted, by reassigning Internal Revenue Service agents to the immigration crackdown, Trump has essentially granted billionaires a “get out of taxes free card.” Let’s take a look at some other recipients of Trumpworld’s largesse (Spoiler alert: The biggest is of course Elon Musk):
Trump Taps Amazon Executive To Lead OSHA. Despite reports that “Amazon manipulated injury data to make warehouses appear safer,” Trump tapped former Amazon transportation safety director David Keeling to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Note that Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, and company founder Jeff Bezos has apparently changed his tune on the President. Too few workers realize that their safety at work depends on the executive branch–but Jeff Bezos’ team is quite aware.
Pam Bondi Dissolved An FBI Task Force That Curbed Foreign Influence. Trump’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, which countered foreign influence in American politics. Former FBI Director Chris Wray established the taskforce following Russia’s hack of the Democratic National Committee’s email system during the 2016 election. Bondi, who worked as a lobbyist for foreign governments such as Qatar, also peeled back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The takeaway is clear: the Trump administration is laying a welcome mat for all foreign influence activities. Foreign oligarchs and corrupt autocratic regime staggers rejoice, Mr Trump’s grace crosses borders.
Trump Will Let You Bribe Foreign Officials! This past Monday, Trump signed an executive order that directed Bondi’s Department of Justice to stop prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign officials. Speaking of his decision, Trump claimed this embrace of bribery is “going to mean a lot more business for America.” The reality is more somber: a likely turbocharge of global corruption. Some corporate criminals are already looking to secure sweetheart deals, pressuring line prosecutors to drop or settle cases in line with a memo from Bondi. Former Cognizant Technology officials took it one step further, directly requesting that Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove dismiss charges of a $2 million payoff in India. (More on Bove in the closing section).
Getting Wall Street In On Foreign Aid. It’s no surprise that the Trump administration would happily turn a blind eye to robbery as it contemplates handing over the foreign aid budget to Wall Street allies. Bloomberg reported this past Wednesday that Trump advisers are mulling shifting money for USAID’s humanitarian efforts to the US International Development Finance Corp, which will be led by Ben Black, son of disgraced Apollo Management founder Leon Black. Per Bloomberg, this “new approach would see reduced humanitarian assistance and a greater role for private equity groups, hedge funds and other investors in projecting economic might as the US competes for influence and strategic projects overseas with China.” The proposal mirrors an idea championed by Ben Black and Joe Lonsdale (Musk confidante who helped establish the pro-Trump America PAC) in an op-ed last month.
Trump (Potentially) Quietly Ended A Probe On Musk. The New Republic reported that Trump potentially killed a probe into Musk and SpaceX’s failure to meet federal reporting requirements which were designed to protect national security. According to the New York Times, SpaceX failed to provide details of Musk’s meeting with foreign leaders which led to a myriad of federal reviews. When Trump fired over a dozen inspector generals, one of them was Robert Storch of the Department of Defense who was overseeing this investigation. We’ll keep our eyes on this, but the signal here is that Musk and SpaceX are likely off the hook.
Musk Kindly Returns The Favor To Trump In The Form of $10 Million. Musk has decided to return the favor to Trump. Musk’s social media platform X paid out $10 million to settle a lawsuit President Trump had previously brought against the company after it suspended his account in 2021 following the January 6th insurrection.
Musk Gets To Audit The Agency That Grounded His Failed Spacecraft. As ProPublica recently reported, the “FAA’s little-known commercial spaceflight office, which has proposed fines and grounded SpaceX after explosions and other incidents” will likely soon be a target for the DOGE sledgehammer. Former FAA chief Mike Whitaker already stepped down last month amid pressure from Musk. Taken together with the reckless billionaire’s aggressive pursuit of a launch schedule for his starship rocket, FAA officials will likely face undue pressure to weaken oversight. That’s a dangerous recipe, especially considering the recent plane crash in DC (among a spate of recent aviation incidents involving both commercial and military planes).
And Here Is A Helpful Graphic From The New York Times Illustrating How Musk Stands To Benefit From The Attack On Government Officials Across Multiple Agencies:
Trump Sends A Chilling Message To Whistleblowers. Trump fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Hampton Dellinger, late last Friday. OSC is a critical resource for whistleblowers in government, providing a vehicle for them to report unethical activity while protecting them from retaliation. Dellinger has since sued to contest his firing, which his attorneys argue violates a provision in federal law that he could only be removed for cause. This firing fits the now established Trump theme of targeting and silencing accountability agents in the federal government. And the desired impact will be chilling: a warning to all civil servants that whistleblowers will not be safe during Trump’s reign.
Another Day, Another IG Gets The Boot. Adding to the growing list of wrongfully dismissed Inspectors General, the White House terminated USAID IG Paul Martin earlier this week. Martin’s dismissal followed publication of a report which warned “that more than $489 million in food assistance was at risk of spoilage or potential diversion after the Trump administration implemented its aid freeze and stop-work order.”
Trump Helps His Friend Who Was Accused Of Sexual Assault. Federal prosecutors dropped a probe into the sexual misconduct allegations against wrestling mogul and Trump ally, Vince McMahon. McMahon is married to Trump’s Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon. The McMahons are long-time Trump allies and major donors. In fact, weeks before her nomination to lead the Small Business Administration in the previous Trump term, Linda McMahon donated $7 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.
U.S. Attorneys Cannot Stand The Corrupt Stink In Manhattan. Earlier this week, the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has recently worked to curry Trump’s favor. The order came from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who claimed that the case would interfere with Adams’ efforts to support Trump’s crackdown on immigrants. When this initially broke, we were stumped by the brazenness, and guess what, so were the attorneys in the Southern District of New York. This past Thursday, acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon turned in her resignation letter, which is a must read, but here are some choice quotes:
“On February 10, 2025, I received a memorandum from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, directing me to dismiss the indictment against Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice, subject to certain conditions, which would require leave of court. I do not repeat here the evidence against Adams that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed federal crimes; Mr. Bove rightly has never called into question that the case team conducted this investigation with integrity and that the charges against Adams are serious and supported by fact and law. Mr. Bove’s memo, however, which directs me to dismiss an indictment returned by a duly constituted grand jury for reasons having nothing to do with the strength of the case, raises serious concerns that render the contemplated dismissal inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.”
“Rather than be rewarded, Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case. Although Mr. Bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for Adams’s assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in Mr. Bove’s memo. That is especially so given Mr. Bove’s comparison to the Bout prisoner exchange, which was quite expressly a quid pro quo, but one carried out by the White House, and not the prosecutors in charge of Bout’s case.”
“Moreover, dismissing the case will amplify, rather than abate, concerns about weaponization of the Department. Despite Mr. Bove’s observation that the directive to dismiss the case has been reached without assessing the strength of the evidence against Adams, Adams has already seized on the memo to publicly assert that he is innocent and that the accusations against him were unsupported by the evidence and based only on ‘fanfare and sensational claims.’”
“I remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached, in seeming collaboration with Adams’s counsel and without my direct input on the ultimate stated rationales for dismissal. Mr. Bove admonished me to be mindful of my obligation to zealously defend the interests of the United States and to advance good-faith arguments on behalf of the Administration. I hope you share my view that soliciting and considering the concerns of the U.S.Attorney overseeing the case serves rather than hinders that goal, and that we can find time to meet.”
Per Reuters, five other attorneys joined Sassoon in submitting their resignations. That includes John Keller, the acting head of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, who also refused to carry out the order to dismiss the case.
Why does this matter? It’s not JUST the palpable corruption of it all, but the fact that the president of the United States now has leverage over the democratically elected ostensibly DEMOCRATIC Mayor of New York City. Just like presidents are not supposed to be able to add massive islands and their unwilling inhabitants to the country, they are not supposed to be able to control the actions of cities. The impact in terms of New York’s approach to its residents, especially but not limited to immigrants, will be tangible and terrible.
ICYMI
We are continuously updating resources to keep you up to date on Trump and Musk’s all-out assault on everyday people and the Constitution.
This includes:
No Corporate Cabinet, a central hub documenting corporate corruption and conflicts of interest among those jockeying for power in the Trump administration. We’ve published profiles on Trump nominees like Paul Atkins, Linda McMahon and Chris Wright – check back for more profiles in the days to come.
Our tracker of the Trump administration’s failure to comply with court orders, and the programs and services being disrupted by its non-compliance. We are also tracking the actions judges take to attempt to enforce their orders.
A list of all of the individuals who have ever been reported to be affiliated with Elon Musk’s DOGE, with links to the original reporting.
A list of the agencies that DOGE has visited, keeping you up to date on what Elon Musk is looking to illegally gut.
Agency Spotlight—Our tracker of appointments to leadership positions at thirty-nine federal independent agencies.
I knew things were pretty sketchy with Elon’s companies, but I had no idea at all how really bad it all is. So many investigations and lawsuits.Congress needs to stop him pronto any way they can. His companies obviously represent threats to people’s lives in safety considerations alone.