The corruption of Donald Trump’s first administration was so constant that it’s easy to forget every scandal. Thankfully, on Monday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is here to remind us as Trump begins to stock his incoming White House with bigots, sycophantsand even a puppy killer.
“The first Donald Trump presidential term had so many cabinet officials forced out of office in disgrace and referred to the Justice Department to face criminal charges,” Maddow recalled. “It’s actually hard to remember them all.”
Maddow ran down some of Trump’s original Cabinet secretaries:
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke left his position after more than a dozen investigations into dubious dealings and potential ethical violations. (Zinke is now the representative for Montana’s 1st Congressional District.)
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s tenure as the ineffective mouthpiece for Trump’s nonexistent infrastructure bill was filled with reports that she used her position to enrich her family.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry was one of the Trump officials who resigned after Trump’s Ukraine scandalwhich led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned after having given sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal. (Trump then dragged his heels in replacing Acosta.)
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price joined Trump’s administration as an ethically challenged secretary, then left office after multiple federal inquiries into his use of taxpayer money to fund extravagant travel.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, whose ethical integrity matched that of a wet piece of rice paper, left his position because he couldn’t manage the multiple ethics investigations into his activities.
And these were simply Trump’s first round of picks. One of Trump’s last scandal-laden cabinet members, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, is leading Trump’s Defense Department transition team. Wilkie’s time in the first Trump administration was marred by claims he orchestrated a smear campaign against a female veteran who alleged she was sexually assaulted at a V.A. facility.
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