President Donald Trump is rewarding more than two dozen current and former administrators and others with prestigious government appointments on the way out of office – including current Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, former campaign manager and senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, and campaign replacement, lobbyist Matt Schlapp.
Also on the list is reportedly a billionaire hotelier associated with the RNC in a “possible pay-for-play system”.
The nominations announced on Tuesday seem to reflect reports saying the president is preparing a barrage of pardons even for people who have never asked just because he can.
Trump nominated Kellyanne Conway to the Board of Visitors of the United States Air Force Academy. The board acts as the board of governors and “inquires about morals, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, tax matters, academic methods and other matters relating to the academy that the board decides to examine.”
According to the Office of Special Counsel, Conway has broken federal law so many times that the Federal Guardian Agency recommended that she be removed from her position in the White House. Trump ignored the recommendation.
Trump nominated secretary Elaine Chao To serve on the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The term of appointment is for six years.
Lynn Friess, wife of a major Republican donor, is also nominated for the Kennedy Center Foster Friess.
lobbyist Matt SchlappThe head of the American Conservative Union, which runs the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), was appointed a member of the Library of Congress’s Trust Fund Board by Trump. According to Bloomberg, the LoC Trust Fund Board acts as the federal board of directors for funds donated to the Library of Congress. The Board of Directors deposits the incoming money with the Treasury Secretary, and the Library of Congress librarian can distribute the money. The LoC Trust Fund Board is also empowered to invest, reinvest and hold. “
Schlapp’s wife, Mercedes Schlapp, was a White House communications officer who worked for the Trump campaign. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Also on today’s list are billionaire, hotelier, real estate developer, GOP donor and failed ambassador candidate Douglas “Papa Doug” Manchester. Manchester was also appointed to the Kennedy Center Board. A scathing January 2020 article described his lavish lifestyle and divorces, including from a Russian immigrant. This article suggested that she had “a profile on a website for those looking for Russian brides”.
Last year, CBS News “uncovered a possible pay-for-play program involving the Republican National Committee and President Trump’s nominee for Ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails received from CBS News show that the candidate, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars as his Senate approval was faltering. “
There are currently 26 nominations in total.
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