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Officials failed to disclose new jobs when leaving Trump administration

Seven senior Trump administration officials left government without disclosing their future private sector jobs on federal financial disclosure reports, an apparent violation of federal law.

"It's the latest in what good government advocates say is a pattern of ethical lapses in the Trump administration," Politico wrote in detailing the apparent breeches of the rules. "Several government watchdog groups have criticized the Trump administration repeatedly for allowing high-ranking staffers to spend exorbitant amounts of money on travel, promoting Trump businesses and failing to file legally required financial reports."


One of the former officials is Stefan Passantino, who as deputy White House counsel was in charge of West Wing compliance with ethics rules and is now handling the Trump Organization's response to a spate of House oversight investigations.

Two others have returned recently to the Trump orbit: Marc Short, who was director of legislative affairs before leaving and now back as Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, and Bill Stepien, who was director of political affairs and is now working for the president's re-election campaign.

The others are Reed Cordish, assistant to the president for intergovernmental and technology initiatives; Katie Walsh, deputy chief of staff; Paul Winfree, deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy; and John McEntee, who was the president's personal aide.

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Election integrity: How Georgia ensures safe and secure voting

While elections work differently depending on where you live, all states have security measures to ensure the integrity of every vote. With that in mind, The Fulcrum presents a six-part series on how elections work in swing states. Created by Issue One, these state summaries focus on each state's election process from registration to certification.

Our freedom to vote in fair and secure elections is the foundation of our system of self- governance established under the U.S. Constitution. As citizens, we have a voice that many people around the world do not.

Because the majority of elections are run at a local level, the voting experience can be very different depending on where a voter lives, but all states, including Georgia, have verification processes in place before, during, and after votes are cast to ensure the integrity of the election. Whether you cast your ballot in-person or by mail, early or on Election Day, your vote counts.

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American flag over a world map background
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The world depends on a strong American democracy

Piccone is an advisor to the Club de Madrid, a forum of democratic former presidents and prime ministers from over 70 countries, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Tannon, a partners at DLA piper, is the board chair of the Club of Madrid Foundation.

The United States, as the world’s oldest and wealthiest democracy, continues to inspire people around the world who strive for greater freedom and prosperity. For that to continue, however, the United States must overcome its increasing polarization and dangerous slide toward populist nationalism.

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Man tabulating ballots

And election worker processes overseas military ballots in Orange County, Calif., in 2022.

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Canceling votes from overseas troops? It’s in the GOP’s 2024 playbook.

Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent of Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

In 2000, when Democratic and Republican party lawyers fought over recounting Florida’s presidential votes, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, declared that mail ballots from overseas military voters should be given the “benefit of the doubt” and counted, even if some arrived after Florida’s deadline.

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Julie Wise
Issue One

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Julie Wise

Minkin is a research associate at Issue One. Clapp is the campaign manager for election protection at Issue One. Whaley is the director of election protection at Issue One. Van Voorhis is a research intern at Issue One. Beckel is the research director for Issue One.

Julie Wise, who is not registered with any political party, has more than 24 years of election administration experience. Since 2000, she has worked for the board of elections in King County, Wash., an area that includes Seattle and is home to about 1.4 million registered voters. In 2015, she was elected the director of elections in a nonpartisan race, earning 72 percent of the vote. She was reelected in 2019 and 2023, when she garnered 84 percent of the vote.

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