The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of Federal executive branch officers and employees. Under the Ethics in Government Act,this agency was originally part of the Office of Personnel Management from 1978 until it separated in 1989.
The Hatch Act of 1939,An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities,is a United States federal law that prohibits civil-service employees in the executive branch of the federal government,except the president and vice president,from engaging in some forms of political activity. It became law on August 2,1939. The law was named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico. It was most recently amended in 2012.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW),is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) watchdog organization devoted to U.S. government ethics and accountability. Founded in 2003 as a counterweight to conservative government watchdog groups such as Judicial Watch,CREW works to expose ethics violations and corruption by government officials and institutions and to reduce the role of money in politics.
Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway is an American political consultant and pollster who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previously Trump's campaign manager,having been appointed in August 2016;Conway is the first woman to have run a successful U.S. presidential campaign. She has previously held roles as campaign manager and strategist in the Republican Party and was formerly president and CEO of the Polling Company/WomanTrend.
The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part 600,which created the successor office of special counsel. The current regulations were drafted by former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal.
Ellen L. Weintraub is an American attorney who serves as a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission.
Donald Francis McGahn II is an American lawyer who served as White House counsel for U.S. President Donald Trump,from the day of Trump's inauguration through October 17,2018,when McGahn resigned. Previously,McGahn served on the Federal Election Commission for over five years. In November 2019,McGahn received a court order to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives. In August 2020,the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 7–2 that the House can sue him to comply.
John Michael "Mick" Mulvaney is an American politician who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020,and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March 2020. Prior to his appointments to the Trump administration,he served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Norman L. Eisen is an American attorney,author,and former diplomat. He is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution,a CNN legal analyst,and the co-founder of the States United Democracy Center. He was co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment and trial of President Donald Trump in 2020. He served as White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform,United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic,and board chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). He is the author of four books,including The Last Palace:Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House (2018). In 2022,he co-authored Overcoming Trumpery:How to Restore Ethics,the Rule of Law,and Democracy.
Campaign for Accountability (CfA) is a liberal 501(c)(3) non-profit ethics watchdog group headquartered in Washington,D.C. CfA was co-founded in May 2015 by Anne Weismann,former legal counsel for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW),and Louis Mayberg,former chairman of CREW. CfA group states that it "uses research,litigation and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life."
Donald Trump assumed office as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Steven Andrew Engel is an American lawyer. He served as the United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel in the first Trump administration. Engel,who previously worked in the George W. Bush administration as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel,was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 31,2017,and confirmed on November 7,2017.
Noel John Francisco is an American lawyer who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 2017 to 2020. He was the first Asian American confirmed by the United States Senate to hold the position. Francisco is now a partner at the law firm Jones Day.
The Robert Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into 45th U.S. president Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and was conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller from May 2017 to March 2019. It was also called the Russia investigation,Mueller probe,and Mueller investigation. The investigation focused on three points:
- Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
- Trump associates and their connection to Russian officials and espionage
- Possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his associates
David J. Apol is General Counsel at the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE). He served as an acting director of the OGE between the resignation of Walter Shaub on July 19,2017 and the appointment of Emory Rounds on July 13,2018.
James David Schultz is an American lawyer and corporate executive who was an Associate White House Counsel under Donald Trump,serving from January 20,2017 to November 24,2017. Schultz was part of the legal team at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Trump Transition Team. He reported to White House Counsel Don McGahn.
Leandra English is an American political advisor serving as an advisor to the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services. She formerly was the Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2017 until her resignation in 2018. She was the plaintiff in the lawsuit English v. Trump,in which she unsuccessfully sought to have herself acknowledged as Acting Director of the CFPB.
Leandra English v. Donald Trump,et al.,No. 1:17-cv-02534,was a lawsuit before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiff,Leandra English,alleged that the defendants,Donald Trump and Mick Mulvaney,violated 12 U.S.C. §5491(b)(5)(B),a component of the Dodd–Frank Act of 2010,when President Trump appointed Mulvaney to be Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
This is a timeline of major events in the first half of 2017 related to the investigations into links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials and spies that are suspected of being inappropriate,relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Following the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8 and the post-election transition,this article begins with Donald Trump and Mike Pence being sworn into office on January 20,2017,and is followed by the second half of 2017. The investigations continued in the first and second halves of 2018,the first and second halves of 2019,2020,and 2021.
