USA Today: Trump presidency spurs cottage industry of ethics watchdogs

The groups pursuing Trump say they are trying to keep close tabs on a president who is bucking ethical norms by retaining ownership of his businesses and abruptly firing FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the agency’s probe into the Russian government involvement in last year’s election.

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Walter Shaub, the Office of Government Ethics chief who emerged as Trump’s biggest taxpayer-funded ethics nag before resigning this summer, earned his own Facebook fan page — with more than 2,000 followers as public interest in Trump and ethics soared.

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Shaub left his post in July to become senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit group legal advocacy group that also is pursuing ethics cases against the Trump administration.

In his 15 years with the Office of Government Ethics, “we were basically standing on the street corner, waving our arms and holding up signs, saying ‘Hey look over here: Ethics!’ And we couldn’t get anyone’s attention.”

“Now, people care,” he said.