Trump Campaign Misses Important Ethics Code Deadline

Issues
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Donald Trump raising his fist while walking out into an arena
Former President Donald Trump speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on August 27, 2024. Photo by Gage Skidmore

Former President Donald Trump has failed to provide the public with an ethics code for his executive transition team as required by the Presidential Transition Act.

By October 1, both major party presidential candidates are required to establish ethics plans for their transition teams, which manage critical preelection and postelection matters before a candidate assumes office.

These teams of highly skilled professionals are trusted with the immense responsibility of guiding a president-elect to the White House and must be held to a high ethical standard to ensure their duties are carried out for the public good over personal interest.

The Harris-Walz campaign filed the required ethics code for their transition team, as shown on the General Services Administration’s website, but the Trump-Vance campaign’s plan is noticeably absent.

This is a concerning abdication of responsibility by the campaign, whose main candidate previously faced criticism for their staffing transition in 2016.

Missing the first ethics requirement in the path to the Oval Office is a concerning premonition of what ethics enforcement could look like under a second Trump administration.

Campaign Legal Center is calling on the Trump campaign to fulfill its responsibilities to bring transparency and a standard of ethical behavior to its transition team.

Delaney is the Director, Ethics at CLC.
Maha is a Communications Associate for Campaign Finance & Ethics at CLC.