Trump’s Second Term Must Not Escape Scrutiny
As Donald Trump's second term begins, American Oversight is prepared to fight back against his attempts to wield the powers of government as a tool of oppression and retaliation.
On Monday, in response to Donald Trump’s swearing-in as the 47th president of the United States, American Oversight interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu has issued the following statement:
“Since 2017, American Oversight has remained unwavering in its commitment to ensuring transparency and holding the Trump administration accountable for its corruption and abuse of power. Following today’s inaugural address, it is clear President Trump intends to wield the powers of the federal government as a tool of oppression and retaliation.
“As his second term begins, we are prepared to fight back, thwarting efforts to devastate immigrant communities, exposing corruption and its real-world impact at every turn, and arming the American people with the information needed to hold the president — and state and local actors who attempt to aid and abet his administration’s regressive policies — accountable.”
American Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, played a key role in holding the Trump administration accountable during the president’s first term. Using public records backed by aggressive litigation, American Oversight uncovered extensive evidence of corruption, conflicts of interest, and abuses of power throughout the administration, including:
- Documents exposing Rudy Giuliani’s communications with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the White House in the lead-up to Trump-sanctioned pressure campaign on the Ukrainian government, which were later cited by Congress during Trump’s first impeachment.
- Copies of the forged electoral vote certificates submitted to the National Archives and Congress by supporters of President Trump seeking to undo his 2020 election loss, resulting in the indictments of fake electors in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
- Records revealing rampant preventable deaths of immigrants in ICE custody, prompting a Senate investigation into medical and mental health care for people detained by ICE.
American Oversight has continued to hold Trump and his allies accountable by shining a light on the actions of the incoming administration. In November, following Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz to lead the U.S. Justice Department, American Oversight sued for records from the federal FBI investigation of Gaetz for serious criminal allegations, including sex trafficking of a minor. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration shortly thereafter.
In January, American Oversight sued the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for records concerning Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, whose history of loyalty to Trump and sympathy for far-right conspiracy theories raise serious concerns about his fitness for the role. And in the fall, American Oversight obtained a heavily redacted incident report related to the Trump campaign’s widely reported August altercation with Arlington National Cemetery staff, effectively confirming the existence of an open law enforcement investigation into an incident that potentially aligned with then-candidate Trump’s and his staff’s history of politicizing the military for political gain.