Trump's & His Cronies' Corruption Scandals

 

1. Ambassadorial Misconduct

Let’s start with Kimberly Guilfoyle. She reportedly pressured Eric Deters to wire $100,000 directly into her American Express account just days before her confirmation hearing in 2025. 

The exchange is just one of a series of damning text messages reportedly revealing how Deters allegedly repeatedly paid Guilfoyle to pressure executive branch officials on his behalf. And Guilfoyle knew this conduct was unacceptable — she even chastised Deters for sending requests in writing: “Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things…just call me on signal.”

This is one of the most blatant scandals I’ve seen involving a U.S. ambassador. She, of course, denies these allegations, but the Signal exchanges the WSJ released stink to high heaven. The federal law that makes it illegal to bribe public officials or witnesses or offer them unlawful rewards also explicitly covers nominees (which Guilfoyle was at the time), and though the Supreme Court has made it very hard to bring federal bribery charges, the DOJ must investigate.

That’s not even the only Guilfoyle scandal this week! Guilfoyle also faces allegations that she has abused her diplomatic position to promote a Greek energy and construction company and permit a registered lobbyist for the firm to take part in official diplomatic meetings, raising serious concerns about conflicts of interest. We were busy this week calling for a congressional investigation if Congress changes hands — as seems increasingly likely.

2. Meme Coin Madness

Guilfoyle’s story is about so much more than her particular interaction with Deters. She, of course, was allegedly attempting to sell access to Donald Trump — but that was minor league ball compared with Trump himself. 

The president publicly sells access to himself all the time — in fact, the firm behind his meme coin continues to auction off spots to “the most exclusive dinner in the world” for those who are the largest holders of the $TRUMP coin.

My Democracy Defenders colleagues and I have been hammering away to expose these conflicts. We recently received Trump’s annual financial disclosures — and they are damning. 

They reveal that his $TRUMP meme coin alone accounted for a staggering $636 million of his crypto-related earnings in 2025. And, as of this summer, nearly one million buyers had collectively lost an estimated $3.81 billion on this worthless meme coin, whose value had plunged roughly 97 percent from its peak.

No wonder nearly 90 percent of Americans think corruption in government is widespread and roughly 80 percent believe government corruption is causing their costs to increase.

3. Taxpayer-Funded Political Ads

Trump reportedly ordered his budget director to divert millions of dollars in taxpayer funds from the Department of Homeland Security to run political ads — including one recycled from his 2024 campaign. This is against the law. Full stop. Congress has made it perfectly clear: You cannot use taxpayer money to fund political ads. 

Trump has now run multiple ads with our money, all of which aired on major networks during prime time. This is expensive airtime, and we are paying for it.

Facing backlash, including from a number of congressional Republicans, Trump said that his super PAC, MAGA Inc., will begin covering the cost of these ads. But his announcement on Truth Social implicated him in another violation of federal law. As a federal official, he cannot direct super PAC spending. And the madness doesn’t stop there. He’s compounded numerous illegalities, including using music in these campaign-style ads without permission. Trying to get out of breaking one law by breaking other laws is quintessential Trump.

The illegality doesn’t stop there. JMSN, our client, saw his song “Love Me” play illegally as the score of one of these television ads. 

We are proud to represent JMSN alongside Ballard Spahr LLP and Hecker Fink LLP to demand that the Trump administration and MAGA Inc. immediately stop using his song in their ad.

Enough is enough. This week, we and our colleagues sued the Trump administration on behalf of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and a candidate for Wisconsin treasurer, Yee Leng Xiong, for its illegal use of millions in taxpayer dollars for these political ads. We will not allow Trump to take funds, some of which were meant to honor fallen officers, and redirect them to his election propaganda.

4. Pickpocketing the Public

Trump’s willingness effectively to steal from taxpayers doesn’t just stop at ads or meme coins. It’s also infecting our federal agencies. 

In May, Trump’s Justice Department settled his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS by creating a $1.776 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization” fund. The plot — with Trump on both sides of the v — effectively forced taxpayers to funnel money from our schools and roads directly to his political allies, including individuals charged in connection with the January 6 insurrection.

We at Democracy Defenders Action serve as co-counsel with Platkin LLP and Susman Godfrey LLP for a bipartisan group of 35 former judges who urged the court to reject this scheme. Fortunately, Judge Kathleen Williams did exactly that, denying the settlement in its entirety. 

She concluded that the lawsuit had been filed in bad faith and was intended “to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact.” Indeed, she found that the suit was brought in such bad faith that the lawyers who litigated the case had violated their professional ethics obligations — and should be sanctioned. She later reinforced her decision, rejecting Trump’s bid to block enforcement of her order and the sanctions it imposed.

Trump’s team filed an emergency request with the 11th Circuit appellate court to stay these sanctions, but we vigorously opposed it. The 11th Circuit agreed with us and rejected it. With your support, we are proud to have played a key role in stopping the slush fund from coming to fruition and ensure that the appropriate sanctions arising from this sham lawsuit and slush fund remain in place. So much winning — thanks to the help made possible by our paid subscribers.

5. The Epstein Files Cover-Up

For more than a year, Democracy Defenders Fund has been fighting on behalf of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to expose the truth and secure justice. DDF has filed multiple FOIA requests and has helped to build the case that the DOJ is blatantly violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In April, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General opened an audit in direct response to our complaints, and just last week Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted our motion for summary judgment, directing the DOJ to expedite the production of records referencing Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago. We have no doubt that this administration will continue to stall and obstruct, but we will not back down, especially with the Contrarian community behind us. We will get the Trump-Epstein files.

6. Last-Minute Attempt to Rewrite the Rules of Mail-In Voting

Desperate to assert his will over our elections, Trump attempted to use the U.S. Postal Service to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots. 

He issued an executive order purporting to give the USPS authority not just to deliver mail-in and absentee ballots but also to control how they are handled. The EO directed the agency to impose new rules that would be virtually impossible to implement ahead of the election, intentionally trying to sow chaos and undermine voter confidence. This is patently illegal: The Constitution grants the president no such authority. The power to regulate elections rests with Congress and the states.

My colleagues and I at DDF, along with wonderful partners across the pro-democracy ecosystem, immediately jumped in and filed motions in all 13 mail-in voting proceedings to ensure voting remains free and fair. A federal judge blocked the rule nationwide, and the Supreme Court left in place the lower-court order preventing its implementation before the midterms. I’m confident my mail-in ballot will count, and I want each of you to feel that same confidence in your vote, however you choose to cast it.

7. Insider Truth: Selling Trump’s Posts

In August, Truth Social turned presidential communications into a pay-to-play scheme. Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the social media app, launched a paid service to give Wall Street firms early access to Trump’s posts. 

Firms that opt in could reportedly be charged as much as $100,000 a month for this advance access. The service will allow the big banks to execute trades based on information that other investors don’t have — allowing them to make a nearly risk-free profit off less sophisticated or powerful investors. 

But this wouldn’t harm just everyday investors and retail traders who can’t pay an exorbitant fee; it will drive up the costs of entering the market — a cost that will be passed down to banks’ clients like you. Just when you think Trump and his cronies couldn’t find any more ways to profit from their power, they somehow manage to reach new heights, even by their own standards.

We are proud with Platkin LLP and the Washington Litigation Group to represent San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, who is courageously taking action and using the tools at his disposal to oppose this. Chiu recently filed a lawsuit attempting to stop this program, arguing that it violates California’s Unfair Competition Law as it gives wealthy traders access to government information before others have a chance to benefit. As Chiu put it: “This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.” Indeed it is. 

Trump is the largest shareholder of Truth Social and is positioned to profit the most from this new offering. We must stop it.

8. Trump’s Kennedy Center Renovation Racket

When Trump tried to add his name to the Kennedy Center, we sued and stopped him, convincing a federal judge to rule that the name change was unlawful. And again the administration refused to abide by the ruling and pursued further attempts to inscribe Trump’s name on the center. So we went back to court. This time, Judge Christopher Cooper issued a permanent injunction barring the board from installing memorials to Trump without congressional authorization. He later blocked Trump’s plan to demolish the center without notice, allowing us to litigate the matter, and granted us discovery into Trump’s temper tantrum demolition threat. Now we are digging into the evidence underlying this outrageous behavior. We won’t stop until we have safeguarded the future of the Kennedy Center for good.

9. Reflecting Pool Insanity

After Trump’s attempted renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool failed spectacularly, the administration was in desperate search for a scapegoat. A 67-year-old Olympic canoeist named Davey Hearn became their primary target simply because he wanted to see for himself what had happened to this beloved American monument.

For the crime of caring about our shared history and our monuments and without any evidence of wrongdoing, the administration arrested him and charged him with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. We filed seven motions, forcing the government to admit that the Reflecting Pool renovation was a botched job and had nothing to do with our client. And we won. The charges were so bogus a judge dismissed them with prejudice, permanently barring the government from bringing them again.

We and our wonderful partners at the Washington Litigation Group and Steptoe LLP are determined to ensure that what happened to Hearn can never happen again. And we don’t have faith in this DOJ. That’s why we filed a complaint to the department’s Inspector’s General calling for a full investigation into Hearn’s wrongful arrest. This is just the beginning: With your help, we will fight for more accountability and further legal remedies for Davey and anyone else the administration wrongfully targets.

10. It’s a Family Affair

From billion-dollar defense contracts to lucrative investment deals, the Trump family’s profiteering from the presidency knows no bounds. To call their activity an unprecedented level of corruption would be far too charitable. Donald Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital has ballooned from a few hundred million dollars in assets to several billion and is reportedly in talks to raise another $3 billion, while Eric Trump is cashing in through investments in defense startups and critical minerals.

And let’s not forget son-in-law Jared Kushner, who continues to pursue massive Middle East investments through his private equity firm even as he takes on a diplomatic role in the region. And these are just a few examples of their self-serving dealings. Corruption is the family trade; the emperor has no clothes and his family is naked, too. Nakedly corrupt, that is.

-Norman Eisen, The Contrarian