An investigative news outlet on Thursday launched a searchable online database containing nearly 3,200 financial disclosure records for more than 1,500 Trump-appointed federal officials, detailing extensive financial ties between senior members of the administration and the industries they regulate.
Assembled over more than a year, the records show how former lobbyists, corporate executives, and other appointees holding assets, pensions, consulting ties, and other financial interests connected to agencies where they now wield authority, ProPublica reported. At least a dozen officials also withheld the identities of former clients, in some cases on a large scale, making it difficult for the public to assess potential conflicts, the report said.
Among the news outlet’s major findings was the case of Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, the former Cerberus Capital Management chief who oversees the Pentagon office responsible for the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. At least four companies awarded Golden Dome contracts are owned by Cerberus, according to the report.
Feinberg, while saying he divested his stake, retained an approved financial relationship with the firm for tax, accounting, and healthcare services that could continue without a fixed end date.
The disclosures also highlighted other possible conflict issues across the administration, ProPublica reported.
As previously reported by the news agency, Attorney General Pam Bondi and others made securities trades that at times preceded market drops tied to President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements. Two senior Environmental Protection Agency scientists involved in weakening the agency’s formaldehyde risk assessment had previously held top roles at the chemical industry’s main trade group.
ProPublica further reported in December that more than 200 Trump appointees collectively held between $175 million and $340 million in cryptocurrency investments when they filed their disclosures, with some now occupying positions that influence crypto regulation. One of them, Justice Department official Todd Blanche, disclosed at least $159,000 in crypto-related assets before he shut down investigations into crypto firms.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer separately withheld the names of more than 50 former clients from his time at King & Spalding, while senior adviser Kwan Kim kept secret the identities of 52 former clients from his work as a trade lawyer, according to the report.
At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nominee Jonathan Morrison disclosed that he had recently served as a director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association before taking a role that could shape self-driving car policy, ProPublica said.
ProPublica said the disclosures illustrate how Trump has rolled back ethics safeguards in his second term, including rescinding a Biden-era ethics pledge for appointees, firing 17 inspectors general, and removing the head of the Office of Government Ethics.
“Ethics is in the toilet,” Virginia Canter, chief counsel for ethics and corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund, said in the report.
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