Watchdogs: Trump's Disastrous 100 Days Fueling "Golden Era of Activism"

Some of the nation’s leading watchdog groups released reports this week taking stock of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, covering everything from his failure to “drain the swamp” to the resistance movement meeting his administration head-on.

The consensus seems to be that Trump and his administration are doing everything they can to dismantle recent progress on civil rights, climate action, government accountability, and other critical measures for democracy—but in doing so, have ushered in a game-changing era of grassroots activism.

Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), which has sued the president over his conflicts of interest, released its report Friday, detailing “the ethical failings of both the president and his staff.”

“President Trump promised to ‘drain the swamp,’ but instead the first 100 days of his administration have illustrated the catastrophic consequences when a president fails to prioritize ethics when entering public service,” CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said. “This failure of leadership resounds through the administration and the government as a whole, and ultimately harms our democracy and the interests of the American people.”

CREW’s report also looks at the track records of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Health and Human Services (HHS) head Tom Price, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, senior White House staff, and the president’s children.

Trump “has established a record that no one would want to hold: the most unethical first 100 days since we started counting eight decades ago,” CREW board chair and former presidential ethics adviser Norman Eisen said. “From his own unresolved and unconstitutional conflicts, to the deplorable ethics of his cabinet and White House staff, to his denial of transparency for his taxes and for his White House visitor records, the Trump administration is a disgrace.”

“It is no wonder that Trump is already facing a major investigation and the lowest popularity rating of any president at this point. Unless he straightens up and flies right it will only go further downhill from here,” Eisen said.

Then there was the Leadership Coalition for Civil and Human Rights, which said Trump’s first 100 days were marked by his “utter contempt for the protection of civil rights and civil liberties, especially for marginalized communities.”