Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, on Monday blasted President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., as a “symbol of corruption that should set alarm bells ringing.”
In an op-ed published by the Washington Post, Shaub described the resort, which is commonly referred to by Trump as the “Winter” or “Southern White House,” as a marketing pitch promising Trump supporters “access to power for a price.”
“The initiation fee, which Trump doubled upon winning the election, is $200,000,” Shaub wrote. “He may belong to the people now, but the club belongs to him.”
“I would say Trump is getting the kind of advertising money can’t buy, but we taxpayers are paying tens of millions for him to spend almost a third of his days in office visiting his properties,” Shaub continued. “Some of the money goes into his pocket.”
Former President Barack Obama appointed Shaub to the Office of Government Ethics in 2013, but he resigned in July 2017 after clashing with the Trump administration.
Shaub, who is now senior director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center, also said Trump’s frequent visits to the resort sets an ethically unsustainable precedent.
“This departure from our government’s norms creates a pressure that the government ethics program may not be able to withstand indefinitely, especially if Trump’s successor engages in similar behavior,” he added.
