Trump accused of opening door to financial corruption as transition donors kept secret

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Trump has not yet signed an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration — a requirement laid out in the Presidential Transition Act that places restrictions on the amount of fundraising cash in exchange for more than $7 million in federal funds for the “orderly transfer” of power. “The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act,” Brian Hughes, a Trump transition spokesman, told the Times in a statement. “As of now, the Trump-Vance transition team has not yet entered into the agreements with the White House and the General Service Administration.” By not signing the required paperwork, Trump “remains unbound by donor contribution limits and disclosure requirements, and is relying on private donors rather than federal funds — opening Trump’s team to financial corruption with no public transparency even before he takes office,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a November 21 letter to the Biden administration. “Trump and Vance have so far boycotted the process, thus already obstructing prospects for an orderly transition.” The Maryland Democrat also wrote a letter on October 23 to Trump and JD Vance urging their transition team to sign the agreements: “Your actions depart from well-established norms of the federal government and demonstrate a spectacular disregard for the successful continuation of the essential institutions of American democratic government.” Trump has officially nominated all of his top 15 cabinet picks as of Saturday.