Wow, reading the OP article it goes on to contradict itself.
At issue for the Trump staffers is a 1993 OGE guidance document that gave a green light to organizers of legal defense funds for government employees to solicit anonymous donations from otherwise prohibited sources — like lobbyists or others with business before the government. That Clinton-era opinion reasoned that if such donors were anonymous, such donations could be legal because the employee “does not know who the paymasters are.”
So the rule has been in effect since 1993
As Shaub prepared to leave OGE in July, his longtime general counsel, David Apol, told him that he’d been having private discussions with Trump White House attorneys about ways to revise the 1993 guidance to prohibit anonymous gifts, Shaub said.
And the administration looked to revise the guidelines.
Apol was subsequently named head of OGE. The guidance document has since been updated to replace Shaub’s note with a longer disclaimer signaling the August 1993
document allowing anonymous donations to legal funds remains in force — and “HAS NOT CHANGED.” The guidance also notes that “BECAUSE EACH ANALYSIS IS VERY FACT SPECIFIC” government ethics officials should do a deeper dive before advising individual employees on the rules.
The government with infinite money is going after people with limited bank accounts:
The legal bills can
add up quick for White House aides working on government salaries, especially if they are pulled in for multiple rounds of questioning or get in trouble of their own for perjury, making misleading statements or obstructing justice.
There is no requirement to accept anonymous donations:
Several sources interviewed for this story urged anyone planning to set up a legal defense fund on behalf of the current Trump White House aides to stick with past practice and not accept anonymous donations for the government employees.
“Politically, it just would not be viable,” said Richard Lucas, who served as the lead counsel to the Clintons’ second legal defense fund, which raised nearly $9 million for the president and first lady to help cover their attorney expenses. “Not knowing the source is a recipe for disaster.”
If the donations are of dubious source:
The OGE guidance is not binding. In fact, Justice Department lawyers and Mueller’s team have full authority to examine who’s footing the bill for potential witnesses in the Trump administration if they have reason to believe other federal laws are being violated from the donations.
Click bait thread.
