DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest [View all]
Source: probublica.org
Before he helped fire most Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staffers, DOGE’s Gavin Kliger was warned about his investments and advised to not take any actions that could benefit him personally, according to a person familiar with the situation.
by Jake Pearson May 7, 2025, 6 a.m. EDT
Last month, a Department of Government Efficiency aide at the nation’s consumer watchdog agency was told by ethics attorneys that he held stock in companies that employees are forbidden from owning — and was advised not to participate in any actions that could benefit him personally, according to a person familiar with the warning.
But days later, court records show, Gavin Kliger, a 25-year-old software engineer who has been detailed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since early March, went ahead and participated in mass layoffs at the agency anyway, including the firings of the ethics lawyers who had warned him.
Experts said that Kliger’s actions, which ProPublica first reported on last week, constitute a conflict of interest that could violate federal criminal ethics laws. ......there are strict prohibitions on the investments that employees can maintain.
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Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, said the fact that Kliger was warned not to take any actions that could benefit him personally showed that “he’s on notice that this is a problem, as opposed to doing this by accident, or unintentionally.”
But Briffault said there would likely be no recourse for Kliger’s actions given that the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has “greatly deprioritized public integrity, ethics and public corruption as issues for them.” The New York Times reported last week that the section handling such cases is down to just a handful of lawyers.
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Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/cfpb-gavin-kliger-doge-conflict-of-interest-consumer-financial-protection-bureau
well, this is a bunch of crap!=--looks like trumpy aids can violate laws but since Trumps Justice dept won't investigate, they can continue. whow!
Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social
· 5h
A 25-year-old DOGE bro at the CFPB held $715,000 in stocks that ethics lawyers told him he wasn’t allowed to own while working there — then DOGE fired those ethics lawyers.
This is corruption.
Always call it out.
A 25-year-old DOGE bro at the CFPB held 5,000 in stocks that ethics lawyers told him he wasn’t allowed to own while working there — then DOGE fired those ethics lawyers.
— Melanie D’Arrigo (@darrigomelanie.bsky.social) 2025-05-07T11:36:57.201Z
This is corruption.
Always call it out.
= new reply since forum marked as read