From the outset, Donald Trump’s second stint as president has been dogged by ethics controversies, from the president’s foray into the cryptocurrency industry to Elon Musk’s dual roles as both the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and a major federal contractor. ProPublica has scrutinized numerous other top officials’ holdings and official acts to monitor for potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations.

Several top officials tied to Musk and the Trump administration are facing scrutiny over such potential  violations. Gavin Kliger, a DOGE aide who was detailed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was warned about holding up to $715,000 in prohibited stock but then helped implement mass layoffs at the agency, including among the ethics staff who flagged his holdings. Chris Young, another DOGE staffer, simultaneously served as a political adviser to Musk, earning as much as $1 million in compensation, and worked at  the CFPB, where court records show he helped to wind down the agency, raising concerns over his dual roles. Neither Kliger nor Young has responded to requests for comment, but the White House has denied any conflicts of interest. 

Meanwhile, two Trump cabinet members, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and a number of other executive branch officials sold off stocks before Trump tariff announcements that sent markets reeling. It’s unclear what these officials knew when they made those transactions, but trading on nonpublic information could violate the law. In response to questions from ProPublica, a Transportation Department spokesperson said an outside manager made the trades and Duffy “had no input on the timing of the sales.” Bondi did not respond to questions from ProPublica.

Kristi Noem, now the secretary of Homeland Security, secretly took $80,000 from a dark money group while governor of South Dakota through her private company and failed to report it on federal ethics disclosures, another potential violation. In a statement, Noem’s lawyer said, “Then-Governor Noem fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.”

During this virtual event, ProPublica’s reporting team will review what they’ve learned about the Trump administration’s conflicts of interest and answer your presubmitted questions.

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