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Ethics watchdog at Justice Department resigns over Trump’s corruption

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 09: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) put his hand on the shoulder of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) after introducing him before Sessions's swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House February 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump also signed three executive orders immediately after the swearing in ceremony. Also pictured is U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Trump top law enforcement officer, Jeff Sessions, lied under oath about his Russian contacts. Source: Getty Images.

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A former federal prosecutor and veteran ethics officer at the Department of Justice left her job in June because she said it felt hypocritical to ask companies to comply with rules that Donald Trump and his administration are evading himself.

Hui Chen had served in the agency’s Fraud Section of the Criminal Division for more than a year and a half, but she outlined her reasons for leaving in a social network post last week. The Hill writes:

“To sit across the table from companies and question how committed they were to ethics and compliance felt not only hypocritical, but very much like shuffling the deck chair on the Titanic,” Chen wrote. […]

Even as I engaged in those questioning and evaluations, on my mind were the numerous lawsuits pending against the President of the United States for everything from violations of the Constitution to conflict of interest, the ongoing investigations of potentially treasonous conducts, and the investigators and prosecutors fired for their pursuits of principles and facts,” she continued.

“Those are conducts I would not tolerate seeing in a company, yet I worked under an administration that engaged in exactly those conduct. I wanted no more part in it,” Chen said, adding that management in her office “persistently prohibited me from public speaking.”

Professor Jennifer Arlen ’86, Andrew Weissmann, and Hui Chen. Source: NYU Law.

Seems Chen wasn’t impressed with Trump’s firing of James Comey among many, many other things she sees as absolutely bogus about his administration. And somehow Jeff Sessions‘ leadership at the department wasn’t inspiring confidence either.

From a personal standpoint, Chen added that she would make it her “personal mission” going forward to hold elected representatives to account:

“I believe it has never been more important for every individual to speak and act on their conscience and belief.”

Amen, sister.