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[link removed] [[link removed]] John,

Last week, Donald Trump announced that Walt Nauta will serve on the U.S. Navy’s Board of Visitors—a board tasked with helping oversee the Naval Academy.

Nauta was Trump’s aide for several years. He’s better known for being caught on camera moving boxes of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, and being charged with conspiracy to conceal classified documents (charges were only dropped by the Trump Justice Department in January).

John, this is yet another example of Trump’s cronyism—handing out powerful government positions to those in his inner circle without regard for their qualifications or the potential consequences . The people entrusted with running our country should be chosen for their expertise, not their loyalty to Trump .

We’ll tell you more about Trump’s picks, but first we have a message for you: CREW is committed to holding Trump accountable and exposing conflicts of interest at every turn. If you believe our government should work for the people, then chip in to support our work today → [[link removed]]If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your tax deductible donation will go through immediately to ActBlue Charities Inc. and be disbursed to CREW within 30 days:

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This is far from the first time that Donald Trump has brought someone from his inner circle into a high-level government position. He infamously brought his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner on to serve as senior advisors during his first presidency, despite their lack of government experience.

While Jared and Ivanka have so far not joined the government this time around, Trump’s pattern of tapping loyalists has only intensified.

Lieutenant General Dan Caine is Trump's pick to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He would need a waiver to serve in the role, since his military experience does not meet the criteria laid out by law. He, of course, has business ties to the Kushner family.

Trump has also rewarded his most loyal donors, like Steve Feinberg. The co-founder and CEO of a private equity firm, Feinberg was a major Republican donor and served on Trump's Economic Advisory Council during the 2016 campaign. President Trump nominated Feinberg to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Or Trump loyalists like Kash Patel, who served in various roles during Trump's first term, including as Chief of Staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense in 2020, and also pushed to challenge the 2020 election results. Now, he’s the Director of the FBI.

And the pattern doesn’t stop there. Richard Grenell, another staunch Trump defender, was appointed as acting Director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term despite having no prior intelligence experience. Now he’s Trump’s presidential envoy for special missions.

Trump even nominated Matt Gaetz , an ally and former member of Congress who the House Ethics Committee found substantial evidence had violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress , to serve as attorney general . Gaetz eventually withdrew his name from consideration after several Republican senators said they wouldn’t support him due to the allegations against him.

Trump has consistently prioritized loyalty over qualifications and experience, placing personal allies in critical positions of power — often with little or no regard for their ability to serve the country effectively.

John, we need leaders who will prioritize the missions of the agencies they serve and the American people — rather than blindly serving Donald Trump.

If, or when, conflicts of interest arise CREW will be there to fight for accountability whenever we find our government leaders are not serving the interests of the people.

Help CREW hold the Trump administration accountable by making a donation to support our work today → [[link removed]]If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your tax deductible donation will go through immediately to ActBlue Charities Inc. and be disbursed to CREW within 30 days:

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Thank you,

Jason Powell
Policy Director
CREW
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