[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Impeach Wilbur Ross, Trump's most corrupt cabinet
secretary

The petition to Congress reads:
"Impeach Wilbur Ross immediately."

Add your name:

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Dear John,

[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Impeach
Wilbur Ross, Trump's most
corrupt cabinet secretary

When Donald Trump illegally edited a National Weather Service map with a
Sharpie marker to justify his lie that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama,
many Americans laughed it off.^1

But ignoring Trump's reckless disregard of the truth is no laughing
matter: Millions of Americans rely on accurate, non-political and
scientific weather reporting during a natural disaster to protect their
property, family and lives.

But Trump lapdogs care more about their boss' fragile ego than they do
about public safety. Wilbur Ross, Trump's corrupt billionaire secretary of
commerce, threatened to fire top officials at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to protect Trump's lies about the hurricane's
path.^2

Ross's politicization of a scientific agency and his willful enabling of
Trump's lies not only threatens trust in government, it also threatens
lives. Ross is unfit for public office and must be impeached.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Impeach Wilbur Ross immediately. Click here to sign the
petition.

Abusing his power to cover for Trump and fire NOAA employees is only the
latest in a long line of scandals and corrupt activities for which Ross
must be held accountable. He led Trump's efforts to put a citizenship
question on the 2020 census, going so far as to lie to Congress to cover
up the administration's goal of using the census to prop up Trump's white
supremacist agenda.^3

Ross is also an ethically compromised grifter who misled the American
people about his investments and appears to have used his position to line
his own pockets.^4 In 2017, the Paradise Papers, a massive trove of leaked
documents revealing how the Wall Street super-wealthy and international
corporations avoid taxes, detailed Ross's secret financial ties to Russian
oligarchs with family ties to Vladimir Putin. The papers also showed that
Ross was negotiating natural gas export deals while he held huge
investments in the world’s largest fleet of liquefied natural gas
carriers.^5 Ross made none of these conflicts-of-interest public during
his confirmation process before the Senate.

Since his confirmation, Ross has flouted ethics rules and used his
position to enrich himself multiple times:

* In June 2018, Ross used non-public knowledge to short multiple stock
positions, which is in violation of insider trading laws.^6
* In November 2018, Ross held a secret meeting with Chevron executives
about oil and gas developments, while his wife held $250,000 in
company stock.^7
* Earlier this year, government ethics watchdogs failed to certify
Ross's official financial disclosure forms – a rare rebuke for a
cabinet secretary – after inaccurately reporting his investments.^8

In response to Ross's most recent abuse of power targeting NOAA employees,
the Department of Commerce inspector general and the chief acting
scientist at NOAA launched separate investigations into violations of
departmental policy and ethics rules, while congressional Democrats called
for Ross to resign.^9,10

Sustained activism to force out Trump's corrupt cabinet secretaries has
worked in the past, and it can work again. We must speak out now to
continue to build public pressure to force Congress to act and impeach
Ross immediately. Click the link below to sign the petition:

[ [link removed] ][link removed]

Thank you for speaking out.

Heidi Hess, Co-Director
[ [link removed] ]CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition ►

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References:

 1. Matthew Cappucci and Andrew Freedman, "[ [link removed] ]President Trump showed a
doctored hurricane chart. Was it to cover up for ‘Alabama’ Twitter
flub?" Washington Post, Sept. 5, 2019.
 2. Christopher Flavelle, Lisa Friedman and Peter Baker, "[ [link removed] ]Commerce
Chief Threatened Firings at NOAA After Trump’s Dorian Tweets, Sources
Say," New York Times, Sept. 9, 2019.
 3. The New York Times Editorial Board, "[ [link removed] ]Wilbur Ross and the Trump War
on Truth," Sept. 10, 2019.
 4. David Dayen, "[ [link removed] ]The Wilbur Ross Scandal Isn’t About Russia, It’s
About Corruption," The Intercept, Nov. 8, 2017.
 5. Ibid.
 6. Lori Ann LaRocco and Dan Mangan, "[ [link removed] ]Wilbur Ross says he shorted two
more stocks during his time as Commerce secretary," CNBC, July 3,
2018.
 7. Dan Alexander, "[ [link removed] ]Wilbur Ross Scheduled Meetings With Chevron,
Boeing Despite Conflicts Of Interest," Forbes, Oct. 25, 2018.
 8. Reis Thebault, "[ [link removed] ]Facing ethics violation, Wilbur Ross says he
didn’t mean to file inaccurate financial disclosures," Washington
Post, Feb. 19, 2019.
 9. Kate Riga, "[ [link removed] ]Senate Dems Demand Commerce IG Look Into Ross’ Alleged
NOAA Threat," Talking Points Memo, Sept. 11, 2019.
10. Miranda Green and Justine Coleman, "[ [link removed] ]Democrats call for Ross to
resign for reportedly threatening to fire officials," The Hill, Sept.
9, 2019.

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