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PODCAST

Welcome to the Trump Oligarchy: Latest Billionaire Pick Is a Stunner

As Trump chooses yet another billionaire for a prominent administration role, an ethics expert explains why the post-Watergate guardrails against corruption are unlikely to withstand what’s coming.

Trump makes sly expression
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s administration is already shaping up as a Murderer’s Row of Billionaires. By one count, he’s already picked eight billionaires for top positions. He has now chosen a ninth billionaire to serve as deputy defense secretary, and this one enjoys lucrative contracts with the Pentagon. We talked to Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, about how unprecedented it is to have so many billionaires in the governmentand whether there are any post-Watergate safeguards left that can withstand the oligarchic corruption that’s about to hit us. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.