Alleges President’s Financially-Conflicted Business Associates Leading White House Effort to Enrich Developers While Ignoring Needs of Communities
August 1, 2017
Washington, D.C.—Food & Water Watch filed suit today in federal court seeking to void all actions taken by President Donald Trump’s “Infrastructure Council” and compel the Administration to disclose the role its financially conflicted co-chairs, Richard LeFrak and Steve Roth, have played in shaping the President’s infrastructure policy.
The suit, which was filed against President Trump, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Commerce, alleges President Trump’s Infrastructure Council has operated in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act since it was established in January 2017.
“President Trump’s commitment to rebuilding America’s infrastructure is nothing more than a massive corporate giveaway and a blueprint for selling American water systems, bridges, and roads to the highest bidder,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “That’s why in January, President Trump tasked two financially-conflicted real-estate developers with crafting and executing his infrastructure plan — and they’ve been working behind closed doors ever since.”
Rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure is essential to spurring economic growth in rural areas, creating good-paying jobs in major cities, and ensuring every American has access to paved roads, safe schools, and clean water. President Trump has effectively outsourced policymaking decisions on this national priority to private individuals who are unfettered by conflict-of-interest rules and other public accountability standards.
“Communities deserve a seat at the table, and they deserve to know if President Trump’s friends are getting paid to build it,” said Hauter.
Food & Water Watch is being represented on a pro bono basis by lawyers at Democracy Forward Foundation.
The filing was made in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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This press release was originally published by Food & Water Watch.