The United States Office of Government Ethics isn’t often in the news. And when it is, it’s typically declining to comment. That changed Wednesday when its typically boring Twitter account began firing off tweets to President-elect Donald Trump regarding his intention to “leave” his business once he becomes president.
At first blush, the tone, the exclamation points and the consistent use of the word divestiture make it pretty obvious that this isn’t genuine praise for Trump. But what’s unclear is if it’s the result of a hack or if someone in the OGE office is sarcastically highlighting Trump’s largely meaningless promise to “leave” his business and not actually divest. Another option: Maybe the OGE knows something we don’t and Trump does plan to divest.
That last one seems to seal it. This has to be trolling. “Handing over control” is precisely what Trump is doing. This afternoon, the OGE put out a statement that seemed to confirm the tweets aren’t the result of a hack and suggests that the OGE is trolling with an expert touch.
