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Whistleblower Aid Denounces Elon Musk’s Claims of “Transparency” as Trump Administration Destroys Mechanisms to Achieve It

Stop firing Inspectors General and restore government accountability, former IG investigator says 

WASHINGTON, February 12 – Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have been anything but “maximally transparent” in their slash-and-burn approach to government spending, Whistleblower Aid said on Wednesday, and would do better to reinstate the accountability mechanisms the Administration has been busy ripping apart.

“If you want transparency to root out waste, fraud and abuse, you need whistleblowers, and they need a clear and safe reporting pathway through the Inspector General offices that the Trump Administration has been tearing down,” Whistleblower Aid Chief Legal Counsel and former IG investigator Andrew Bakaj said today.

In his Oval Office press conference on Tuesday, Musk rebuffed accusations that his department of government efficiency (DOGE) has been working in secret and without the proper legal authorization. “We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible,” he claimed.

This is simply untrue. “Being brazen is not the same as being transparent. Being shameless is not the same as being transparent,” Bakaj said. “If transparency is the goal, stop firing Inspectors General and start restoring the accountability process. IGs are the front line for investigating government corruption. Rather than protecting the reporting apparatus, the Administration has cut them off at the knees.”

Since taking office on January 20, Trump has worked to dismantle the accountability mechanisms put in place after Watergate. Among the Administration’s actions:

  • Illegally firing at least 17 Inspectors General tasked with investigating wrongdoing and protecting whistleblowers who report it. Many of those IGs are now suing to get their jobs back. 
  • Attempting to illegally fire Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, whose office is a hub for whistleblowing within the federal government. 
  • Firing the head of the Office of Government Ethics, David Huitema. 
  • Placing DOGE under the Executive Office of the President to shield it from normal disclosure requirements including FOIA requests. Unless the Administration is overruled by the courts, DOGE activities will remain out of the public domain until 2034 at the earliest. 

For more, Whistleblower Aid oped: Trump Is Dismantling the System That Guards Against Government Malfeasance