Robert Faturechi

The new target, sources said, is a sensitive database that tracks the flow of money across the government.

Ernst, an Iowa Republican, is one of the most influential voices in Congress on military topics. Ethics and military experts say her relationships with top Air Force and Navy officials created potential conflicts of interest.

The administration’s lack of transparency about tariff exemptions has experts concerned that some firms might be winning narrow carve-outs behind closed doors. “It could be corruption, but it could just as easily be incompetence,” one lobbyist said.

Disclosure forms show that Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares on April 2. That day, after the market closed, Trump’s “Liberation Day” press conference sent the market tumbling.

Duffy is the second member of Trump’s Cabinet who sold securities shortly before the president’s tariff announcements sent markets plunging. A spokesperson for Duffy said an account manager made the trades and that Duffy had no input on the timing.

Records show well-timed trades by executive branch employees and congressional aides. Even if they had no insider information, ethics experts say such trading undermines faith in government and the markets.

The White House has targeted opponents, including a Fed governor, for having more than one primary residence on their loan papers. ProPublica found that, in one case, a Trump cabinet secretary got two such mortgages in quick succession.

The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing he called “deceitful and potentially criminal.”

About three months before the Pentagon announced plans to lend money to Vulcan Elements, Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company.

In a letter, a group of Democratic Congress members wrote that ProPublica’s reporting on the deal “reveals a staggering level of corruption and influence.”