Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker earned nearly a million dollars from the right group

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker had earned nearly $ 1 million from a right-wing non-profit organization that does not disclose its donors, according to the reports. recently released financial disclosure forms.

According to the documents, Whitaker reportedly received $ 904,000 in revenue from the Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust between 2016 and the end of 2017, as well as $ 15,000 from CNN as a legal commentator, according to documents released Tuesday by the Department of Justice. .

The non-profit group, known as FACT, defines itself as a non-partisan government oversight body promoting ethics and transparency. The tax-exempt group is supposed to serve the public interest without supporting or opposing specific candidates for vacant positions. However, its challenges and website have largely, but not exclusively, focused on Democrats and their party. The group does not disclose its donors.

Whitaker used his role as chairman and executive director of FACT in 2016 as a platform to question the ethics of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The documents show that Whitaker began to revise his public revelations the day he was appointed Acting Attorney General. He revised the forms four more times, including Tuesday.

In a disclosure form, Whitaker completed his file at the Department of Justice in September 2017 and reported receiving $ 1,875 in legal fees from a company called World Patent Marketing. Whitaker has been closely scrutinized for his involvement in the company, accused of misleading consumers and under FBI investigation.

Whitaker also revealed his partial interest in a family farm located in Ely, Iowa, valued at between $ 100,000 and $ 250,000. The forms also included information on credit card debt from $ 20,000 to $ 30,000 in 2017.

FACT drew its funds from 2014 to 2016 primarily from Donor's Trust, another non-profit organization designed to provide anonymity to conservative and libertarian donors. Although these tax-exempt groups may legally conceal the identity of their contributors and generally do so, there may be a particular irony when a group committed to transparency maintains its sources of funding in the future. 39; shadow.

The appointment of Whitaker has been criticized by Democrats who have challenged its constitutionality and fear of interfering in the investigations of the special advocate Robert Mueller in Russia.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate's highest Democrat asked the Justice Department's watchdog to investigate Whitaker's communications with the White House.

The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, asked the Inspector General to verify whether Whitaker had access to the confidential information relating to the grand jury in the Mueller probe. Schumer also wants investigators to examine whether Whitaker has shared information with Trump or other people in the administration.

John Lavinsky, a spokesman for the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, declined to comment on Schumer's application.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the second head of the Justice Department, had overseen the investigation conducted by the Special Advocate in Russia until the appointment of Whitaker. Whitaker now oversees the investigation, a decision that has been questioned by Trump administration skeptics.

Schumer and other Democrats have expressed concern over Whitaker's criticism of the Mueller probe, which examines Russia's interference in the 2016 election and its links to the Trump campaign.

After Whitaker's appointment, Schumer asked Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing the investigation and said he would seek to tie a measure protecting Mueller to an unavoidable law if he refused to do so.

Whitaker's earlier public statements included an opinion piece in which he claimed that Mueller would step outside his mandate when he was investigating Trump's family finances. In a radio interview, he claimed that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in the 2016 elections. Whitaker also wrote an editorial for CNN in 2017, questioning The extent of Mueller's investigation.

Monday, three other Democratic senators – Sens. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, Mazie Hirono from Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island – filed a complaint arguing that Whitaker's appointment was unconstitutional because it was not upheld by the Senate. The Department of Justice issued a statement Monday stating that Whitaker's appointment was "legal".

"We have no other recourse than to seek a court order," Blumenthal told reporters earlier this week.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on Schumer's request Tuesday.