Witches' brew': Washington's ethics establishment reacts to Trump's $2.2 billion windfall -- they're shocked but not surprised

“Witches' brew”: Washington's ethics establishment reacts to Trump's $2.2 billion windfall -- they're shocked but not surprised highlights renewed scrutiny after disclosures tied to President Donald Trump’s 2025 income. The filings report $2.2 billion in earnings, with more than $1 billion from crypto, prompting ethics figures to say the scale is unlike anything seen in US public life. Norm Eisen, former White House ethics “czar” under President Obama and now chair and co-founder of Democracy Defenders Action, called the reports “the most shocking” disclosures in the country’s history and said he was “startled” by the “scope and scale of corruption.”

Other veteran critics also compared the situation to historic scandals. Former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt referenced Teapot Dome, arguing that past controversies were “small potatoes” compared with the current “gigantic numbers.” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale said the disclosures go “many thousand times beyond” suspicions linked to Hunter Biden, while scholar Rob Lalka of Tulane argued it is abnormal for a sitting president to report $2.2 billion in a single year. A key concern raised across sources is that the reported gains may be linked to decisions made by Trump’s own administration, with crypto profits cited as a clear example of potential conflict.