mr. president, it s very hard for me to add to the eloquence of my friend and my dear friend from arizona. but i do want to say that it s been one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve with a man of integrity, of honor, decency, and commitment to not only arizona but the united states of america. i have seen jeff flake stand up for what he believes in knowing full well that there would be a political price to pay. i have seen him stand up for his family. i have seen him stand up for his forebearers who were the early settlers of the state of arizona. in fact, there s a place called snowflake, arizona. obviously, the flake part comes
brody who reports on government ethics. ben, thank you for joining me. what does the government accountability office say? the accountability office says what the government did do during the transition, and it says the state department was able to help the president on only a couple of phone calls. if you cast your mind back to november, there were a ton of phone calls coming in, and we don t really know, you know, how many of those were secured, how many of those need to be secured. that was one thing. the other thing that the gao report was talking about was the fact that the president did not really consult with the office of government ethics about how to dispose of his businesses, and he was really breaking with the president of some of his forebearers in that. wasn t the point of the other guy, walter schaub leaving that job, about the fact that everybody s expectations were this government ethics office was not going to be particularly vigilant about this administration. i
protection and civil liberties that our forebearers fought and bled for. regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we saw them. you ve heard the letter. what stance out to you? it s interesting, almost as if president obama gave president trump a list of things to follow to be a good president, and president trump has used it as a checklist of things not to do. it was a very specific set of recommendations from taking care of people and having policies that think of the lack of fortune that many americans face, to respecting democratic traditions and institutions. and you read it now in retrospect, and president trump has really gone against many of those ideas. interestingly, as our cnn piece notes, it s something that
drawer of the resolute desk, taken by former photographer pete souza. trump said to cherish the letter, never revealed the contents. he shared it with visitors to the oval office. cnn has an exclusive copy from someone president trump showed it to. all of you hope for regardless of party should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure. let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years. among those reflections, he write we are temporary objecting pants of this office, makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties that our forebearers fought and bled for.
me will particular helpful. still let me offer a few reflectio reflections. first we have both been blessed in different ways with great good fortune. not everyone is so lucky. it is up to us to do everything we can to build more ladders of success for every child and family that s willing to work hard. second, american leadership in this world really is indispensable. it s up through us through action and example to sustain the international order that s expanded steadily since the end of the cold war and upon which our own wealth and safety depend. third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. that makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions, like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties that our forebearers fought and bled for. regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it s up to us to leave those instruments of