Public service over self-dealing

Public office is held in trust. The authority and resources of government belong to the public; officials are stewards of those things, not owners of them. The corresponding obligation is straightforward: officials do not use their position to enrich themselves, their families, their donors, or their private business interests. This is not an abstract demand — every dollar moved from the public treasury into a private pocket is a dollar that came from taxpayers and was supposed to do public work.

The patterns tracked here include direct self-dealing, bribery, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, nepotistic appointments, emoluments violations, pay-to-play arrangements, the monetization of office through outside business interests, and procurement irregularities such as no-bid contracts steered to allies or donors. As with every other ideal, the standard is symmetric: the official's party affiliation is irrelevant to whether self-dealing is recorded.

Further reading: National Constitution Center Interactive Constitution — Foreign Emoluments Clause. U.S. Office of Government Ethics — federal financial-disclosure and conflict-of-interest standards.