Trump’s Lobbying Probe May Chill Critics, Ethics Watchdogs Warn

President Donald Trump‘s directive for a Justice Department probe into whether federal grants are being used to pay for lobbying could have a chilling effect on groups that oppose the administration’s agenda, ethics watchdogs said.

The administration said Trump’s new memorandum aimed to safeguard taxpayer dollars and to increase the integrity of federal grant-making by preventing such money from being used for lobbying activity. Using those funds for lobbying is already prohibited.

“In addition to being a wasteful, abusive, and potentially fraudulent use of the American people’s money, the possible use of Federal grants as slush funds for political ...