Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker made nearly $1M working for controversial group, new records show

Last year, before joining the Justice Department and taking a government salary, now-Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker made nearly a million dollars in salary while leading a tax-exempt organization that allegedly advocated right-wing positions.

The disclosure comes in financial reports the Justice Department sent to congressional committees late Tuesday afternoon – after DOJ revised the documents five times in the past two weeks, the documents show.

The reports say Whitaker received $904,000 in salary from the Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust, where he served as president and executive.

Two weeks ago, after President Donald Trump removed Jeff Sessions as attorney general and tapped Whitaker to take over, the Associated Press noted that as a tax-exempt, charitable organization, the foundation “is supposed to serve the public interest … without directly or even indirectly supporting or opposing specific candidates for office.”

However, Whitaker “repeatedly chided presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in public statements during 2016 while he was speaking for [the] group,” arguing that Clinton should be prosecuted for her handling of her private email server, the Associated Press reported.

“[T]he group has engaged in one partisan pronouncement after another, mostly directed at Democrats,” the Associated Press added.

But a spokesperson for the foundation insisted that "As a nonpartisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) holds accountable government officials from both parties, as well as associated political campaigns and organizations.”

The foundation-related revelation accounts for just one line of many in the financial documents released Tuesday. In all, Whitaker cited seven different sources of income, and he also detailed other assets and financial accounts associated with both him and his wife.