Warren vows to form task force to investigate Trump if elected

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of the top tier contenders for the Democratic nomination for president, says she would launch a federal task force to investigate corruption in President Trump's administration if she's elected as his successor.

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The populist lawmaker from Massachusetts on Tuesday released a plan that she touts will "restore integrity and competence" to the federal government in a post-Trump era.

In her proposal, Warren warns that “Donald Trump will leave behind a government that has been infected by corruption and incompetence, and his vindictive actions as president suggest that he is likely to do everything he can to undermine the next president.”

The senator highlights that the task force would be set up inside the Justice Department and would hold administration officials “accountable for illegal activity.” And she adds that she’d ask for all Trump political appointees to step down and would terminate any federal contracts produced “as the result of corruption.” Warren could use executive actions afforded to presidents to create the investigatory task forces.

The new plan is an extension of a centerpiece of Warren’s campaign – to implement broad structural change and combat corruption in Washington.

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Trump also made cleaning up corruption in Washington a key part of his 2016 White House campaign. He repeatedly vowed to “drain the swamp.” He argues he’s been successful, but he has many critics who say he’s only made the problem worse.

His Justice Department has also probed alleged misdeeds of his predecessor: U.S. attorney John Durham is probing potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct during the Obama administration in the run-up to the 2016 election.

The release of Warren’s plan comes with less than two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential nominating calendar. Polls suggest Warren is part of a top tier of candidates, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.