Draining actual swamps can be a Bad Thing, because wetlands really provide a lot of benefits. But draining figurative swamps, as in government corruption, is a worthy goal, and one of President Trump’s major promises.

Unless you’ve been entirely out of contact (maybe camping out in an actual swamp) you know he’s done mainly the opposite, with his own conflicts of interest qualifying him as one of the head alligators. During the campaign he accused Hillary Clinton of being in the pocket of Goldman Sachs (which was overblown but not entirely off the mark) but as president he’s appointed a bunch of Goldman Sachs people to high government posts.

As we approach the end of the first hundred days of the Trump administration there have been a lot of reports taking stock the swamp-draining. See for example Julie Bykowicz’s article for the Associated Press.

Below are a couple of video reports starting with one from Samantha Bee from back in January that’s still very much worth watching for her take on Steve Mnuchin, the former Goldman Sachs guy who during the Great Recession modeled himself on a silent movie villain. That’s my description, not Bee’s, but if you don’t believe me, just watch Bee’s report. And if you think she’s inventing the story and he can’t possibly have been that bad, do some digging yourself.

Here’s a more recent account of Trump’s swamp-draining efforts from MSNBC. It’s clearly partisan, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

Finally, The Hill has a piece about a book on the subject, Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption Is Worse than You Think by Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado. Buck is a Republican who underscores the corruption of both parties.

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