January, 29 2016, 08:30am EDT
As Top TPP Negotiator Resigns Over Bribery Allegations, 10,000 People Demand Investigation, Call on President Obama, Other Leaders, Not to Sign TPP on Feb. 4
Scandal is latest blow to deeply controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement
WASHINGTON
Yesterday, a top Japanese official in charge of negotiating the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement resigned over serious allegations of bribery and corruption.
In a rapid response that unfolded overnight, more than 10,000 people signed a petition launched by Fight for the Future demanding an investigation into the bribery allegations and whether they affected the TPP, and called upon President Obama and other world leaders not to sign the agreement on February 4th amid such a scandal.
"No one should be surprised by this, and it's hard to imagine that Mr. Amari is the only official involved in negotiating this massive agreement that has been engaging in this dishonest activity. It's hard to imagine a more perfect example of why the TPP should never become law," said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights group that has fiercely opposed the deal, "Decisions that affect billions of people should never be made in secret. Shutting journalists, experts, and the public out of the drafting of these agreements literally guarantees that there will be corruption, and the final text speaks for itself, reading like a wishlist for politically powerful and incumbent corporations."
Investigators claim that Akira Amari, Japan's chief economic minister, accepted bribes worth more than $148,000 from a major construction company. It's unclear whether the bribes were related to the TPP itself, but the public is demanding answers.
The petition, which quickly went viral on social media and was tweeted thousands of times, reads, "Signing the TPP while there are serious allegations of corruption concerning one of its top negotiators would be reckless and anti-democratic. Do not sign the TPP. We demand a full investigation into these bribery charges and a review of all officials involved in TPP negotiations."
Fight for the Future intends to deliver the signatures to President Obama early next week before the February 4th date when world leaders have expressed their intention to sign the TPP.
Fight for the Future is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible. We fight for a future where technology liberates -- not oppresses -- us.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
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