Deloitte has come under fire as JD Vance has had his messages from 2020 leaked by a Deloitte employee. Donald Trump and his Republican allies are threatening Deloitte because of the actions of the one employee. Even Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., mentioned, “Maybe it’s time for the GOP to end Deloitte’s taxpayer funded gravy train?” (CNN). This statement is a powerful message of what the federal government may do.
For some context, Deloitte is a large consultancy firm with about $3 billion in contracts with the federal government. This $3 billion in contracts includes major agencies such as the Department of Defense, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. Most of the money, if not all, is from taxpayers, the American people.
The Republican Party wants Deloitte to take responsibility for what the employee did and address the situation. Yet, Deloitte noted that the employee “shared private personal messages on his own volition without the knowledge of Deloitte” (The Hill). That employee is Kevin Gallagher, an executive at Deloitte. For his actions, he is being accused of conspiring and trying to interfere with the election by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. As a result of him sharing such messages, he is now going to be actively involved in politics.
This brings up the idea of cyber security and the question of why Gallagher did what he did. Where did this information come from? Why was this information in the hands of Gallagher in the first place? The actions of Gallagher may appear as a simple demonstration of the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. For Gallagher, he may have not realized what could happen from his actions but sharing messages from a political candidate, now could bring a lot of controversy. The truth is that these messages were private but the First Amendment implies that those messages can be shared. In this situation, it appears the right to privacy may overtake the values of the First Amendment. Consideration has to be taken that Deloitte, a large American company also has access to tons of government information. The messages of Vance were with a private consultant, so it is not surprising that these messages would be expected to be kept private. Scandals can come from the misuse of information, especially government information that is leaked.
Interestingly enough, Vance, the running mate of Donald Trump had previously criticized the former president and even admitted it, another example of the demonstration of the First Amendment. In February 2020, Vance wrote, “I think Trump will probably lose” (The Guardian). Though Vance had previously shared his disapproval of the former president, he currently supports and is impressed by Trump’s performance as president.
Well, though there may be many questions about the situation as a whole, the federal government has yet to cut contracts with Deloitte. It is hard to hold people accountable for what they said in the past. People in the federal government hold positions of power. Vance is a candidate for vice president and therefore it is not surprising that he may want more security to prevent another situation like this. Thus, this situation involves the federal government and a major American company with federal government contracts, so it now brings the question of what the federal government can do against a company.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/business/deloitte-trump-leaked-jd-vance-messages/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/trump-vance-deloitte-contracts
https://thehill.com/business/4919910-deloitte-employee-trump-criticism/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-allies-threaten-deloittes-3b-171532977.html
1 comment:
It's hard to determine the magnitude of damage caused by this leakage without knowing the specifics of what was shared; in actuality, it seems like the Republican party is trying to take advantage of this opportunity to attack Deloitte. I understand that Gallagher (the employee responsible for this whole shabang) tried justifying what he did under the First Amendment's freedom of speech, but with the knowledge that this information was supposed to be kept private, as this was between Vance and a private consultant, he really appears to be in the wrong, here. Additionally, if what the company said is true--about the employee leaking information on his own will--then it only cements the wound inflicted upon Deloitte from this one employee. Broadening this in the context of the upcoming presidential election, where political polarization and tensions are at an all time high, this matter is not great for both the Republican party or Deloitte. Unfortunately, the truth under the surface may not come out until the election is over.
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