White House restores financial disclosure page after CBS News inquiry

The White House’s page listing dozens of financial disclosure forms went offline without explanation, only to be restored after CBS News inquired about its removal.

Washington — The White House's page listing financial disclosure forms for President Trump and top White House officials went offline without explanation Friday afternoon, only to be restored after CBS News inquired about its removal. The page, whitehouse.gov/disclosures, serves as a hub for various disclosures required by law, including the president's annual financial disclosure form and periodic stock transaction reports. It includes financial records for the president, vice president and more than 100 White House staffers, including Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller. CBS News uses an automated system to monitor ethics disclosures across the government, including those posted on the White House page. The system checks for new filings every 30 minutes.

The White House hub was still operational as of 3:01 p.m. Friday, but returned a 404 error at the next routine check at 3:31 p.m., indicating it had been taken down. The disclosure documents themselves were still online.At 4:20 p.m., CBS News asked the White House press office in an email whether the page had been intentionally removed or whether it was down due to a technical error. CBS News requested a response by 5 p.m. The White House did not reply.As CBS News prepared a story on the page's removal, the automated ethics monitor flagged that it was back online, having been restored sometime between 4:31 and