Gupta

Vanita Gupta, who served as director of the Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration, said in a statement to The Times that Dhillon’s moves to date as head of the division — and the departures they have spurred among career lawyers — are cause for alarm.

“This is not simply a change in enforcement priorities that comes with a change in administration — the division has been turned on its head and is now being used as a weapon against the very communities it was established to protect,” Gupta said.

“A CNN Heroes profile by Sanjay Gupta is nice. Know what would also be nice? Cooking dinner for your kids,” he said to me in a sneer masquerading as a smile.

Had he accepted, Jonas at the time said that he would have been expected to remove key Treasury officials from their posts and use his position to advance the Gupta family's "business ambitions" - an example of what has become known in South Africa as "state capture".

The Gupta family has denied the allegations, while Zuma has always denied all accusations of corruption made against him.