Haven’t past holders of public office and many cabinet members done exactly that?
Have you noticed the effects Trump’s attacks on various businesses have had on their stock prices? Granted, the changes tend to be short lived, and I am not accusing Trump of doing it for monetary reasons, but what he has done in attacking such businesses is rare.
Certainly some officeholders have, but I think there can still be significant conflicts of interest even after putting many assets in a trust. See this article on very wealthy, arguably corrupt former Republican congressman Darrell Issa – he put a lot in a trust, but questions remained: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/us/politics/15issa.html
For instance, he secured a $800K earmark to improve traffic in his district – which voters loved – but it also happened to help improve traffic flow near a major medical complex he owned…That kind of corruption can persist even when he dumps everything into a blind trust. And it’s very thorny to see how to fix that.
Yes! I don’t know enough to know if his comments have enriched him personally, or how that would even work, but it would seem to be an unavoidable problem. I don’t know how to go about fixing that apparent conflict.
I was under the impression that Trump’s refusal to put his assets in a blind trust, rather than simply hand control over to his kids, raised plenty of eyebrows at the time as a violation of political norms.
Yes I think you are right. Trump has done even less than the norms would dictate, thus raising very reasonable questions (which should never have to be asked) as to whether he is corrupt/prone to corruption. But he still was within the law, and even giving the businesses to the kids would create very clear conflicts, right? I am just not sure what the solution is, short of selling everything.
One solution is a blind trust. As Romney said he would do. Another is just selling it, like Carter did.
Trump is about 1000x more conflicted than those two. He’s own a hotel IN WASHINTON DC where people who want to see Trump pay for the super high end treatment there:
But the real issue comes in February 2019, when the tower’s $1.2 billion mortgage becomes due. Refinancing is really not an option since many real estate experts believe the mortgage exceeds the value of the tower.
Unless you have some proof that Clinton lied on the SF-86 to get a clearance, your comparing apples and oranges here. Kushner repeatedly fucked up the SF-86 and anyone else would have been kicked to the door the first time it happened. Having gone through the process myself and received a ts-sci clearance, and known people that have been denied clearances this whole thing makes a mockery of the process.
Chelsea was not a member of the clinton white house, acting on their behalf. Kushner is. It’s not the same. It’s just not.
The attempt to say that Hillary doing something is the same as Trump’s son in law doing it is disingenious, but that’s something I see a lot in these arguements. I am starting to doubt your intentions and application of facts to these arguments, cause you do seem to have trouble seeing the factual differences in your own arguments, and then wave it away.
If you want to say that things are the same, then the facts have to support that, This isn’t fox news. Reports of doners to the CLinton foundation trying to get appointments with Hillary are not the same as Trump’s son in alw meeting with foreign agents who paid to actually get appointments with the president, and I would expect full outrage from the GOP if such a thing had happened with the Clintons and Chelsea. I would in fact be outraged by that and call them out for it. It is precisely because it isn’t drawing the same outrage from the GOP that it is notable and egregious. Now please use facts and compare apples with apples and we can continue to have discussions. If you continue to spout whataboutisms that aren’t based in facts, I will have to asume you are in bed with Malathor and respond to you in kind.
Good day sir.
Of course it did. But…Trump! But…our team! But…tax cuts for us, the rich!
And because he got away with never releasing tax returns, so we have no idea how much shady crap there is in those assets.
It’s not the same, but it’s rather similar. Money did, in fact, change hands in both instances.
I’m not sure what this means, but I take it as a personal attack and so will stop communications with you on this topic.
Is there proof of deliberate deception, or omission? I never said either lied intentionally. There is evidence Clinton omitted plenty of info regarding foreign government donations , on tax forms and other documents:
Key part:
All this while she had top secret clearances as secretary of state.
And obviously there is the whole mishandling of classified info/email server thing, which would also cause most people to lose their clearances.
But a blind trust would not eliminate a huge amount of conflicts, still, right? Like in the Darrell Issa example. You just can’t eliminate the conflicts, or the appearance of conflicts, without requiring a total sale of all assets.
It would be a big couple of steps in the right direction. There’s really no defending Trump over this. He’s directing government money into his own personal business just by staying at Mar-A-Lago almost every weekend.
Maybe the office of the President of the United States should be taken seriously enough by its occupants to do this? It’s not summer camp. It’s not an internship. If you want to be the leader of the so-called free world then make a sacrifice and sell it all. Prove you’re worthy of the role. Prove you’re above business-related corruption and won’t be affected by that type of influence. Trump is only in it to benefit himself and his shitty family.
Yep. Nothing else need be said.
Agreed. No one should want to be POTUS for the high salary or cushy do-nothing position. It’s a job that asks a lot of the person that takes the office, and rightly so. You’re POTUS for the good of the nation and its people. You’re not there for money-making opportunities or to advance a career. If you aren’t prepared for a hard job with little recompense that requires a lot of responsibility, then go away.
Only Democrats have conflicts of interest. Republicans have bold business strategies.
Speaking of which, here’s Donnie’s latest scam, er, strategy:
I’m sure this demand will stay in place until foreign car manufacturers wire a sufficiently large amount to Michael Cohen’s account.
National security? Car imports? Can these guys just fuck off into some other timeline already?
hahaha i wonder if there is some difference between the way nearly any GOP scandal is perceived and Killary literally having a cough.
what could it be.
i’m at a loss, someone help me and/or stop feeding the troll ya knobs.