This thread is for Trump-related crimes, scandals, and investigations not related to Russia, or to payoffs of people he’s slept with. This is the place to talk about:
The emoluments case
The Trump Foundation investigation
Influence peddling in the Middle East
And no doubt many more. The fun’s just getting started!
It is worth noting that the Clinton Foundation’s comparatively puny conflicts of interest attracted vastly more campaign coverage than the Trump Foundation did. In a normal presidency — i.e., one not beset by numerous other investigations — the Trump Foundation probe would be five-alarm fire news. Indeed, it does pose a very serious ongoing threat to Trump and his family members. The details that have emerged already in public, even before the investigation has concluded, reveal the foundation as a vehicle for what is basically straight-up theft. And since the investigation is occurring at the state level, Trump’s pardon power, which only applies to federal crimes, is useless.
@HumanTon is awarded several points for having a meme free thread title and trusting readers to understand that this is a thread without being explicitly told so.
Me, I’m wondering why Trump agreed to shutter the foundation. He doesn’t appear to have gotten anything in return. The lawsuit continues, and isn’t there some possibility of criminal charges coming out of what the lawsuit turns up?
If you’re being investigated for committing crimes and you are in fact committing crimes, it’s generally advisable to stop committing crimes so you don’t get charged with even more crimes. Clearly the Foundation is doing something illegal merely by existing (which makes sense, considering the article linked above says it never has board meetings and the “treasurer” didn’t even know he was the treasurer.)
You joke but this is why we’re doomed. The Panama Papers get a collective yawn by the public, but reports and articles about random assholes, or even better C-list celebrities, on Twitter saying sarcastic things get constant coverage.
This is the same place that those inane “reaction” videos come from on Youtube that get millions of hits. Journalists barely report what’s happening, they report on our reaction to what’s happening.
Cross-posting this from the shutdown thread (thanks to nKoan) because this will surely come up in the emoluments suit:
The Park Service runs the Old Post Office Tower, which tourists flock to for the view, Trump leases the rest of the Old Post Office building from the Federal government for his hotel. Obviously sales of Trump tchotchkes at his hotel gift shop will fall if the tower is closed, so clearly the shutdown cannot extend to His Imperial Highness.
Interesting Forbes article about how donors to Trump’s reelection are paying for his business operations.
And as a subscriber to that donor mailing list, I see that donors are often asked to donate to the “Official Build The Wall Fund” or the “Official Stand With President Trump [against the “left wing mob”] Fund”… and this, hilariously, is where that money gets dumped. And as donor donations are often described as receiving matching amounts from ???, I wonder if money laundering might be a part of that too.
Your irregular reminder that even if Trump & clan skate on [fill in the blank], there are roughly ten million things he and his can be charged with. Including the massive slush fund that is the 2016 Inauguration:
The $107 million event has been under investigation for months, including by federal prosecutors in New York and New Jersey, for profligate spending and questions about foreign donations. The latest subpoena appears to be probing potential self-dealing by the Trump Organization and members of the president’s family, according to two people familiar with the investigation.
