Rolling Stone: How Trump Misled America About His Plans for His Companies

[pnwmom]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/how-trump-misled-america-about-his-plans-for-his-company-w460568

During a combative press conference Wednesday – during which the president-elect blasted BuzzFeed as a "failing pile of garbage" for publishing an intelligence dossier alleging a "well-developed conspiracy of co-operation" between Trump and his campaign and the government of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin – Trump finally unveiled a plan for distancing himself from the


Trump spokesman Sean Spicer began the event blasting the dossier, reportedly authored by a retired Western intelligence agent, as "salacious and flat-out false information." Trump called it "nonsense" and "fake news" but later added, referring to himself in the third person, "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability."

The centerpiece of the press conference was a presentation by a Trump lawyer detailing the future of the Trump Organization. During the campaign, Trump had promised the American people that his businesses would be placed in a blind trust. He's tweeted since the election that his companies would do "no new deals" during his presidency.

Both of these vows, America learned Wednesday, are false.

[riversedge]

1. Trump presidency: "Every decision he will make as president will be followed by the specter of doubt

That is a mild statement IMHO


Trump presidency: "Every decision he will make as president will be followed by the specter of doubt
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/how-trump-misled-america-about-his-plans-for-his-company-w460568





.....Government ethics watchdogs were not impressed.

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, dismissed as "absurd" the notion that Trump has insulated himself from conflicts of interest relating to businesses he will continue to own and that will be run by his children.

"The only way for Donald Trump to avoid massive conflicts of interest is to sell his business outside the family and place the assets in a true blind trust," Bookbinder said in a statement. Trump's failure to "live up to the ethical standard of past presidents," he added, will cast a long shadow over the Trump presidency: "Every decision he will make as president will be followed by the specter of doubt – and will be questioned as to whether his decision is in the best interest of the American people or the best interest of his bottom line."

Norm Eisen, who founded CREW and now serves as a Brookings fellow, insisted that Trump's plan falls short "in every respect" of what is required – both in terms of presidential ethics and the Constitution. "Mr. Trump's ill-advised course," Eisen said, "will precipitate scandal and corruption."

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Most people here on DU never

thought this Slug would divest his holdings.

[Initech]

3. The world's biggest snake oil salesman.

[LisaM]

4. Or, "How Americans Chose to be Misled About Trump's Plans for His Companies".

The guy brought a bunch of his own products out when he was speaking to the media after winning a primary! I don't think he could have signaled his intent more clearly. In fact, that would have been a perfect time for the press to start the inquiries on how he was going to divest his businesses.

But they didn't do that.