Slate - "The First Week in Donald Trumps Kleptocracy Was Very, Very Kleptocratic"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/27/donald_trump_s_first_week_as_president_was_full_of_conflicts_of_interest.html

by Josh Voorhees

Ethics experts and good-government watchdogs spent months warning that Donald Trump would face a swirling mess of conflicts of interest once he took office. One week into his presidency, the full scope of that ethical catastrophe is already coming into focus.

In no particular order, the world learned this week that:

Trump replaced the head of the General Services Administration, the federal agency that effectively serves as the landlord for the new Trump hotel in Washington and has been asked to investigate whether Trump is now in violation of that lease.

Trump signed orders clearing the way for the disputed Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines to proceed. As recently as last summer, the president owned between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in the company building the Dakota project, and its chief executive donated $100,000 to the Trump Victory Fund, a joint effort between Trump and the Republican Party. (Trump claims to have sold off his stock portfolio before the election, though he has not provided documentation proving he did.)

Trump signaled his intent to sign an order suspending the granting of visas to seven predominantly Muslim countries. Not on the list: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan, aka predominantly Muslim countries where the Trump Organization has existing business interests.

Trump is pushing forward with his plans for a massive, privatization-heavy infrastructure bill that appears tailor-made for cronyism and self-dealing.

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