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Trumps 10 Troubling Deals with Foreign Power-Players
The latest from ProPublica:
(By Derek Kravitz and Al Shaw, ProPublica, and John Kelly, USA Today, January 19, 2017)
I really thought that I had seen it all when it comes to political corruption, but as usual, Comrade trump trumps them all when it comes to corruption and a complete lack of personal ethics in the highest office in this country. How much longer must we tolerate this man running amuck in streets both domestic and foreign? He should be sitting in a solitary cell in Gitmo right now, awaiting a trial that stretches off in some distant future just like any other terrorist who imperils the security of our country:
Incoming President Donald Trump’s business deals span the globe. Trump-branded skyscrapers, golf courses and hotels stretch from Dubai to Azerbaijan to the Philippines.
Government ethics experts have strongly criticized Trump’s refusal to divest ownership of any of his businesses. But they point to his ongoing foreign deals with those connected to power as the most troubling.
“These foreign deals are fertile ground for corruption,” Norman Eisen, the White House chief ethics lawyer under President Obama, told ProPublica. "When there's a pre-existing relationship, there can be wink, wink, nod, nod, or even a private whisper that turns into a quid pro quo.”
“He has to get rid of his foreign deals,” said Matthew T. Sanderson, an attorney at Caplin & Drysdale who has served as legal counsel on three Republican presidential campaigns.
Trump’s Byzantine business structures and his lack of disclosures -- he has released neither his tax returns nor details of his foreign deals -- make it difficult to get a full picture of the incoming president’s business relationships. But using government records, Trump’s own local disclosures and press reports, we’ve identified 10 Trump deals in which he has partnered with power players abroad.
We asked the Trump Organization about each of these deals. We’ve included the responses they gave.
Government ethics experts have strongly criticized Trump’s refusal to divest ownership of any of his businesses. But they point to his ongoing foreign deals with those connected to power as the most troubling.
“These foreign deals are fertile ground for corruption,” Norman Eisen, the White House chief ethics lawyer under President Obama, told ProPublica. "When there's a pre-existing relationship, there can be wink, wink, nod, nod, or even a private whisper that turns into a quid pro quo.”
“He has to get rid of his foreign deals,” said Matthew T. Sanderson, an attorney at Caplin & Drysdale who has served as legal counsel on three Republican presidential campaigns.
Trump’s Byzantine business structures and his lack of disclosures -- he has released neither his tax returns nor details of his foreign deals -- make it difficult to get a full picture of the incoming president’s business relationships. But using government records, Trump’s own local disclosures and press reports, we’ve identified 10 Trump deals in which he has partnered with power players abroad.
We asked the Trump Organization about each of these deals. We’ve included the responses they gave.
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-conflicts/
