Taxpayers pay legal bill to protect Trump business profits

[KelleyKramer]

Taxpayers pay legal bill to protect Trump business profits

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/15/taxpayers-pay-legal-bill-protect-trump-business-profits/848354001/



Taxpayers are footing the legal bill for at least 10 Justice Department lawyers and paralegals to work on lawsuits related to President Trump's private businesses.

Neither the White House nor the Justice Department will say how much it is costing taxpayers, but federal payroll records show the salaries of the government lawyers assigned to the cases range from about $133,000 to $185,000.

The government legal team is defending President Trump in four lawsuits stemming from his unusual decision not to divest himself from hundreds of his companies that are entangled with customers that include foreign governments and officials.

In the cases, Justice Department attorneys are not defending policy actions Trump took as president. Instead, the taxpayer-funded lawyers are making the case that it is not unconstitutional for the president's private companies to earn profits from foreign governments and officials while he's in office.

The government lawyers and Trump's private attorneys are making the same arguments — that the Constitution's ban on a president taking gifts from foreign interests in exchange for official actions does not apply to foreign government customers buying things from Trump's companies. The plaintiffs, including ethics groups and competing businesses, argue the payments pose an unconstitutional conflict of interest.

The Justice Department for weeks refused to answer questions about how many employees were working on the cases and for how long, falsely saying the agency doesn't track such information. USA TODAY identified the government legal staff who are defending Trump’s business profits using the agency's own internal case-tracking database, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.


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[uponit7771]

1. This is fucked up, mostly deplorable do this because they want a rise out of the left and want to ..

... a response to what they felt during the Obama years.

The brown person in office was a threat to them and they want revenge, this is a deep seated anger they have along with an unwillingness to say they're wrong (which most humans have) about the character of Red Don.

At some time we have to start associating Red Dons enablers and himself so they'll go underground like they did with W.

[RainCaster]

2. If we are paying for this, then we should have access to all his tax records for these businesses

If we are paying the bill, then we are the client. Full disclosure.

[KelleyKramer]

3. That's a VERY good point!

I wish some prominent Dems would point that out

[sprinkleeninow]

4. You got that right. n/t

[KelleyKramer]

5. ...