Despite reversal, Trump's Doral promotion will now be used against him in court

[demmiblue]

Source: McClatchy

Congressional Democrats will file a legal brief in federal court on Tuesday asserting that President Trump’s promotion of his Doral resort for the G-7 summit was further evidence he has violated the Emoluments Clause, despite his decision to reverse course.

The initial announcement last week — from Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, as he stood behind the official White House podium — provided the president’s personal property with “invaluable publicity” that in and of itself may amount to an emolument, a House Democratic source said.

Democratic lawmakers and their aides debated how to proceed over the weekend, after the president tweeted that he had reversed the decision and would not hold the G-7 summit at his Florida resort, only three days after Mulvaney’s announcement.

The office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, confirmed to McClatchy its plans to file the brief to the District of Columbia District Court on Tuesday, explicitly citing the selection of Trump National Doral Miami as evidence that Trump is profiting off the presidency. Blumenthal is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Trump by 30 Democratic senators and 166 House members in 2017.

Read more: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article236501638.html

[riversedge]

1. Good for the Dems. Keep the pressure on Trump.

[yuiyoshida]

11. This!

I really want to see him implode!

[yellowcanine]

2. Also the question of the procurement process.

Awarding government contracts is a highly regulated process and supposed to be very transparent so that all qualified vendors have an opportunity to bid. Mulvaney's refusal to disclose any details is probably in itself illegal. There are exceptions to the normal bidding process but the details should be revealed at least to qualified bidders and to Congress.

[lagomorph777]

3. We need to hit Mulvaney too.

Evil fucker needs to go down.

[yellowcanine]

6. Gross conflict for OMB director to also be Chief of Staff.

OMB manages funds appropriated by Congress; there should at least be an attempt to avoid the appearance of political favoritism.

[crickets]

17. +1

[orangecrush]

4. K&R

[Maeve]

5. It should also be an article of impeachment eom

[keithbvadu2]

7. Somehow 'at cost' for G7 meeting becomes 'no charge' --- after cancellation.

[thesquanderer]

8. AFAIK there was no discussion of "at cost" OR "free" until after they were called on it.

Also, Doral has been underperforming, most of the facilities would probably be vacant otherwise, so who even knows what "at cost" means. *Any* income from a room is better than *no* income.

And really, he stood to benefit from it regardless. Publicity/exposure for his resort. Meals/drinks purchased at its restaurants/bars.

[aggiesal]

22. The grand scope of why Turd45 tried to use his Doral property for the G7 summit.

1) June is usually the second-worst month for Doral Resort. Only 38% of its rooms are generally occupied. IQ45 would be taking in money at the resort, at a time of year when no one goes to Florida, because it's too hot.

2) Doral has only 2 presidential suites, meaning that at least 5 other suites would need to be built/renovated to accommodate all the heads of state. And who would pay for that? Taxpayers!

3) They would need to build 2 helipads for helicopters that would then need to be removed and the golf course area restored. Again, with taxpayer dollars.

4) There would be many months prior to the G7 meeting that requires advance teams from the other countries to make the preparations and they would be staying at the hotel.

5) Doral is a bit shabby/tired and would need to have work done to bring it up to standard. With taxpayer dollars.

It was clear that Trump was not only getting the money from the room charges and all the rentals, but he is now trying to get the place fixed up, for free, with taxpayer money.

Also, they said they would charge "at cost". But they also said they would determine what "at cost" really means.
Room rates at Doral are around $250/night. During off season (June) around $200/night. Assuming a 10% profit, with "At cost" you'd expect the room rate to drop to about $180/night.

No doubt that Donnie-Smorgasbord would have charged upwards $500-$1000/night for advance teams and entourage, while charging a premium for the presidential suites and claim it was "at cost"

[flibbitygiblets]

9. He's tweeted repeatedly that he only withdrew his self-dealt contract at Dork-ale due to pushback

IOW, he would definitely be going through with it had he not been stopped. (Never mind that it was probably his own lawyers who did the stopping, along with not a small number of Republicans. This brazen money-grab did not sit well with even his idiot supporters.)

Ergo, his intention was to violate the constitution, and not the first time. Sounds like it should be another impeachment article.

[True Blue American]

12. Foreign Leaders were saying they were not using their

Countries funds to benefit Trump. Would be bad if the G7 meeting became the G1!

[abqtommy]

10. Let's not clog up the courts with suits against tRUMP. We need to leave room on dockets for

Moscow Mitch and Bolshevik Barr too.

[True Blue American]

13. Get rid of Trump first,then go after the rest. Barr needs to lose his license.

[gordianot]

18. Last time this happened literally dozens had their day in court.

This kind of abuse does not occur in isolation.

[True Blue American]

20. And many went to jail

Including the AG.

[gordianot]

21. What I almost expect this time is a Trump deal.

Kick him out install Pence and the rest walks. I would like to see them all pay but am not sure that is possible.

[True Blue American]

24. Trump is not going to

Save anyone but Trump. He knows the NY Courts are waiting on him. His money laundering ,tax evasion trials wait. He has fired, bad mouthed, insulted so many they will be waiting on him.

You insult, fire, try to bring down the Intelligence Agencies at your own risk. Trump has destroyed too many careers for him to get away.

[demmiblue]

14. BREAKING: Courts to dive into 'phony' emoluments clause(s).

BREAKING: Courts to dive into 'phony' emoluments clause(s). DC Circuit 3-judge panel will hold Dec. 9 arguments in Dem lawmakers' emoluments suit v. Trump. Three days later, 4th Circuit holds en banc on DC/MD suit

Link to tweet

[SCVDem]

15. Isn't it conspiracy to commit, anyway?

You're busted if you even plan a terror attack.

This moved beyond a plan and went to an order complete with advertising.

[dalton99a]

25. +1. Trump prefers to brazenly commit felonies in broad daylight on national television

[Wounded Bear]

16. There are plenty of other evidence of Trump emoluments violations...

the Doral fiasco was just an attempt at committing a crime. He's done it numerous times alread at his golf courses and resorts.

He's over 300 days at Trump properties so far.

[Mr.Bill]

23. And let's not forget about his Scotland resoert. n/t

[Captain Zero]

19. Right. It was a huge free INFOMERCIAL promoting his

Doral Property for marketing purposes and as a nudge nudge wink wink in case others are considering where to locate a conference or event where he would be appreciative and be willing to listen to their concerns about other matters. In the end, he is all about the Benjamins for him.

[C_U_L8R]

26. If you like bedbugs

[jmowreader]

27. The emoluments clause may not be the way to go

It says the president can’t take money from foreign entities without the consent of Congress. The GOP-led Senate lets Trump do anything he wants, so he’s safe.

There are SERIOUS contracting-law violations (chief among them being that you can’t award a contract to yourself) that Trump has committed here.