Tag: Trump Administration

Bribe Cases, a Jared Kushner Partner and Potential Conflicts

The following article by Jesse Drucker was posted on the New York Times website April 26, 2017:

President Trump’s son-in-law, a top adviser, had help building a real estate empire from a member of one of Israel’s wealthiest families.

It was the summer of 2012, and Jared Kushner was headed downtown.

His family’s real estate firm, the Kushner Companies, would spend about $190 million over the next few months on dozens of apartment buildings in tony Lower Manhattan neighborhoods including the East Village, the West Village and SoHo.

For much of the roughly $50 million in down payments, Mr. Kushner turned to an undisclosed overseas partner. Public records and shell companies shield the investor’s identity. But, it turns out, the money came from a member of Israel’s Steinmetz family, which built a fortune as one of the world’s leading diamond traders. Continue reading “Bribe Cases, a Jared Kushner Partner and Potential Conflicts”

Ben Carson Is Proving to Be the Bizarre and Incompetent Secretary of Housing and Urban Development We Expected Him to Be

The following article by Alex Koch was posted on the AlterNet website April 26, 2017:

Nothing like getting thrown out on the street with two kids and a $7.25-per-hour job to give you the tools to achieve the American dream.

Ben Carson. Photo Credit: O’Reilly Factor via Salon

Since neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson was sworn in as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on March 2, we’ve barely heard a peep from him. Is it because he’s adjusting to his new position, for which he has no relevant experience? Probably. Is it because, as his surrogate said, that he’s not qualified to run a federal agency? Could be that, too.

Apparently there’s been “an atmosphere of paranoia and guardedness that has enveloped HUD since Trump’s inauguration,” according to a former HUD official under Barack Obama, as reported by Next City. Continue reading “Ben Carson Is Proving to Be the Bizarre and Incompetent Secretary of Housing and Urban Development We Expected Him to Be”

Trump Tax Plan Would Shift Trillions From U.S. Coffers to the Richest

The following article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website April 27, 2017:

President Trump and the first lady, Melania, at the White House on Thursday. Mr. Trump could benefit substantially from his tax plan, with provisions such as a repeal of the alternative minimum tax and a proposal to allow owner-operated companies, including his real estate concern, to be taxed at a 15 percent rate. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s proposal to slash individual and business taxes and erase a surtax that funds the Affordable Care Act would amount to a multitrillion-dollar shift from federal coffers to America’s richest families and their heirs, setting up a politically fraught battle over how best to use the government’s already strained resources.

The outline that Mr. Trump offered on Wednesday — less a tax overhaul plan than a list of costly cuts with no price tags attached, rushed out by a president staring down his 100-day mark in office — calls for tax reductions for individuals of every income level as well as businesses large and small.

But the vast majority of benefits would accrue to the highest earners and largest holders of wealth, according to economists and analysts, accounting for a lopsided portion of the proposal’s costs. Continue reading “Trump Tax Plan Would Shift Trillions From U.S. Coffers to the Richest”

The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Indifference to Corruption

The following article by Trevor Sutton was posted on the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s website April 24, 2017:

The Trump administration has already received extensive scrutiny for its unprecedented disregard for long-standing norms on transparency and the avoidance of conflicts of interest—most recently in connection with its refusal to disclose White House visitor logs.1 Yet the questionable ethics of the president and his appointees are only one part of the story of the Republican Party’s hostility to open and accountable government. Since President Donald Trump assumed office, the White House and Republicans in Congress have sent a clear message that the United States has little interest in fighting corruption and promoting good governance beyond America’s borders. This message has taken the form of cuts to foreign aid programs; repeal of transparency requirements for the oil and gas industry; disregard for multilateral anti-corruption initiatives; and open skepticism of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or FCPA. Cumulatively, these actions constitute a sharp reversal from the policies of previous administrations—one that threatens to sow instability and undermine America’s national security interests across the globe. Continue reading “The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Indifference to Corruption”

State Department deletes online blog post that promoted Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

The following article by Colleen Shalby was posted on the Los Angeles Times website April 24, 2017:

Mar-a-Lago
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

President Trump’s oceanside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida has gained considerable airtime and tweet time since Trump took office and dubbed it his winter White House.

It now has received official attention from the State Department.

The State Department’s “Share America” website, which shares “compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate,” published a blog post about the compound ahead of Trump’s April 6 meeting there with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The post has since been deleted. Continue reading “State Department deletes online blog post that promoted Trump’s Mar-a-Lago”

Flynn probably broke the law by failing to disclose foreign payments, House Oversight leaders say

The following article by Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website April 25, 2017:

The lead Democrat and Republican on the House Oversight Committee meted out a rare bipartisan rebuke of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday after seeing private information that confirmed the former administration official failed to disclose foreign income from Russia and Turkey. Continue reading “Flynn probably broke the law by failing to disclose foreign payments, House Oversight leaders say”

The Trump Administration Misunderstands the Federal Role in Local Workforce Development

The following article by Angela Hanks was posted  on the Center for America Progress website April 26, 2017:

Labor Secretary nominee Alexander Acosta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 22, 2017. AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

During his March 22 Senate confirmation hearing, U.S. Secretary of Labor nominee Alexander Acosta repeatedly stressed that local communities must be in the driver’s seat when developing job training programs.

“I think those ideas can’t come from Washington. I think what Washington needs to do is go to them, and ask them what ideas do they see in their local area, and then work with them and [their] local governments to address that,” said Acosta.

Likewise, during a recent visit to Valencia College in Florida, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos heaped praise on the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Training Center, which provides training aligned with local manufacturers’ industry standards, stating “We need to think differently about how we help students pursue their education in the way that’s going to work for them.” Continue reading “The Trump Administration Misunderstands the Federal Role in Local Workforce Development”

GOP health plan is awful and Americans know it: Andy Slavitt

The following article by Andy Slavitt was posted on the USA Today website April 23, 2017:

Recess showed the public is engaged, knowledgeable and ready to hold lawmakers accountable.

Oscar Gronner

President Trump is in a big rush for House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act by the time he reaches the 100-day mark on Saturday. This revives what for many Americans has been an agonizing process of watching their access to health care become a political football in the worst tradition of Washington dealmaking — secretive drafting, rushed votes, multiple closed-door sessions and minimal debate. Continue reading “GOP health plan is awful and Americans know it: Andy Slavitt”

‘Everyone tunes in’: Inside Trump’s obsession with cable TV

The following article by Ashley Parker and Robert Costa was posted on the Washington Post website April 23, 2017:

During a small working lunch at the White House last month, the question of job security in President Trump’s tumultuous White House came up, and one of the attendees wondered whether press secretary Sean Spicer might be the first to go.

The president’s response was swift and unequivocal. “I’m not firing Sean Spicer,” he said, according to someone familiar with the encounter. “That guy gets great ratings. Everyone tunes in.” Continue reading “‘Everyone tunes in’: Inside Trump’s obsession with cable TV”

Trump’s Organized Crime Ties Bring Blackmail To The White House

The following article by Jefferson Morley was posted on the the Alternet website April 21, 2017:

Says one former business partner, “The headline will be ‘The Kazakh Gangster and President Trump.'”

The words were positively polite, at least for a man convicted of assault and racketeering. It was the implied target of his blackmail threat that was unusual: the president of the United States.

The threat came from Felix Sater, a Russian-American businessman who partnered with Donald Trump in launching the Trump Soho, a hotel-condominium project in New York City. The building was funded by Sater’s boss, Tevfik Arif, a mogul from Kazakhstan. In 2007, Trump’s children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka attended the unveiling ceremony for the 46-story luxury tower in Manhattan. Continue reading “Trump’s Organized Crime Ties Bring Blackmail To The White House”