Tag: Trump greed

D.C. attorney general sues Trump inaugural committee over $1 million booking at president’s hotel

Washington Post logoD.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine sued President Trump’s inaugural committee and business Wednesday, alleging that the committee violated its nonprofit status by spending more than $1 million to book a ballroom at Trump’s D.C. hotel that its staff knew was overpriced and that it barely used.

During the lead-up to Trump’s January 2017 inauguration, the committee booked the hotel ballroom for $175,000 a day, plus more than $300,000 in food and beverage costs, over the objections of its own event planner.

The committee was formed to organize the events around the inauguration, but Racine alleges it instead “abandoned this purpose and violated District law when it wasted approximately $1 million of charitable funds in overpayment for the use of event space at the Trump hotel.” Continue reading.

Trump Proposes Social Security Changes That Impoverish Disabled

American workers contribute to Social Security with every paycheck. When they do, they are earning comprehensive insurance protections. Social Security insures against the loss of wages due to old age, disability, or (for the surviving family of a worker) death. While Social Security is best known as a retirement program, disability and survivor’s benefits are equally essential.

An attack on any part of Social Security is an attack on the entire system and all current and future beneficiaries. The latest proposal from Donald Trump’s administration, which is designed to rip benefits away from hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities, amounts to a declaration of war on Social Security.

The Trump administration proposal would require millions of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries to re-prove their eligibility for benefits as often as every six months—far more frequently than is currently the case. There is no justification for this policy. The United States already has some of the strictest eligibility criteria for disability benefits in the world. More than half of all claims are denied.

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Trump Retweets Son Eric’s Promo Of Their D.C. Hotel, Infuriating His Former Ethics Chief

“Definitely not trying to profit off the presidency at all,” Walter Shaub noted sarcastically.

President Donald Trump on Sunday retweeted a message from his son Eric touting the Trump International Hotel in Washington.

The double promotion with White House clout occurred at the same time that the Trump family is slamming Hunter Biden for allegedly profiting from father Joe Biden’s role as vice president by serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

The retweet infuriated Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics for former President Barack Obama and Trump. “Definitely not trying to profit off the presidency at all,” Shaub noted sarcastically.

View the complete November 17 article by Mary Papenfuss on the Huffington Post website here.

Records reveal the staggering amount of money Trump-owned businesses have raked in by doing business with Trump’s campaign and Republicans

AlterNet logoThe words “conflict of interest” often come up in connection with President Donald Trump, who hasn’t been shy about encouraging the use of Trump properties for political events. And an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows just how profitable that encouragement has been for the president.

HuffPost’s Mary Papenfuss reports that according to the Center’s analysis of federal election spending records, Trump’s political campaigns and associated committees have spent roughly $16.8 million at his businesses since he launched his 2016 presidential campaign. The analysis was based on spending reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

In the 2020 election cycle alone, the Center for Responsive Politics notes, Republican campaigns and political action committees have spent $1.8 million at Trump properties. That $1.8 million, includes — among other things — $1.3 million spent by Trump’s campaign, $123,000 spent by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and $104,000 spent by the political action committee (PAC) Great America.

View the complete October 29 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Trump reversed course on hosting G-7 at his club after learning that impeachment-weary Republicans were tired of defending him

Washington Post logoPresident Trump was forced to abandon his decision to host next year’s Group of Seven summit at his private golf club after it became clear the move had alienated Republicans and swiftly become part of the impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency.

In a round of phone calls with conservative allies this weekend, Trump was told Republicans are struggling to defend him on so many fronts, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Democrats, meanwhile, continued to blast Trump for awarding the massive government contract to his own company and said they might add the alleged “emoluments” violation to the articles of impeachment they are preparing.

View the complete October 20 article by Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey and David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website here.

Behind the Whistle-Blower Case, a Long-Held Trump Grudge Toward Ukraine

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — For months this spring and summer, Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, tried to deflect pressure from President Trump and his allies to pursue investigations into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Mr. Biden’s son and other Trump rivals.

The pressure was so relentless that Mr. Zelensky dispatched one of his closest aides to open a line of communication with Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers. Mr. Giuliani was the loudest voice among those demanding that Ukraine look at Mr. Biden’s dealings with the country when he was vice president at the same time his younger son, Hunter Biden, was doing business there, and also the release by Ukrainians in 2016 of damaging information about a top Trump campaign aide.

Over breakfast in early July at the Trump International Hotel, Mr. Zelensky’s aide asked the State Department’s envoy to Ukraine for help connecting to Mr. Giuliani. Several days later, the aide discussed with Mr. Giuliani by phone the prospective investigations as well as something the Ukrainians wanted: a White House meeting between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump.

View the complete September 20 article by Kenneth P. Vogel on The New York Times website here.

New documents reveal the military has paid Trump’s Scotland resort more than $180,000

AlterNet logoUnder President Donald Trump, the U.S. military has spent more than $180,000 at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland while service members have been stopped at the Glasgow Prestwick airport, according to a Pentagon letter sent to the House Oversight Committee.

Politico first reported on and published the letter on Wednesday.

It reveals that since August 2017, the military has in the last two years or so spent $124,578 in expenditures on the property, in addition to an unspecified addition $59,729.12, as the letter explained:

View the complete September 18 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

GOP blocks probe of Mike Pence’s trip to Ireland after VP spent $600,000 on limousine rides so he could stay at Trump’s resort

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence’s trip to Ireland — or more precisely his curious stay at one of President Trump’s hotels — has prompted multiple congressional probes. But the Democrat-led oversight investigations have already drawn complaints and pushback from Trump’s loudest Republican defenders on Capitol Hill, including the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.

Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate have sent official letters of inquiry to the vice president’s office seeking specific information on the costs of Pence’s recent stay at Trump International Golf Club in Doonbeg, Ireland. They have imposed a Sept. 19 deadline for the administration and the Trump Organization to turn over relevant documents. Democrats have raised concerns that Pence’s stay at Trump’s resort could have violated the emoluments clause in the Constitution. They’ve asked for details like the cost of the stay, Secret Service protection, and comparable rates for hotels nearby as well as across the country in Dublin, where Pence held meetings with Irish officials and business leaders.

The vice president’s decision to stay at Trump’s resort can hardly be defended as one of convenience, as Pence previously suggested. Doonbeg is in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, nearly a four-hour drive from most of Pence’s scheduled meetings in Dublin. According to an analysis by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Pence’s stay cost taxpayers $599,454.36 in limousine service alone.

View the complete September 18 article by Sophia Tesfaye from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Fox News Personalities Enriched Trump By Appearances At Hotels

At least 17 Fox News personalities have helped enrich Donald Trump by speaking at events at his properties since he announced his presidential run in 2015. They have headlined pro-Trump gatherings; have held book parties; and have keynoted industry events. Additionally, numerous Fox News figures have visited Trump properties for social occasions, including golf and dinner outings with the president.

>During his presidency, Trump has frequently merged his presidential and business interests, creating unprecedented conflicts of interest and constitutional issues. As The New York Times recently reported, “Since Mr. Trump became president, there have been thousands of visits to his properties, not only by Mr. Trump himself, but by foreign leaders, lobbyists, Republican candidates, members of Congress, cabinet members and others with ties to the president. At least 90 members of Congress, 250 Trump administration officials and more than 110 foreign officials have been spotted at Trump properties since 2017, according to social media posts and counts by various watchdog groups.” Continue reading “Fox News Personalities Enriched Trump By Appearances At Hotels”