Tag: Trump sleaze

Air Force leaders order probe of Trump resort stays

Stopovers at Scotland airport have tripled since 2015 and overnight stays in the area are up five-fold.

The U.S. Air Force has ordered a world-wide review of how it chooses overnight accommodations on long flights following revelations that air crews had occasionally stayed at President Donald Trump’s Scotland resort while refueling at a small commercial airport nearby.

The review comes as additional instances of military personnel staying at Trump properties have been uncovered. The C-17 crew’s overnight stay at Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland earlier this year, first reported by POLITICO on Friday, was not an isolated incident.

In September 2018, on its way back to the U.S. from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a unit of the Maine Air National Guard landed at Prestwick Airport, the airport closest to Trump’s luxury waterfront resort. The crew and their passengers then spent the night at his hotel, according to one person who was present, an Instagram post and a voucher detailing the crew’s itinerary reviewed by POLITICO.

View the complete September 8 article by Bryan Bender and Natasha Bertrand on the Politico website here.

Oversight Committee Will Probe Pence Stay At Trump’’s Irish Resort

Mike Pence’s decision this week to stay at a Trump resort in Ireland nearly 200 miles away from where he was having meetings has triggered a congressional investigation.

The use of Trump’s properties helps to enrich Trump because he has not divested of his business holdings while serving in the presidency.

“The Committee does not believe that U.S. taxpayer funds should be used to personally enrich President Trump, his family, and his companies,” House Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings said in a statement released Friday.

View the complete September 8 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Checking In at Trump Hotels, for Kinship (and Maybe Some Sway)

New York Times logoTo ethics lawyers, the most extraordinary aspect of the daily merging of President Trump’s official duties and his commercial interests is that it has now become almost routine.

WASHINGTON — At a table in the lobby bar of the Trump International Hotel this week, the final details of a black-tie, 40th anniversary gala for the Concerned Women for America were being worked out by the conservative group’s staff.

There was the contract with the president’s hotel to be reviewed. And there was also unfinished business with the White House — logistical issues posed by two guests from the administration, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and most important, the status of the video message and letter from President Trump himself that the group wanted for the dinner.

“That is the gold standard,” said Kenda Bartlett, Concerned Women for America’s executive director. “If we can get that, the rest of this is just dressing.”

View the complete September 7 article by Eric Lipton and Annie Karni on The New York Times website here.

 

Air Force crew made an odd stop on a routine trip: Trump’s Scottish resort

Now the layover is part of a broader House inquiry into military spending at and around the Trump property.

In early Spring of this year, an Air National Guard crew made a routine trip from the U.S. to Kuwait to deliver supplies.

What wasn’t routine was where the crew stopped along the way: President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort, about 50 miles outside Glasgow, Scotland.

Since April, the House Oversight Committee has been investigating why the crew on the C-17 military transport plane made the unusual stay — both en route to the Middle East and on the way back — at the luxury waterside resort, according to several people familiar with the incident. But they have yet to receive any answers from the Pentagon. Continue reading “Air Force crew made an odd stop on a routine trip: Trump’s Scottish resort”

Democrats seek records from White House on officials staying at Trump-owned properties

The Hill logoHouse Democrats are pressing the Trump administration for details about White House officials staying at properties owned by President Trump, stating that such visits come at a cost for taxpayers and could violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

The lawmakers are requesting records on Vice President Pence’s recent stay at Trump’s Doonbeg hotel in Ireland and the president’s proposal to have Trump National Doral Miami host the 2020 Group of Seven (G-7) summit, among other potential uses of Trump’s properties.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings(D-Md.) issued a series of letters to the vice president, the White House, the U.S. Secret Service and the Trump organization asking about Pence’s trip to the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg. 

View the complete September 6 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Irish journalist says Pence’s visit was so offensive it was as if he ‘s**t on the new carpet’

AlterNet logoVice President Mike Pence has completed a two-day visit to the Republican of Ireland, where he met with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, President Michael D. Higgins and other officials. During his visit, Pence (who is Irish-American) spoke in glowing terms about his Irish ancestry. But Miriam Lord, a columnist for the Irish Times, was not impressed — and on Tuesday, she delivered a scathing critique of Pence’s visit to her country.

Ireland is two separate countries: Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., while the Republic of Ireland to the south is not. Residents of Ireland have been worried about how a hard Brexit could affect them, as the Republic of Ireland is on the euro and plans to remain in the European Union (EU).

Lord notes that Pence, like President Donald Trump, is a strong supporter of Brexit and was on his way to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he was in Ireland. And in her column, she takes Pence to task for the pro-Johnson comments he made during his meeting with Irish officials.

View the complete September 4 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Congressional Democrats plan to launch inquiry into Trump’s alleged role in scheme to silence affair accusations

Washington Post logoHouse Democrats plan to make President Trump’s alleged involvement in a 2016 scheme to silence two women who claimed they had affairs with him a major investigative focus this fall, picking up where federal prosecutors left off in a case legal experts say could have led to additional indictments.

The House Judiciary Committee is preparing to hold hearings and call witnesses involved in hush-money payments to ex-
Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult-film star Stormy Daniels as soon as October, according to people familiar with the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Democrats say they believe there is already enough evidence to name Trump as a co-conspirator in the episode that resulted in his former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleading guilty to two campaign finance charges.

View the complete September 2 article by Rachael Bade and Tom Hamburger on The Washington Post website here.

Trump says Miami will probably host next year’s G-7 summit — at his own Doral resort

Greater Miami is likely to host next year’s G-7 summit of world leaders — and President Donald Trump now says his own Doral resort is a good bet to be the home site.

Speaking to reporters from France, which is hosting the ongoing Group of 7 summit, Trump acknowledged for the first time Monday morning that he may select his flagship property for the annual gathering of the world’s most powerful people.

The White House later tweeted a video of Trump praising his Miami-area hotel during a subsequent press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, writing “President @realDonaldTrump shares the location of the next @G7 summit, hosted by the United States!”

View the complete August 26 article by David Smiley on The Miami Herald website here.

Trump invites new emoluments fight with G-7 resort pitch

The Hill logoPresident Trump stepped into another controversy of his own making Monday by suggesting the U.S. could host world leaders at his golf resort outside Miami for next year’s Group of Seven (G-7) summit.

If Trump were to make his resort the meeting venue, his critics argue it would be another clear violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits presidents from accepting payments from foreign countries, U.S. states or the federal government.

“This is a president who has converted the presidency into an instrument of enrichment from day one. There is simply no line between what is official government business and what is a private money-making enterprise — it is all one big venture,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a House Judiciary Committee member and former constitutional law professor, said Monday in a phone interview with The Hill.

View the complete August 26 article by Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

Trump sings the praises of his resort in Florida as possible G-7 host for 2020

Washington Post logoBIARRITZ, France —  President Trump said Monday that he was likely to hold next year’s Group of Seven summit at his resort in Doral, Fla., meaning he could personally profit from one of the world’s most prestigious gatherings of foreign leaders.

In a news conference, Trump said that his staff had scoured the country and determined that — of all America’s resorts and resort towns — Trump’s club was the best situated to host the international meeting.

“They went places all over the country, and they came back and said, ‘This is where we’d like to be,’ ” Trump said. “It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

View the complete August 26 article by Josh Dawsey and David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website here.