Trump COIs

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:49 pm

He's not agreeing to put his business interests in a blind trust, says his kids will run his businesses, and now he wants top secret security clearance for his kids. The COI problems that are going to arise are dizzying. I am sure public interest organizations are going to have a lot of work in the coming years.

On another matter, Trump is due to appear as a witness for both sides in the Trump university lawsuit in two weeks.

by FluteHolder Mon Nov 14, 2016 10:43 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:He's not agreeing to put his business interests in a blind trust, says his kids will run his businesses, and now he wants top secret security clearance for his kids. The COI problems that are going to arise are dizzying. I am sure public interest organizations are going to have a lot of work in the coming years.

On another matter, Trump is due to appear as a witness for both sides in the Trump university lawsuit in two weeks.

I thought he was going to settle the university lawsuit. It will be interesting how the judge will react to his outbursts in court room unless he is very well coached by his attorneys.

by Guest Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:18 pm

they were discussing this on tv yesterday.

- regarding businesses, i think they mentioned there is no established rule that a president can't be owning a business. But Trump's case is more complicated as he has business relations in about 22 countries, including China, India, etc. So it is not something as easy as selling your shares and be done with it.

- in general, no presidential spouse or child has got top security clearance before (i think they mentioned some exceptions but i wasn't listening closely).

- Only people working there can get that clearance, but trump can't hire his family coz of nepotism rules.

- trump probably wants this (top security clearance for kids), because he is in the habit of discussing everything with his adult children and son in law, so he doesn't want to be later accused of sharing classified information (kind of like Clinton Foundation and email accusations).

- the COI being, these children will hear some briefing, and leverage it for their businesses.

- just imagine the GOP uproar had this been asked for Chelsea Clinton.

by Idéfix Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:53 pm

i think they mentioned there is no established rule that a president can't be owning a business.

There is a long-established tradition that presidents put their assets in a blind trust to be managed by professionals. The key there is that the president or his family does not know where his money is invested, so that the president's decisions on behalf of America are not clouded by their potential impact on his own finances.

i think they mentioned some exceptions but i wasn't listening closely

One exception I can think of is Bobby Kennedy, who served as Attorney General under his brother Jack. AG is a Senate-confirmed position, so harder to make accusations of nepotism stick. Trump wants top-secret clearance for his children without any appointment, forget about Senate confirmation.

The GOP hypocrisy over security protocols will become very clear over the way they respond to this, after how they conducted a witch-hunt over Clinton's emails.

by southindian Tue Nov 15, 2016 2:04 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:He's not agreeing to put his business interests in a blind trust, says his kids will run his businesses, and now he wants top secret security clearance for his kids. The COI problems that are going to arise are dizzying. I am sure public interest organizations are going to have a lot of work in the coming years.

On another matter, Trump is due to appear as a witness for both sides in the Trump university lawsuit in two weeks.

These are Robert Vadera's of USA.

by Idéfix Tue Nov 15, 2016 2:26 pm

It continues... http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ivanka-trump-s-company-scrambles-over-60-minutes-bracelet-criticism-n684171?cid=sm_tw

It began with Trump promoting his hotels, steaks and bottled water during primary results nights.

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:33 pm

COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:37 pm

garam-kuta wrote:COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

Public interest litigation and ethics investigations can tie the administration up in knots and make them expend all their time attending to lawsuits instead of governing.

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:45 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

Public interest litigation and ethics investigations can tie the administration up in knots and make them expend all their time attending to lawsuits instead of governing.

who is going to run these ethics investigations? the congress?

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:10 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

Public interest litigation and ethics investigations can tie the administration up in knots and make them expend all their time attending to lawsuits instead of governing.
who is going to run these ethics investigations? the congress?

Public interest watchdogs. The president can be sued personally. That much was made clear when Paula Jones sued Bubba.

by pravalika nanda Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:13 pm

southindian wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:He's not agreeing to put his business interests in a blind trust, says his kids will run his businesses, and now he wants top secret security clearance for his kids. The COI problems that are going to arise are dizzying. I am sure public interest organizations are going to have a lot of work in the coming years.

On another matter, Trump is due to appear as a witness for both sides in the Trump university lawsuit in two weeks.
These are Robert Vadera's of USA.

excellent point

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:37 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

Public interest litigation and ethics investigations can tie the administration up in knots and make them expend all their time attending to lawsuits instead of governing.
who is going to run these ethics investigations? the congress?

Public interest watchdogs. The president can be sued personally. That much was made clear when Paula Jones sued Bubba.

the donald has very good lawyers. they will take care of them. the private suits didn't take up much time of clinton's whitehouse. not as much of the congress investigations.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:43 pm

It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:50 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.

lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.

by Propagandhi711 Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:52 pm

garam-kuta wrote:COI? lol
you guys are cracking me up. he didn't pay taxes for decades and voters put him in charge of spending their hard earned tax$s.
he can open a casino and even a strip club in white house and nobody will give a damn.
some dems might, but except their core base nobody will listen to them.
at some point in future it may matter again, but right now it doesn't.

+1

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 8:57 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.
lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.

subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:09 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.
lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.
subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

Not a factor with the deplorables, but abroad. He still has to work with people abroad.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:34 pm

Trump's conflict of interest problem in great detail:
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/trumps-conflict-of-interest-problem

"I would put it in a blind trust—well, I don’t know if it’s a blind trust if Ivanka, Don, and Eric run it. Is that a blind trust? I don’t know.” He looked around and shrugged. “But I would probably have my children run it with my executives, and I wouldn’t ever be involved.”

The comments were startling at the time he made them, but what is even more remarkable is what has occurred since: Trump was elected President and, so far at least, has shown no sign that he understands or has ever even thought about conflict-of-interest laws, or conflicts of interest. On November 10th, two days after the election, an attorney for the Trump Organization named Michael Cohen told CNN that the President-elect intended simply to turn control of his company over to his three children from his first marriage, who would run it through a “blind trust,” a suggestion that makes little sense on its face, given that a trust is only considered “blind” if the trustees are individuals with no financial relationship with the company’s owner. The former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all placed their assets in blind trusts while serving as President. (Obama has all of his money in Treasury bills and index funds, investments that aren’t seen as a conflict.) In any case, the idea of Trump setting up an impossible-sounding blind trust with his children dissolved the following day, when he announced that three of his children would serve on the executive committee of his Presidential transition team, helping him to fill jobs in his government.

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:10 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.
lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.
subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

Not a factor with the deplorables, but abroad. He still has to work with people abroad.

you mean the people abroad aren't aware of the "pu..y grab" press yet? this COI lawsuits press will be badder than that?

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:16 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:Trump's conflict of interest problem in great detail:
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/trumps-conflict-of-interest-problem

"I would put it in a blind trust—well, I don’t know if it’s a blind trust if Ivanka, Don, and Eric run it. Is that a blind trust? I don’t know.” He looked around and shrugged. “But I would probably have my children run it with my executives, and I wouldn’t ever be involved.”

The comments were startling at the time he made them, but what is even more remarkable is what has occurred since: Trump was elected President and, so far at least, has shown no sign that he understands or has ever even thought about conflict-of-interest laws, or conflicts of interest. On November 10th, two days after the election, an attorney for the Trump Organization named Michael Cohen told CNN that the President-elect intended simply to turn control of his company over to his three children from his first marriage, who would run it through a “blind trust,” a suggestion that makes little sense on its face, given that a trust is only considered “blind” if the trustees are individuals with no financial relationship with the company’s owner. The former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all placed their assets in blind trusts while serving as President. (Obama has all of his money in Treasury bills and index funds, investments that aren’t seen as a conflict.) In any case, the idea of Trump setting up an impossible-sounding blind trust with his children dissolved the following day, when he announced that three of his children would serve on the executive committee of his Presidential transition team, helping him to fill jobs in his government.

this blind trust and all that is just a show anyway. do you really believe that the Sr bush and W didn't know that their assets were in the oil industry and price of oil will affect their fortunes? and they took their executive decisions blindly without thinking about that? and Sr bush didn't know about the other businesses that his sons were running?

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:17 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:It's not just the lawsuits. It's the lawsuits combined with the constant terrible press that is likely to diminish his stature abroad and preventing him from doing what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy. This is going to be fun.
lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.
subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

Not a factor with the deplorables, but abroad. He still has to work with people abroad.
you mean the people abroad aren't aware of the "pu..y grab" press yet? this COI lawsuits press will be badder than that?

There was nothing illegal about the banter in the bus. It just showed him to be a crude old man. The COI issues raise legal and ethical problems which are hugely problematic for a mid level government executive let alone a head of state. And remember your entire case against Hillary was ethics and corruption. So why doesn't this matter to you? He is not a candidate any more, he is going to be the head of state.

by garam-kuta Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:22 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
lol . okay ( pls note the ay at the end ) . stay in your bubble/cocoon whatever.
subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

Not a factor with the deplorables, but abroad. He still has to work with people abroad.
you mean the people abroad aren't aware of the "pu..y grab" press yet? this COI lawsuits press will be badder than that?

There was nothing illegal about the banter in the bus. It just showed him to be a crude old man. The COI issues raise legal and ethical problems which are hugely problematic for a mid level government executive let alone a head of state. And remember your entire case against Hillary was ethics and corruption. So why doesn't this matter to you? He is not a candidate any more, he is going to be the head of state.

it is not important to the base. i am not relevant here. for the record i live in an urban area that is in a deep blue state. so if i vote republican it is like a grain of sand against the ocean. if vote democratic, it is like adding a drop to the ocean. irrelevant either way. so are the rest of the people's vote here, i suspect.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:30 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
garam-kuta wrote:
subtlety is not my forte. so i will add this.
badder* than the pu**y grabber press?
the donald thrives on bad press. the badder the better.
ps: yes Thevidi...Paiy... swap-na , i said badder.

Not a factor with the deplorables, but abroad. He still has to work with people abroad.
you mean the people abroad aren't aware of the "pu..y grab" press yet? this COI lawsuits press will be badder than that?

There was nothing illegal about the banter in the bus. It just showed him to be a crude old man. The COI issues raise legal and ethical problems which are hugely problematic for a mid level government executive let alone a head of state. And remember your entire case against Hillary was ethics and corruption. So why doesn't this matter to you? He is not a candidate any more, he is going to be the head of state.
it is not important to the base. i am not relevant here. for the record i live in an urban area that is in a deep blue state. so if i vote republican it is like a grain of sand against the ocean. if vote democratic, it is like adding a drop to the ocean. irrelevant either way. so are the rest of the people's vote here, i suspect.

You have been making the case for the base here all these months. So why point this out now?

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:19 pm

Idéfix wrote:It continues... http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ivanka-trump-s-company-scrambles-over-60-minutes-bracelet-criticism-n684171?cid=sm_tw

It began with Trump promoting his hotels, steaks and bottled water during primary results nights.

It's worth making an issue out of every COI transgression large or small and bog them down in legal minutiae even as he is trying to form a cabinet. I think he totally miscalculated the enormity of the job and is realizing how ill-prepared he is for it. And it seems totally weird that his children and son-in-law are involved in statecraft of which they have no prior experience (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/us/politics/trump-transition.html?). Why is Jared Kushner suddenly an expert on national security and defense?

The NYT article paints a comical picture.

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